Time, CNN Suspend Zakaria After He Admits "Terrible Mistake"

The columnist was caught passing off large chunks of a New Yorker essay as his own.

By Josh Vorhees | Posted Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, at 4:28 PM ET



Fareed Zakaria apologized Friday for the "close similarities" between his column and an essay published earlier this year in The New Yorker

Photo by Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images.




UPDATE: That didn't take long. Time magazine moved quickly to suspend columnist Fareed Zakaria for one month after he apologized Friday for lifting material from a New Yorker essay.

Here's the official statement from Time spokesman Ali Zelenko, via the AtlanticWire: "TIME accepts Fareed's apology, but what he did violates our own standards for our columnists, which is that their work must not only be factual but original; their views must not only be their own but their words as well. As a result, we are suspending Fareed's column for a month, pending further review."

CNN followed suit roughly an hour later, suspending the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS: "We have reviewed Fareed Zakaria’s Time column, for which he has apologized. He wrote a shorter blog post on CNN.com on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post has been removed and CNN has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review."

Friday, August 10: Time magazine's Fareed Zakaria apologized Friday for apparently borrowing heavily from a New Yorker article without attribution in his column on gun control this week, a journalistic misdeed he called a "serious lapse" and a "terrible mistake."

Here's his statement, via the the New York Times: "Media reporters have pointed out that paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore's essay in the April 22nd issue of The New Yorker. They are right. I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers."

Zakaria's journalistic missteps were first flagged earlier Friday by conservative media watchdog Newsbusters.

Here's one example of the similarities between Zakaria's column and Jill Lepore's New Yorker essay.

Zakaria in "The Case for Gun Control":

Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, documents the actual history in Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. Guns were regulated in the U.S. from the earliest years of the Republic. Laws that banned the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Other states soon followed: Indiana in 1820, Tennessee and Virginia in 1838, Alabama in 1839 and Ohio in 1859. Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas (Texas!) explained in 1893, the "mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man."

And Lepore, in "Battleground America":

As Adam Winkler, a constitutional-law scholar at U.C.L.A., demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book, “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start. Laws banning the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813, and other states soon followed: Indiana (1820), Tennessee and Virginia (1838), Alabama (1839), and Ohio (1859). Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.

Alexander Abad-Santos has rounded up a few more of the passages in question over at the AtlanticWire. Prior to Zakaria's apology, a Time spokesperson offered this to the website: "Time takes any accusation of plagiarism by any of our journalists very seriously, and we will carefully examine the facts before saying anything else on the matter."

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/08/10/fareed_zakaria_s_new_yorker_plagerism_time_columnist_apologizes_for_terrible_mistake_.html

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/08/fareed-zakarias-take-gun-control-strikingly-similar-new-yorkers/55652/


^^^

A link to another article covering more of the plagiarism.

Sad. Coming from someone held in such high esteem. Hope he bounces back soon .

Highly intelligent chap, how could he make such a slip?

Hope this is not actually a character flaw that took him this far?

esere826

Highly intelligent chap, how could he make such a slip?

Hope this is not actually a character flaw that took him this far?

@^^ How do you adjudge him being "highly intelligent" chap? Everyday is for the thief but someday he/she will be exposed. He's Indian by birth so nothing surprises me-" the End justifies the means". That is their inherent philosophy to life and to everything else. Corruption is never far from their backyard. It can be attributed to some character flaw if we look at it holistically - his roots . I am not easily impressed by some pseudo-intellectual American wannabe Indian. He is certainly not the first nor the last. There is more in the pipe line from where he comes from. Academic qualifications for them is the easiest path/part to get into the "act" just like Nigerians excelling in academia too(qualifications) without originality/creativity either.

cheikh: Academic qualifications for them is the easiest path/pary to get into the "act" just like Nigerians excelling in academia too(qualifications) without originality/creativity either.

A lot of Nigerians are even beginning to hold them up as a standard

I knew Zakaria was going to face powerful foes. His columns and GPS beamed latent truth on salient issues. The Powers that be were just waiting for a single mistake to take him down. Zakaria presented undiluted truth against all odds. America dont tell the hardcore truth apart from doctored Journalism.

Thanks goodness this crip is caught, i have watch this man's programm on CNN many times, his program sucks, all he does is criticize other countries culture and promote this USA's evil agenda worldwide... these are the same evil people that "sexed up" the irqaqi dossier, copied from a Ph.d project... may the almighty Godpunich them all

Arrogant man . . . shame on you.

