Former NY Times Editor Jill Abramson Called Out for Apparent Plagiarism in Her New Book

Jill Abramson, the former executive editor of The New York Times, said she will “review” her new book after journalists called out apparent plagiarism in at least one part of it.

Vice News correspondent Michael Moynihan posted multiple screenshots of Abramson’s new book “Merchants of Truth: Inside the News Revolution,” highlighting passages that appear to be entirely lifted from a number of other sources.

The screenshots show that numerous passages in just one part of the book, focusing on Vice News, were nearly identical parts of reports about the news outlet in The New Yorker, the Columbia Journalism Review, and even a Master’s thesis paper.

Moynihan wrote that he found the blatant examples of plagiarism while fact-checking her book.

"While trying to corroborate certain claims, I noticed that it also contained...plagiarized passages," he tweeted.

He added that an early copy of the book included glaring errors, only some of which had been corrected prior to publishing.

Abramson denies plagiarism on Fox News:

Abramson appeared to be blindsided by the allegations when she appeared on Fox News to promote the book.

Abramson said she had no comment on the allegations but host Martha MacCallum pressed on, noting that Abramson was “going to be asked to respond.”

"I certainly didn't plagiarize in my book,” Abramson said, adding that she included "70 pages of footnotes" at the end "showing where I got the information."

MacCallum asked if Abramson forgot to insert footnotes in the areas she is accused of plagiarizing.

"No, I don't think it's an issue at all," Abramson replied.

"Many people from Vice have been taking issue with the book it seems...I think they don't like the portrayal of Vice,” she added.

Abramson says she will “review” her book:

After outright denying the allegations on Fox News, Abramson said on Twitter that she would review the passages Moynihan cited while taking another shot at Vice.

“The attacks on my book from some @vicenews reflect their unhappiness with what I consider a balanced portrayal,” she wrote. “I endeavored to accurately and properly give attribution to the hundreds of sources that were part of my research. I take seriously the issues raised and will review the passages in question.”

 

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