The pressures of a 24/7 opinion moulder, and the fame and money that go with it, can lead even the most capable mind towards taking dishonest short cuts
The embarrassing revelation that international affairs pundit, Fareed Zakaria, had plagiarised in a recent Time magazine column raises questions about celebrity intellectualism and the punishing schedule of knowledge production under the media’s arc lights. Dr. Zakaria has apologised “unreservedly” for lifting portions of an essay written by a Harvard University professor in The New Yorker without attribution to the original source. Both Time and CNN revoked his temporary suspension shortly after his repentance, but that does not take away from the serious issue of intellectual integrity in public life.
This saga highlights demands placed on and taken up by well-placed columnists and television personalities who are expected to wax eloquent on varied issues at the drop of a hat. What is the basic rationale behind plagiarism? It is a form of dishonesty by cutting corners and trying to succeed either due to lack of time, knowledge or articulation power. For a person like Dr. Zakaria, who has distinguished academic training (he holds a PhD from Harvard) and is the author of acclaimed books, it is inconceivable that he plagiarised due to inadequate knowledge or shortage of the right words.
Academicians have to deal these days with mundane forms of plagiarism practised by students who have access to the copy-pasting luxury of the internet, and who cannot beat the bad habit despite repeated coaching about the nobility of using one’s own language and thoughts. At the stroke of a few keys of the computer, these web-savvy young people hope to cover up for their basic deficiencies in knowledge and inadequacy of reading through copying. To be sure, plagiarisers in high schools and colleges are also usually poor managers of their time, which may be frittered away in countless distractions, leaving them prone to the quick-fix of copy-pasting at the proverbial eleventh hour when assignments are due.
Fatigue factor
Even in the case of the highly accomplished Zakaria, there must have been a fatigue factor behind his stooping to such a low. He has a non-stop routine of penning columns for Time and The Washington Post, anchoring a weekly television show on CNN International, interviewing heads of state and business tycoons, and delivering lectures before universities, think tanks, business associations and global jamborees like the World Economic Forum.
The incriminating paragraph from his Time magazine column, which is almost identical to the original article in The New Yorker, is actually a purely factual one that lists dates when individual states in America adopted gun control laws. Dr. Zakaria did not borrow any big ideas of analytical nature, but merely reproduced verbatim some factoids. This goes on to buttress the argument that he was suffering from severe paucity of time and was unable to balance his conscience and the expectations of churning out brilliant opinions for the 24/7 news cycle.
A more damaging (though unproven) interpretation of what he has admitted to be a “terrible mistake” and “serious lapse” is that his Time magazine column, which is in the eye of the storm, may have been ghostwritten by some callous aide and that he simply signed off on it. It is an open secret that many global thought leaders, who dash from one megaphone public appearance to the next in an endless circuit, resort to fobbing off writings and speeches penned by faceless staffers as their own.
A previous accusation that he had delivered two identical addresses with hardly any difference in content to a graduating ceremony at Harvard and to a commencement event at Duke University has got wider circulation after the Time magazine scandal broke out. He has also been castigated for “quote-stealing” from The Atlantic magazine for a column he had written in Newsweek in 2009.
Given Dr. Zakaria’s extraordinary grasp over the state of the world, such acts of indiscretion can only be attributed to his propensity to take on many more assignments than he can do justice to. The lure of fame, as an opinion-moulder who has to give his two cents on every developing event, and possibly money — as a fee-charging star public speaker who cannot forego any lectern opportunity — is indeed a dangerous addiction.
Cases of leaders
But his minor acts of plagiarism pale before egregious cases like Karl-Theodor Guttenberg, the former Defence Minister of Germany, who was stripped of his PhD in 2011 by the University of Bayreuth for “substantially copying” from another source for his dissertation. Mr. Guttenberg was struggling at that time to juggle the twin act of simultaneously being a rising star as an elected member of the Bundestag (the German Parliament) and producing a doctoral thesis that was original. In April 2012, the then President of Hungary, Pál Schmitt, had his comeuppance when his university revoked his PhD for “direct translations” in 197 out of his 215-page thesis. Romania’s Prime Minister, Victor Ponta, is currently battling claims that “more than half” his PhD dissertation was plagiarised.