I watch him occasionally- never heard of any problem before.


This is not really good, in the light of current events.

And Sanusi kept pushing the blame to others instead accepting his plagiarism error, he better learn how to apologise from Fareed.

The media and the people that runs it can never be trusted.

How does this affect the price of white London in aboki's kiosk.

Wow, can't believe this! Fareed, that brilliant guy. One of CNN's most respected analyst. Honourable he accepted the slip and apologized.

that guy show no dey sell again na him make cnn suspend am,if his show was making money for cnn,i dont think all this could have happened.

Jarus: Wow, can't believe this! Fareed, that brilliant guy. One of CNN's most respected analyst. Honourable he accepted the slip and apologized.

this one no be slip o

lets hope we wont start to see more accusations coming out of the woodwork

AjanleKoko:

A lot of Ajanlekokos are even beginning to hold them up as a standard

Fixed!

AjanleKoko:

You think you're smarter than the average Indian?
Anyway, you're Naija, I can't blame you for thinking that. The average Nigerian thinks he can do anything.

aruzuoke: How does this affect the price of white London in aboki's kiosk.

[img][/img]

Jarus: Wow, can't believe this! Fareed, that brilliant guy. One of CNN's most respected analyst. Honourable he accepted the slip and apologized.

Real CNN or CNN international? When did Fareeed become one of CNN most respected analysts? People dont even know who he is in the US? Beside talking about diversity stuff, he is a nobody! And who gives a shyt about CNN anyway, maybe Nigerians like yourself. Very asinine comment

FAREED ZAKARIA
Fareed Zakaria is enormously important to an understanding of many things, because he provides a one-stop example of conventional thinking about them all. He is a barometer in a good suit, a creature of establishment consensus, an exemplary spokesman for the always-evolving middle. He was for the Iraq war when almost everybody was for it, criticized it when almost everybody criticized it, and now is an active member of the ubiquitous “declining American power” chorus. When Obama wanted to trust the Iranians, Zakaria agreed (“They May Not Want the Bomb,” was a story he did for Newsweek); and, when Obama learned different, Zakaria thought differently. There’s something suspicious about a thinker always so perfectly in tune with the moment. Most of Zakaria’s appeal is owed to the A-list aura that he likes to give off—“At the influential TED conference ...” began a recent piece in The New York Times. On his CNN show, he ingratiates himself to his high-powered guests. This mix of elitism and banality is unattractive. And so is this: “My friends all say I’m going to be Secretary of State,” Zakaria told New York magazine in 2003. “But I don’t see how that would be much different from the job I have now.” Zakaria later denied making those remarks.

http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/96141/over-rated-thinkers?page=0,1

PhysicsQED: Time, CNN Suspend Zakaria After He Admits "Terrible Mistake"

The columnist was caught passing off large chunks of a New Yorker essay as his own.

By Josh Vorhees | Posted Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, at 4:28 PM ET



Fareed Zakaria apologized Friday for the "close similarities" between his column and an essay published earlier this year in The New Yorker

Photo by Michal Cizek/AFP/Getty Images.




UPDATE: That didn't take long. Time magazine moved quickly to suspend columnist Fareed Zakaria for one month after he apologized Friday for lifting material from a New Yorker essay.

Here's the official statement from Time spokesman Ali Zelenko, via the AtlanticWire: "TIME accepts Fareed's apology, but what he did violates our own standards for our columnists, which is that their work must not only be factual but original; their views must not only be their own but their words as well. As a result, we are suspending Fareed's column for a month, pending further review."

CNN followed suit roughly an hour later, suspending the host of Fareed Zakaria GPS: "We have reviewed Fareed Zakaria’s Time column, for which he has apologized. He wrote a shorter blog post on CNN.com on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post has been removed and CNN has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review."

Friday, August 10: Time magazine's Fareed Zakaria apologized Friday for apparently borrowing heavily from a New Yorker article without attribution in his column on gun control this week, a journalistic misdeed he called a "serious lapse" and a "terrible mistake."

Here's his statement, via the the New York Times: "Media reporters have pointed out that paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore's essay in the April 22nd issue of The New Yorker. They are right. I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers."

Zakaria's journalistic missteps were first flagged earlier Friday by conservative media watchdog Newsbusters.

Here's one example of the similarities between Zakaria's column and Jill Lepore's New Yorker essay.

