Bob Ingle

Plagiarism is a bit like pornography - you know it when you see it, to paraphrase US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart. 

But is the standard the same for bloggers? Given most blogs informal and causal tones, should bloggers be held to the same ethical standards of newspapers?

For some news organizations, "borrowing ideas" is OK, but not the "direct words".  For others, it is "one of journalism's unforgivable sins".
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Case in point, if I was writing this for a newspaper, I would have probably written:  For some news organizations like the Detroit Free Press, "borrowing ideas...is considered fair journalistic practice", but "words directly quoted from sources other than the writer's own reporting should be attributed."  For others like the Grand Forks Herald, it is "one of journalism's unforgivable sins", according to published excerpts on plagiarism by the Committee of Concerned Journalists.

When it comes to BPU President Jeanne Fox’s reappointment, Gannett’s Bob Ingle and Gregory Volpe have been working overtime.

Based on recent coverage, it appears the Gannett chain is the only NJ newspaper paying close attention to the current storyline about Fox’s day-in-court-defense to a whistle blower complaint and the pending Senate review of her reappointment as Board President.

It’s no surprise when shock jocks display poor behavior. The problem starts when their antics infect the newsroom.

At the recent 101.5-incited Statehouse rally protesting the Gov’s EZ Pass to getting the State out of debt, we saw both extremes.

It’s fair game when commentators want to use their airtime to grumble about government. It’s probably even OK if they want to stage a protest rally with their rabid listeners as a Greek chorus.

Despite being linked to a federal probe of no-bid contracts at the University of Medicine and Dentistry, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant does not appear to have any major obstacles in his bid for re-election to a seventh term next year. It appears that the Camden County Democratic Committee is prepared to support him for re-election, and the backing of the powerful party organization (there last seriously contested primary in Camden was in 1979) would virtually assure his re-election. "There isn't any groundswell against him here... just in the editorial board room at Gannett and at Bob Ingle's keyboard," said one key Camden Democrat.