By: Todd Pitman, Associated Press Writer (AP) The Seattle Times says business columnist and Associate Editor Stephen H. Dunphy has resigned after admitting he plagiarized the work of other journalists.
The resignation was reported Sunday by Michael R. Fancher, executive editor, in his "Inside The Times" column. The resignation follows an internal investigation.
Dunphy, a 37-year employee of the newspaper, had written a business column since 1993 and was named associate editor in June 2003.
"I took careless shortcuts that in the end constituted plagiarism," the newspaper quoted Dunphy as saying Friday. He apologized to owners of the Times, "to Times readers and to my former colleagues for the betrayal of the trust placed in me."
A reader had pointed out that a Jan. 19, 1997, story by Dunphy contained seven paragraphs originally published in the Journal of Commerce's AirCommerce Special on March 25, 1996. The stories discussed expansion of airports in Asia.
Dunphy said he did not recall what happened but agreed the Journal should have been credited, the newspaper said.
A similar incident occurred in April 2000, when Dunphy used -- also without attribution -- several anecdotes and some language from the book "About This Life" by Barry Lopez, the Times reported Sunday.
Dunphy brought that matter to the attention of Times editors after it was raised with him by someone at his church, the newspaper said, and wrote a letter to Lopez.
"My only defense, and it is a lame one, is that it was unintentional," he wrote, adding, "I lost track of what I had from where."
A letter of reprimand was placed in his personnel file after that incident, the newspaper said Sunday. Editors concluded the incident was a mistake but "made clear that any future transgression would not be tolerated," Fancher wrote.
After learning about the 1997 incident, the Times said it reviewed 25 Dunphy stories written since 2000 using an online research database and no other instances of plagiarism were found.
However, investigative reporter David Heath conducted a recent search, using a different method and looking for what he described as "phrasing that was unique," according to the Times. He found another 1997 story and two from 2004 that raised questions.
When faced with that material, Dunphy resigned, the newspaper said.
He cited the pressure of writing news articles in addition to five columns a week. "The plagiarism represented in these cases came from taking shortcuts -- to get the story done, to get the information to readers," Dunphy said.
A graduate of Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Dunphy went to work at The Kansas City (Mo.) Star in 1960 and came to the Times in 1967. He studied economics and business journalism in a fellowship program at Columbia University in 1975 and was business editor of the Times in 1977-1981 and again in 1983-1993.
The Times is continuing its investigation, Fancher wrote.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here