Zakaria in "The Case for Gun Control":

Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, documents the actual history in Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. Guns were regulated in the U.S. from the earliest years of the Republic. Laws that banned the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Other states soon followed: Indiana in 1820, Tennessee and Virginia in 1838, Alabama in 1839 and Ohio in 1859. Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas (Texas!) explained in 1893, the "mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man."

And Lepore, in "Battleground America":

As Adam Winkler, a constitutional-law scholar at U.C.L.A., demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book, “Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,” firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start. Laws banning the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813, and other states soon followed: Indiana (1820), Tennessee and Virginia (1838), Alabama (1839), and Ohio (1859). Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas explained in 1893, the “mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.

Alexander Abad-Santos has rounded up a few more of the passages in question over at the AtlanticWire. Prior to Zakaria's apology, a Time spokesperson offered this to the website: "Time takes any accusation of plagiarism by any of our journalists very seriously, and we will carefully examine the facts before saying anything else on the matter."

http://slatest.slate.com/posts/2012/08/10/fareed_zakaria_s_new_yorker_plagerism_time_columnist_apologizes_for_terrible_mistake_.html

Typically Arabesque.

tpia@:
I watch him occasionally- never heard of any problem before.


This is not really good, in the light of current events.

What current events Tpia

Too bad he is not the governor of Nigeria's central bank, otherwise he can just blame it on his staff.

cheikh: esere826



@^^ How do you adjudge him being "highly intelligent" chap? Everyday is for the thief but someday he/she will be exposed. He's Indian by birth so nothing surprises me-" the End justifies the means". That is their inherent philosophy to life and to everything else. Corruption is never far from their backyard. It can be attributed to some character flaw if we look at it holistically - his roots . I am not easily impressed by some pseudo-intellectual American wannabe Indian. He is certainly not the first nor the last. There is more in the pipe line from where he comes from. Academic qualifications for them is the easiest path/pary to get into the "act" just like Nigerians excelling in academia too(qualifications) without originality/creativity either.

There are many things Fareed is but one of them is certainly not "unintelligent". That he's got lots of enemies and folks that believe his overrated (as you should expect someone that receives $75,000 to give a talk to have) isn't news but you do not make it as far as he's done by being a "pseudo-intellectual". Unfortunately, he's got a not-too-pleasant history which might lend some credence to your argument as this isn't the first time he's been accused see link;
www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=1765903
But what you must realize is that people don't tune in to watch his programmes cos he's got a Phd from Havard but because he delivers and analyses the news better than most while managing to criticize govts in a most pleasant and constructive manner that leaves you nodding in agreement. Like noted in the link above, there are a number of excuses he could have given that would be considered tenable but he hasn't done so, rather he's chosen to accept full responsibility and take the fall. I hope he bounces back soon.

PHIPEX: And Sanusi kept pushing the blame to others instead accepting his plagiarism error, he better learn how to apologise from Fareed.

When will sheik sanusi come clean?

Why do pple caught stealing in naija (e.g farouk) nt know wn 'game is over'?
Why do these guys continue using agidi (sturbon head) instead of being remorseful & apologise.
why? Why? Why?

cheikh: esere826



[b]@^^ How do you adjudge him being "highly intelligent" chap? [/b]Everyday is for the thief but someday he/she will be exposed. He's Indian by birth so nothing surprises me-" the End justifies the means". That is their inherent philosophy to life and to everything else. Corruption is never far from their backyard. It can be attributed to some character flaw if we look at it holistically - his roots . I am not easily impressed by some pseudo-intellectual American wannabe Indian. He is certainly not the first nor the last. There is more in the pipe line from where he comes from. Academic qualifications for them is the easiest path/pary to get into the "act" just like Nigerians excelling in academia too(qualifications) without originality/creativity either.

Because I have seen and heard him talk critically about the falling standards of uncle sam. . . . . .I guess that is why the Almighty america is trying to pull him down.

GPS is my best TV program till date !

Another one bites the dust. Sad, really.

It remains Sanusi to be suspended.

Some of his analyses were interesting on the instances that I watched his show, but he seemed to be very invested in "proving" that America's greatness was a thing of the past and that the rest of the world was overtaking America to a degree that most other American pundits - even those on the far left - aren't. In light of this scandal, a lot of people on the political right that find out about it will probably be happy. But I didn't mind the guy so much. When he wasn't talking about America, his show was sometimes interesting.