The essence of all these instances is that ambitious busybodies are desperate to pass off as superlative geniuses who can be practitioners, scholars, motivators and a lot more. Dr. Zakaria must be thankful for his already considerable achievements, reorder his commitments and return to what he excelled at — original analysis of the world.
As to the millions of students in schools and colleges who continue to fall back on plagiarism to somehow succeed and grapple with high academic standards, there are painful lessons to be learnt from these scandals of the famous. First, as Benjamin Franklin once said, honesty is the best policy. Even in a crassly materialistic and immoral ambience of contemporary society, where getting ahead by foul means is becoming normal, one must pause and realise that cheating at an early age in life is going to set a person up for a big fall. Second, there are no shortcuts to scholasticism, which rewards only those who read voraciously and take copious notes and annotations in the old fashioned way, even if the mediums have changed from paper and pencil to laptops and iPads.
Technology and access to the Internet should not become excuses for a pervasive culture of lying, which is the deeper meaning of plagiarism. I am advising my students of international affairs to be truthful and to stay clear of the “Zakaria trap,” even as they continue to follow and read his extraordinary writings.
(Dr. Sreeram Sundar Chaulia is a professor and dean at the Jindal School of International Affairs in Sonipat, Haryana.)
Keywords: Fareed Zakaria, plagiarism, Time magazine, intellectual property
Zakaria is brilliant and his busy schedule should be considered a testimony, I suppose. I
don't think his credentials needs yet another well oiled PR machine with help from the likes
of Dr Chaulia. The question is, did Fareed Zakaria's article have verbatim content from an
article authored by someone else, or, in other words is that article of Zakaria a case of
plagiarism? The answer is a vehement YES! Now the question to ask might be, was he even
aware that he had content from someone else's article? I assume he would if he had written
it. He has since apologized and so there rests the matter.
Now Dr Chaulia, please do not defend plagiarism. It is already rampant in Indian institutions
and your condoning such behavior does not bode well for the academia.
I think that Dr Zakaria has been the unfortunate target of a wolfish
media and that this entire affair is a mountain made out of a
molehill.
From what I read of the article in question, it simply quotes some
facts and figures. Common sense says there are only so many ways you
can rattle off statistics while keeping the read interesting. In these
days when speed is the key factor even while upholding brilliance, and
Dr Zakaria's unwritten task - to capture and maintain larger and
larger subscription levels for the organization he works in - surely
the definition of plagiarism needs to be reformed.
In academic circles there ought to be tight controls and constant
vigilance to stamp out plagiarism but Dr Zakaria doesn't currently
operate in strictly academic circles. In order that professionals like
him, who are brilliant academically but have the additional task of
delivering ON TIME BEFORE ANYONE ELSE, do not burn out the definition
of plagiarism needs to be relaxed.
Millions of people watch and listen to Fareed Zakaria on CNN. Hence, he is under pressure to produce the best. On the other hand, Dr. Chaulia, you are free from such burdens and hence you need not plagiarize.
"Dr. Zakaria did not borrow any big ideas of analytical nature, but merely reproduced verbatim some factoids." The word factoid refers to something that may not be true but is widely accepted as true because it is repeatedly quoted, especially in the media. Is Dr. Chaulia suggesting that the information quoted in mr. Zakaria's column is not true or is he suggesting that the information was unimportant?
The writer fails to take into account the astronomical salaries people
like Mr. Zakaria draw. The last thing an employer would want is for a
seven figure employee to produce sub-standard work.
The columnist, however busy he is, has an option to say that he cannot write this piece for lack of time. So the excuse that international columnists are too busy doesn't hold much water. In fact, one could argue that the so called columnists are paid such high remuneration to come up with good pieces in a short amount of time. There are bound to be lot more people out there who could write an equally good piece if given a few weeks or months of time. And in this particular case, lack of time is not the reason for lack of attribution as giving credit to the original author would have taken only a few words.
