Saturday 20 August 2011

'Left struggling for words'

Yesterday, freelance journalist Rob Hastings tweeted:


The newsroom in question was the Independent's and his article appeared in that paper today:

There's a stink in the cheese world, and it smells unedifyingly of chicken tikka masala.

The Blur bassist Alex James, formerly a darling of the dairy community as a past winner at the British Cheese Awards, has astonished food critics by launching a supermarket range aimed at the family market, with flavours including curry, tomato ketchup and sweet chilli.


It's a far cry from Little Wallop, his goat's cheese wrapped in vine leaf and washed in Somerset cider brandy, which was a winner with judges in 2008. Even the cheesemaker who created it with him has been left struggling for words.

The article obviously went down well with the people at MailOnline, as Daily Mail Reporter soon produced an article on the same subject:

There's a stink in the cheese world, and it smells of chicken tikka masala.

Blur bassist Alex James, a past winner at the British Cheese Awards, has come up with the unusual creations including curry, tomato ketchup and sweet chilli.


It's a far cry from Little Wallop, his goat's cheese wrapped in vine leaf and washed in Somerset cider brandy, which was a winner with judges in 2008.

Even the cheesemaker who created it with him has been left struggling for words.

Indeed, Daily Mail Reporter 'produced' almost exactly the same article on the same subject.

Hastings continued with some quotes from:

Juliet Harbutt, an expert in the field and the founder of the British Cheese Awards, did her diplomatic best to contain her distaste at the prospect.

And:

Jeremy Bowen of the high-end artisan cheese sellers Paxton and Whitfield was supportive of the Alex James Presents line, which will be available solely at Asda from Monday.

Daily Mail Reporter also 'got' some quotes:

Juliet Harbutt, an expert in the field and the founder of the British Cheese Awards, did her diplomatic best to contain her distaste at the prospect.

And:
Jeremy Bowen of the high-end artisan cheese sellers Paxton and Whitfield was supportive of the Alex James Presents line, set to hit Asda shelves from Monday.

When Helen Lewis-Hasteley pointed out the 'similarities', Hastings tweeted:

(Hat-tip to Helen Lewis-Hasteley)

UPDATE: The MailOnline article was re-written and updated at 1.20pm. It now acknowledges the Independent as the source of the quotes.

3 comments:

  1. Why is plagiarism seen as acceptable by editors? Even the (admittedly ineffectual) PCC have nothing in the Code of Practice regarding plagiarism.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So shameless it's both terrifying and amusing

    ReplyDelete
  3. If I submitted a university paper full of other people's work, with no citations, I would be found guilty of serious academic malpractice, and would find my place on the course under threat.

    For Daily Mail "journalists" however, it is merely a way to fill column inches.

    ReplyDelete

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