Plagiarism Pays

Who says cheaters never prosper?

Ordinarily, one incident of serious plagiarism alone would be enough to end your journalism career. (See: Jayson Blair and Janet Cooke for prime examples.) Thanks to the Knight Foundation, that was enough to get a check bigger than most people will see in a lifetime for speaking at Knight's Media Learning Seminar this week on Februay 12.

Initially, the foundation was proud of its efforts, running a story that detailed the event, mentioning that "Lehrer broke the basic code of journalism." And there was also this: "There are important lessons here for all of us as decision makers and supporters of information projects," the story quoted Knight Foundation President Alberto Ibargüen saying.

Their story changed when news got out about how ridiculous their actions had been -- paying Lehrer $20,000 to speak. In an interview with The Huffington Post, Ibargüen defended the incident but didn't question that "some people are still angry and feel he should be punished."

This from Knight which claims it "supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts."

When is lying not lying? When it's "transformational."