You be the editor: an ethical dilemma
March 23, 2010
Being an editor requires using good ethics in addition to correct grammar — we’re taught to attribute statements to their rightful owners, not to plagiarize, etc. Given this situation, what would you do?
An employee who has been thrown into producing PR pieces, but who doesn’t have a strong writing background, turns in a press release about a recent charity event the company sponsored. In addition to numerous grammatical errors and factual errors, a check of the charity’s Web site shows that paragraphs from the release are lifted straight from the homepage. This isn’t the first time this writer has made major mistakes, and this person doesn’t like to admit to being wrong. The piece is on deadline set to go to the CEO next in the route. What do you do to address what looks like plagiarism?
a) Take the piece back to the writer and find out what happened.
b) Write down your concerns, but pass along the piece so the higher-ups can see the writer’s work and be aware of potential problems.
c) Other (let me know your solution)
