Update on Mayenne Carmona’s Plagiarism
- August 15th, 2008
- Posted in Blog-o-sphere . Boohoo!
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Last week I wrote about the indicative plagiarism that happened in Philippine Star. Afterwhich, I sent an email to the editor and provided the link to the original article in New York Times, for them to compare the obvious ‘copying’ made by one of their writers, Mayenne Carmona. Till date, the editor never responded through an email. However, as I was checking the online version of the related article since then, I am relieved that it was already taken out/deleted since last week.
I don’t mind not being responded by the editor. But the mere fact that they deleted the article was more than an acknowledgment of their shortcomings (rather than saying a big fault by the editor, the writers are presumably writing in good faith) and irresponsible writing.
Until yesterday, I got a comment from Bette, one of the readers of this blog. She wrote,
because of this post, inabangan ko tuloy if she will say something. aba! last sunday, she wrote a very short apology in her column. you might want to check it out.
The Philippine Star and other local broadsheets from the Philippines are not available in UAE. Hence, I have no idea how the very short apology in Mayenne Carmona’s column went out. So if you have the means to track what she actually wrote in last sunday’s issue, you may refer to it (and share with us).
I have nothing against Philippine Star and Mayenne Carmona. It’s just that I regularly read New York Times (where she copied an article), and I occasionally browse Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star and other broadsheets’ online version. Regardless of the newspaper, I will do the same. I’m no professional writer but just a blogger enjoying my little space in the blogosphere. But I think it’s my (and yours, too) responsibility ‘to police’ anything that is too obvious to miss.
But I must say, that because of that ‘copying’ made by Mayenne Carmona, I sort of doubted her previous writings. I mean, how much of those were sugarcoated? Generally, it didn’t only affect Ms. Carmona. But the impression on Philippine Star itself, other broadsheets, and to top it all, all the Filipino writers.
Whether we are writers, professional bloggers, or not, I hope we all learned something from this. It wouldn’t hurt to be responsible in action and in words.
Cheers from up the road … ps – The bulgogi was heavenly!! I agree 
hehe, that was really cool of you!!!
i don’t read the philippine star by the way, way too many ads. and if you’ve heard about dj montano and the gucci gang, well, most of them “write” for said broadsheet. ok, so much about my “gossip”.
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There is no excuse for plagiarism. It simply shows that the need to take another’s material and show it off as one’s own proves one’s lack of original thought. I’m glad you did what you did. Too many people feel like they can get away with it.
Sintas last blog post..My elephant dress…
thanks for the update. it’s good to know that she apologized, but after that incident, i have lost respect for this writer. i mean, when you’re in college, how many times do your professors warn you about plagiarism? all the time. i hope she learned her lesson.
great job, and thanks for being so keen on the materials you read.
the article’s still there if you search the archives by author. but they have deleted the negative comment posted on it regarding the plagiarism. the paper’s response is still inadequate, but i think the damage to the author’s reputation is enough for her to learn her lesson
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GOOD JOB! You did the right thing!
Nicas last blog post..Ganado!
I’m just wondering. In literary circle, how come we react unfavorably if someone copied word for word or sugarcoat works written by another author, but in visual arts, people “sugarcoat” concept done by other artists yet we don’t respond negatively. To cite examples; Remember Michael Jackson’s MTV where people’s faces changes seamlessly? How many times have you seen that in ad commercials? How many paintings done by different artists are similar to Pollock’s style of painting? Funny isn’t it?
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Way to go, that would give her (Ms. Carmona) something worth thinking about! I want to read that apology.
I still have no idea how the apology came out in the broadsheets. I hope anyone who have means to check it/have checked it can share with us.
Good catch! I don’t read the Philippine Star but like you, I do read and subscribe to the New York Times. Our papers back home can learn a thing or two from the Times regarding in-depth and analytical reporting.
In my humble opinion, although the Editor did delete Ms. Carmona’s work, a public apology should have been made too. It was a disservice to both the paper and to the reading public that a plagiarized article was presented as “original” work.
The same rules apply to blogging. Outside of personal experience, a lot of the things we know come from the things we’ve either read or seen. If we are to share such facts to our readers, we either need to cite the source or marry them with our own analysis.
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I like very much the writings and pictures and explanations in your adress so I look forward to see your next writings. I congratulate you.
thanks for posting this. its a good POV
i think the national dailies here are not too quick to give a slap in the hand to writers who have committed plagiarism. it’s only when a significant lot of people raise a howl about it that they finally (laggardly) issue an apology. it’s good that there are people like you who take the extra step to bring this to the attention of a broadsheet like philippine star and that there is such a thing as blogging nowadays. boo to plagiarists.
i guess this article is about “whom not to marry”, right? i wanted to write something about that in my blog and i was doing some research on google and i found the nytimes article too! tsk tsk tsk, bad.
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Yes. The copying was too obvious. Thanks for visiting!
cheating or plagiarism is not new among filipino journalists because majority of them just do a copy and paste. hello..each of us has a common knowledge. no doubt many trespassed.
Plagiarism is rampant. Some of the plagiarists play the game of “catch me if you can”. It just so happened this one was too obvious not to be catched.
I’ve no idea how the response went out. I hope you can share with us.
Thanks, Nica.
In paintings, MTVs, movies, etc. there is a presumed tolerable similarity of concepts. It becomes tolerable depending on the effort made to make even a little difference. But in writings, it’s generally cheating when someone plagiarized. It’s remote to have two minds speaking the same thing so ‘verbatim’. In this case, Ms. Carmona used and imitated the language and thoughts of Ms. Dowd and represented it as her own original work.
Since she is a professional writer, what happened is a clear breach of journalistic ethics.
Thanks, Kayni. I think she learned her lesson(for awhile?). Let’s see if she will stop copying na. I’ve tried reading some of her previous articles and I kind of ‘not feeling her’. Credibility is so important.
Yeah, I read Brian Gorrell’s blog on its first week. But I can’t stand the too much gossiping and exposes. I read Philippine Star because it still has good columnists like Jessica Zafra, Cecile Zamora and of course, I like Jim Paredes’ “Humming the Universe”.
It’s about respecting each other’s writings. I think it’s not going to hurt to mention the source (or link back for online version). Shame on writers that are being paid just to do ‘copying’.
Such a shame to have a plagiarist in a known broadsheet. Thanks for visiting.