2 ms·

Regardless TNW took his article almost entirely word for word! Only two or three words were added/removed in TNW's version. This isn't about facts, it's about c

Regardless TNW took his article almost entirely word for word! Only two or three words were added/removed in TNW's version. This isn't about facts, it's about copy-pasting someone else's words and then sending 6 incredibly defensive and dickish tweets after othe original author complained (barely). At the end, Zee says he'll steer clear of the original author's work for fear of ridiculous accusations as if to say "you should be happy that we plagiarized you, now we'll punish you by never flattering you with another plagiarized article again". He couldn't have made it any clearer that he was the author of the original after a complaint. You can't even play devils advocate on this one. TNW is so deep into "wrong" territory that nothing short of removing the entire post and replacing it was an admission of plagiarism will redeem them in my eyes.

scott_s 14y ago
You are correct, which is why I called what TNW did plagiarism in my parent post, and elsewhere in the thread. Their understanding of the concept is both sad and frustrating. (Check my comment history.) I'm making a separate point, that the contribution of the article in question is minor. And that, combined with the level of outrage, just makes me a bit uneasy.
- billpatrianakos 14y ago
  My mistake on not seeing the previous comments but even if the original work (not the TNW version) offered little extra value at least it was written from scratch using the authors own words. His outrage was minor, Zee's outrage is seriously overblown and I think our outrage here is justifiable.
- cellularmitosis 14y ago
  I think the majority of the outrage stems from Zee's response to this situation, and less from the actual plagiarism itself.
droithomme 14y ago
"You can't even play devils advocate on this one." Very insightful comment. I don't think they should delete it at this point though which would be covering up what they did at this point. As far as what to do about this, word for word plagiarism that is barely altered so that it's technically not an exact word search isn't a mistake or momentary slip up by a paid author/journalist/blogger, it's overt plagiarism and fraud. There is absolutely no other thing to be done when it is found but to openly and publicly FIRE the fake "author" who stole another person's work, and issue a public apology to the true author. That would have resolved it and enabled this company to save face and appear on the up and up. The handling by the CEO was so abysmal and so wrong here though that it destroyed the entire reputation of the site. His continuing to trying to spin and lie is just an embarrassment to himself, his reputation is ruined. As far as whoever owns this company, at this point the only thing they could possibly do to recover at all is to fire both the CEO and the plagiarist and issue a public, heartfelt, sincere apology.

scott_s 14y ago

You are correct, which is why I called what TNW did plagiarism in my parent post, and elsewhere in the thread. Their understanding of the concept is both sad and frustrating. (Check my comment history.) I'm making a separate point, that the contribution of the article in question is minor. And that, combined with the level of outrage, just makes me a bit uneasy.

billpatrianakos 14y ago
My mistake on not seeing the previous comments but even if the original work (not the TNW version) offered little extra value at least it was written from scratch using the authors own words. His outrage was minor, Zee's outrage is seriously overblown and I think our outrage here is justifiable.
cellularmitosis 14y ago
I think the majority of the outrage stems from Zee's response to this situation, and less from the actual plagiarism itself.

droithomme 14y ago

"You can't even play devils advocate on this one." Very insightful comment. I don't think they should delete it at this point though which would be covering up what they did at this point. As far as what to do about this, word for word plagiarism that is barely altered so that it's technically not an exact word search isn't a mistake or momentary slip up by a paid author/journalist/blogger, it's overt plagiarism and fraud. There is absolutely no other thing to be done when it is found but to openly and publicly FIRE the fake "author" who stole another person's work, and issue a public apology to the true author. That would have resolved it and enabled this company to save face and appear on the up and up. The handling by the CEO was so abysmal and so wrong here though that it destroyed the entire reputation of the site. His continuing to trying to spin and lie is just an embarrassment to himself, his reputation is ruined. As far as whoever owns this company, at this point the only thing they could possibly do to recover at all is to fire both the CEO and the plagiarist and issue a public, heartfelt, sincere apology.