One of the perils of blogging is that it makes plagiarism easy, but one of the perks is that you easily catch the culprit. Now what?
Take the case of Niranjana Iyer, who is an Indian blogger based in Ontario, Canada. You can read her post on the issue here. But Niranjana’s post, which came to my notice (via @twilightfairy) on Twitter, clearly shows how Ms. Damayanti Datta plagiarised her post. Apparently, this is not the first time, that Ms. Datta has plagiarised, she did it for another story before.
Why am I writing about this case?
First of all, when I checked out Niranjana’s blog I read few of her published stories and I couldn’t stop. I was compelled to write about the incident, because she is a sensitive writer whose writing touched my heart.
Second, despite the fact that Canada and India are oceans apart, it was quite easy to find out about the incident. This also shows that the readers are aware and they are reading both the online and the mainstream press. It also points out to the issue of “Crisis of accountability” that Jay Rosen mentioned in his talk.
The worst aspect of this scenario is that I loved reading India Today while I was in India and it is indeed a leading Indian magazine (atleast to my knowledge). I still read it once in a while to keep in touch with the important issues back home. I am also using story from India Today in my dissertation as reference. The magazine has built a reputation over several years and this one mistake can ruin it’s reputation.
It is really sad but it’s important to create awareness and I want you to judge for yourself.
