In the past 24 hours, we learned of allegations that Ben Domenech plagiarized material that appeared under his byline in various publications prior to washingtonpost.com contracting with him to write a blog that launched Tuesday.
An investigation into these allegations was ongoing, and in the interim, Domenech has resigned, effective immediately.
When we hired Domenech, we were not aware of any allegations that he had plagiarized any of his past writings. In any cases where allegations such as these are made, we will continue to investigate those charges thoroughly in order to maintain our journalistic integrity.
Plagiarism is perhaps the most serious offense that a writer can commit or be accused of. Washingtonpost.com will do everything in its power to verify that its news and opinion content is sourced completely and accurately at all times.
We appreciate the speed and thoroughness with which our readers and media outlets surfaced these allegations. Despite the turn this has taken, we believe this event, among other things, testifies to the positive and powerful role that the Internet can play in the the practice of journalism.
We also remain committed to representing a broad spectrum of ideas and ideologies in our Opinions area.
Jim Brady
Executive Editor, washingtonpost.com
Still no word from the AP...
"We appreciate the speed and thoroughness with which our readers and media outlets surfaced these allegations."
Considering the "speed and thoroughness" at which these examples of plagiarism were found, you would think that washingtonpost.com could have found them before hiring Domenech.
Posted by: yasunobu13 | March 24, 2006 at 06:37 PM
go team nyhan! it's your birthday!
Posted by: tof | March 26, 2006 at 12:15 PM