Again, the person in question having an Harvard education doesn't immediately put him above others in the field. If given the chance, even the most common student can come up with a multitude of excuses.
Without a doubt the best column I have read on this issue - Thank you Dr. Sreeram.
To me this was the clincher " The lure of fame, as an opinion-moulder who has to
give his two cents on every developing event, and possibly money... is indeed a
dangerous addiction." The love of power and money... it always that, isn't it?
Whatever excuses that you come up with does not justify what he did.
He is wrong and he admitted to it. You can't have double standards in
society. You may hold some people in higher esteem than others, but
that does not excuse the crimes that they commit.
To keep it simple, one should not go around pontificating if one
cannot stand by it. Lack of time, tightness of schedule, fatigue or
whatever excuse you come up with does not stand. If you can't manage
it, don't throw your name in the hat.
I am not surprised by the spread of plagiarism across levels in the society. Our media is chocked with lot of opinions on single issue with mutliple people. I am not sure how many of us read these in depth and compare with simillar article in some other news source, because we are living in a busy world and don't have time to pin point mistakes and give chance to correct the same.
In the present education system right from schooling till doctorate, students are adopting methodology how to avoid being caught on plagiarism grounds during evaluation of online assignments.
It is very difficult to give opinion on every issue happening under the sun on daily basis. So, many of us will take help on referring to journals and present the article in completion. It is always advisable to present the reference, the article will get credibility in addition to the author's popularity
Dr.chaulia has dealt at length on the recent tragic episode. When you read a lot, or write a
Lot, sometimes the ideas of other eminent people might creep in many times. As a former
Visiting faculty of a premier institution, I am stating this with all responsibility. We quote the
Famous speech of Antonty in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar in conversation and in
speeches involuntarily, and it will not be wise or prudent to make " a mountain out of a
Molehill" on that. In this case the Columnist of international repute, has apologized and both
Time and CNN have reviewed their decisions and shown the future pathway to Zakaria.
Magdalana MARIYAMMA repented for her dishonorable past life. She became pure on the
Concept of "PASCHATHAPAM PRAYASCHITHAM. Zakaria has apologized. HE HAS
BECOME PURE now. Let there be no further post mortem on the past. DR Zakaria, I feel
Should not be gunned further in life. He Should be allowed to live. GOOD WISHES TO
DR ZAKARIA.
Plagiarism is not a new phenomenon, so to present it as a problem of 'web-savvy young people' is misleading. For every young person who plagiarises, there is a teacher, mentor, an 'older person' who has plagiarised and who condones the acts of the students by not stopping them. In fact, students are rewarded - they are given marks to make it to the next level.
An upright person of impeccable integrity will never plagiarize, fatigue or not. This is the one occasion in which Zakaria was caught. That does not mean that this is the only time he did this. The premise that he in fact "earned" his advertised credentials ("For a person like Dr. Zakaria, who has distinguished academic training (he holds a PhD from Harvard) and is the author of acclaimed books, it is inconceivable that he plagiarised due to inadequate knowledge or shortage of the right words.") is very much in question. We simply do not have any information on whether his PhD is genuine, or whether Harvard has strict standards. These faulty premises create a sheen of acclaim (based only on labels and badges) whereas the underlying truth is what is patent. He is a cheat. In general people do not turn cheats late in life. It is a part of one's integrity. If he is found to have questionable integrity, the correct thing is to question other things of which we do not know.
Thank you Dr Chaulia for an insight into the life of celebrity columnists.
I agree with your view that Dr Zakaria is a brilliant scholar. Good luck to you in your mission to produce many similar scholars.
This article is making a mountain out of a molehill.
There is no need to re-invent wheel, when the one invented by another
person is already on hand. If Mr Fareed Zakaria was fascinated by the
views of another writer, he should have used them duly quoting source
instead of resorting to ‘cut and paste’ method that is being practiced
by most of the student community to get accomplish their projects.
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