Comments on: BNN Uncovers Plagiarism Problem; Writer Suspended, Offending Posts Identified

By: Peter Davies

Peter Davies — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:40:30 +0000

Well done BNN - may you go from strength to strength.

By: Chibisi

Chibisi — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 10:36:42 +0000

Specchless. Am actually still reading

By: Ed Dickson

Ed Dickson — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 02:36:36 +0000

If this is the same Shantanu Dutta:

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&tab=wb&q=shantanu+dutta&btnG=Search+Blogs

He is active on a lot of other sites in addition to the fitthwiseman.blogspot.com:

desicritics
ground report
merinews
multiply
Sulekha

He is also on Global Voices.

This Mr. Dutta states he is an Indian Christian?

Here is his profile:

Shantanu Dutta
Age: 251
Gender: Male
Astrological Sign: Aries
Zodiac Year: Rat

I guess “Rat” is about the only thing accurate in this instance, if this is our Shantanu.

If anyone can confirm this is the same Shantanu, perhaps I can come up with an interesting post at Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds. It might be a little off-topic, but sometimes that keeps things fresh.

My e-mail is EdwardDickson@sbcglobal.net

By: zzsimonb

zzsimonb — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 19:30:16 +0000

Andrew, you are right, there is way too much of it. I hate to see articles scraped, and I have had my fair share of it happen to me.

The way I look at it, the rubbish I write, is my ‘rubbish’. Get your own ‘rubbish’ don’t recycle mine!

You can rest assured that from now on we are going to be very proactive on this issue.

Simon - Editor

By: Andrew Ian Dodge

Andrew Ian Dodge — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:32:25 +0000

Plagarism is rife on the internet alas. I have actually had my online content pinched by offline mags/zines. Its good to see that BNN are on top of this and keeping track of things. S*** happens, get yerself up and get on wif it. (And my family in law would say.)

By: Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff

Carola Von Hoffmannstahl-Solomonoff — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 13:11:16 +0000

Your response to Datta’s bogus data is right on target. Go BNN go.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 06:43:12 +0000

I think it is the same Shantanu Datta I happen to know, though I cannot confront him with this matter for obvious reasons. I always wondered how a guy with a full-time job as a journalist could be so prolific on a forum that pays next to nothing.

Now I know. When something or someone happens to be too good to be true, that often really turns out to be the case!!

By: Ranjit Goswami

Ranjit Goswami — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 05:36:41 +0000

I really do like the model that BNN has adopted, though iniially I was bit critical on its quality of content because of its ‘laissez-faire’ approach. Even now I am bit critical on quality of its few posts; however that’s subjective; and that’s true for all media. What’s good in BNN is the hands-off approach editors of BNN have adopted for most contributors (bloggers worth their salt do get mad when ‘all-knowing’ editors mostly show their ignorances through so-called ‘editorial value-additions’); the bad thing is many of us - the same so-called ‘bloggers’ but not worth their salt misuse it.

The right balance I believe no one could master (not even softwares).

I would again thank Robert for his Update (last-para in above article) where acknowledging the slip, he solicited community help in controlling plagiarism. Yes, plagiarism is a challenge and only self-regulation can contain that to some extent. So he also stated what can be a possible solution to the widespread problem. It’s upto us, ‘bloggers’ as a community, to self-regulate ourselves so that we be the first to critically examine ourselves in all aspects and ensure we don’t lose credibility as a ‘community’.

Thanks Robert…and as a researcher I would love to know whether this is the 1st example of acknowledging plagiarism by informing all (rather than putting it in a footnote somewhere so that less number of people know about it); and if indeed is - whether this exemplary action can motivate others to follow suit.

By: prying1

prying1 — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:37:07 +0000

This shows where your (our) site leaves the rest behind. The forthrightness and immediate explanation of the offense/problem, the fix, the apologies, the lack of excuses sets you (us) and BNN apart!

Although I have not posted for a while (due to time constraints - If only I didn’t have to sleep…) I still feel as though I’m a part of a family here. One that I am glad to be a part of.

Thanks Robert! Keep up the good work. To quote Commander Peter Quincy Taggart: “Never give up, never surrender!”

http://datacore.sciflicks.com/galaxy_quest/sounds/galaxy_quest_never_give_up.wav

By: Jason Easley

Jason Easley — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 21:01:02 +0000

This is why I always post a link to any sources that I use.
Sometimes many people use the same press releases, and when
we properly cite the source, it makes review and checking easy.
It is a shame that this happened, but plagiarism is an industry wide problem.
Unless all the info is original, I always give proper credit, because
something like this gives us all a black eye.

By: Orikinla Osinachi

Orikinla Osinachi — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 20:14:58 +0000

Liars do not pass the test of time.

Cheers and God bless.