The owner of The Anchor Weekly in Chestermere, Alberta, has resigned as editor after several accusations of plagiarism, reports Daniel MacEachern of The Telegram of St. John's, Newfoundland. Steve Jeffrey was accused by American humor writer George Waters of plagiarizing more than 40 columns in the past year from 14 different writers. Waters told Andrew Beaujon of The Poynter Institute that he read all of Jeffrey's 52 weekly columns from 2011 and found 42 of them were stolen from other writers, the most frequent of which was Tennessee humorist Sheila Moss.
Jeffrey sent an email to the Calgary Herald which said: "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." He did not respond to MacEachern's requests for comment. Since he owns the Anchor, it's unclear what his resignation means for the paper.
MacEachern was able to contact Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association president Ossie Sheddy, who wouldn't say whether or not the association was investigating the matter. Jeffrey is a member of the board of the AWNA and the Anchor is a member paper. Sheddy told MacEachern he doesn't "give quotes for fear of being misquoted." MacEachern asked him if his refusal to be interviewed showed a lack of confidence in newspaper reporting. Sheddy, editor and publisher of the Drumheller Mail, told him: "I can’t say anything about newspaper reporting or confidence in it. I can only say I have confidence in my newspaper reporting, not about anybody else’s." (Read more)
Jeffrey sent an email to the Calgary Herald which said: "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." He did not respond to MacEachern's requests for comment. Since he owns the Anchor, it's unclear what his resignation means for the paper.
MacEachern was able to contact Alberta Weekly Newspaper Association president Ossie Sheddy, who wouldn't say whether or not the association was investigating the matter. Jeffrey is a member of the board of the AWNA and the Anchor is a member paper. Sheddy told MacEachern he doesn't "give quotes for fear of being misquoted." MacEachern asked him if his refusal to be interviewed showed a lack of confidence in newspaper reporting. Sheddy, editor and publisher of the Drumheller Mail, told him: "I can’t say anything about newspaper reporting or confidence in it. I can only say I have confidence in my newspaper reporting, not about anybody else’s." (Read more)
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