Letter from the Editor: Plagiarism in the October 21 Issue of The Hill News

It was recently brought to my attention by a student reader that an article published in this week’s issue of The Hill News titled “Tsabedze ’20 Responds to “Not All Trump: A Conservative’s Take on Immigration” was partially plagiarized from a well-known clip from the season one premiere of HBO’s critically acclaimed show The Newsroom. In this clip, Jeff Daniels’ Will McAvoy delves into the statistics and examples that debunk the popular myth that America is the greatest country in the world. It appears that our writer has used the same or very similar words and structure to support her own argument, with little distinction in her reiteration of these facts and without crediting The Newsroom as source material. This is evident in a cursory comparison of the two.

Unfortunately, amidst strict deadlines, multiple article drafts, last minute submissions, and the endurance effort that is laying out a streamlined final project in only a few hours on Wednesday nights, things do get overlooked. We find typos in titles, we misspell bylines, and we forget to change the date on new issues. Though this does not excuse us for our most recent oversight, we hope it suffices as a humble admittance that we are not without flaws.

This flaw is particularly regrettable, and I would like to sincerely apologize to our readership on behalf of the entire Hill News staff for failing to recognize our mistake before sending a final product off to the printers on Thursday morning. However, I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the student who held us accountable for this mistake for taking time to draft a detailed and articulate email to me explaining his concerns. It is a stark reminder of the high standard to which our community holds us as journalists and editors. We owe it to our engaged and active readership to be better. We hope that you continue to read our product, enjoy it, check it, and respond to it when you feel so compelled.