Area editor resigns after plagiarism accusation

Time Reporter

 

On March 26 Southern California humour columnist George Waters wrote a not-so-humourous column. That day Waters wrote in his blog, the WA blog, that he had found 42 examples of plagiarism affecting him and 14 other writers from this past year. 

The person accused of allegedly plagiarizing these works is Steve Jeffrey, editor/publisher of the Chestermere Anchor. Jeffrey is also the current president of the Strathmore and District Chamber of Commerce. 

The next day Jeffrey resigned from his position as editor and was quoted in the Calgary Herald as saying “I really don’t have any way to defend myself. I did use articles for inspiration, but thought that I had changed the content enough to comply.”

Dennis Merrell, Executive Director for the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association (AWNA) said they are gratified to see that Jeffrey acted swiftly in resigning as editor of the paper, and has also resigned from his position on the board of directors for the Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association.

Merrell said he has not spoken with Jeffrey, but said he did receive an e-mail from him stating that he is resigning while the issue is ongoing, which suggests to him that Jeffrey is taking some responsibility.

“Obviously the association does not condone plagiarizing newspaper columns, or columns from blogs or from any source for that matter, it’s just not something that we support, or encourage,” said Merrell.

“Until our board considers the issues I can’t really say anything much more other than the fact that it’s a serious issue for us, and we were certainly disheartened over the fact that one of our member newspapers has found itself in this position and certainly not something that we would support or condone in any way, shape, or form.”

Waters has opted to file a formal complaint against the Anchor with the Alberta Press Council.

“I do not know what powers of censure they have, but they should definitely be made aware of the depth of the ethics violations of their member paper. Litigation is expensive, and cross-border litigation probably even more so,” said Waters.

“Mr. Jeffrey has resigned as editor, but if he remains involved with “The Anchor” as publisher, or in any other substantial way, I think the writers, as a group, might reconsider that cost. Judging by his bio, Mr. Jeffrey has had several careers, and it’s my hope he moves on from this experience in publishing and finds his next one, soon.”

Sheila Moss, also a humour columnist from Tennessee, allegedly had 25 of her works plagiarized by Jeffrey. 

“If there is a lesson that should be learned here, it is that just because something is funny or on the Internet doesn’t mean it is free for the taking. The same laws that protect other creative works, also protect humor,” said Moss.

“People who call themselves writers and then steal the works of others not only destroy their own reputation and credibility, they embarrass our profession and are judged harshly for it.”

The most recent article plagiarized was ‘It’s a social media world’ in the March 22 paper, was allegedly originally written by Sheila Moss. Before posting his on his blog last Monday, Waters sent a list of comparison links to Andrew Beaujon at Poynter.org in order to have a different pair of eyes verify his findings. 

Waters doesn’t know how long the alleged plagiarism has been happening since he could only find archives going back one year. Shortly after Waters posted his column on Jeffrey, he states all back issue archives of the Anchor were removed from public view.