Post by Teddy Bear on Sept 14, 2011 21:15:10 GMT
I must say I wasn't aware of this story until today, though I have heard the name of this journalist as one of the many left-wingers abounding in our media world, and a writer for the Independent - not my choice of reading. 
Apparently he was discovered to have plagiarised various material as well as gone under a pseudonym to edit various Wikipedia as well as to attack critics online. So I read today on the BBC website that The Independent's Johann Hari returns Orwell Prize in which they tell us that Johann Hari said he was returning the Orwell Prize (A Political Journalist Award) as an 'act of contrition' and that he has been suspended for the time being from The Independent pending further investigation.
I note that the BBC article allows Hari to present himself in the best possible light, something that I'm sure they wouldn't entertain if it was James Murdoch for example, so clearly they want to clear this man and make him look as good as possible.
So researching a little further into this story I suddenly find that back in July the Telegraph ran this story Johann Hari: George Orwell prize 'stripping' announcement delays amid plagiarism row
Judges for one of Britain’s most prestigious journalism prizes have unanimously decided to strip an award given Johann Hari, the writer but have delayed an announcement after a plea from his newspaper.
I also see that even The Washington Post had ran this story back then, where they state quite clearly A spokesman for the Council of the Orwell Prize said “a clear and unanimous decision” has been reached to take the award for political journalism Hari won in 2008, though Hari did not have a chance to defend himself. The Independent has also suspended Hari and launched a plagiarism investigation.
So it appears the BBC want to make it look like because Hari is such an upright, ethical and moral guy, that might
have made a few errors in the way he communicated the source for his writings he felt his conscience was clear now he RETURNS this prize.
George Orwell must be turning in his grave - it's this kind of Ministry of Thought/Big Brother garbage he wrote about in his book 1984.
Here's the text of today's BBC article
A previous BBC article back in July gives Hari further airtime to make as complete a self-exoneration as possible following his suspension at the Independent. I notice they didn't report about the Orwell Prize Committee recalling their award.
BBC - looking after their own
Apparently he was discovered to have plagiarised various material as well as gone under a pseudonym to edit various Wikipedia as well as to attack critics online. So I read today on the BBC website that The Independent's Johann Hari returns Orwell Prize in which they tell us that Johann Hari said he was returning the Orwell Prize (A Political Journalist Award) as an 'act of contrition' and that he has been suspended for the time being from The Independent pending further investigation.
I note that the BBC article allows Hari to present himself in the best possible light, something that I'm sure they wouldn't entertain if it was James Murdoch for example, so clearly they want to clear this man and make him look as good as possible.
So researching a little further into this story I suddenly find that back in July the Telegraph ran this story Johann Hari: George Orwell prize 'stripping' announcement delays amid plagiarism row
Judges for one of Britain’s most prestigious journalism prizes have unanimously decided to strip an award given Johann Hari, the writer but have delayed an announcement after a plea from his newspaper.
I also see that even The Washington Post had ran this story back then, where they state quite clearly A spokesman for the Council of the Orwell Prize said “a clear and unanimous decision” has been reached to take the award for political journalism Hari won in 2008, though Hari did not have a chance to defend himself. The Independent has also suspended Hari and launched a plagiarism investigation.
So it appears the BBC want to make it look like because Hari is such an upright, ethical and moral guy, that might
have made a few errors in the way he communicated the source for his writings he felt his conscience was clear now he RETURNS this prize.George Orwell must be turning in his grave - it's this kind of Ministry of Thought/Big Brother garbage he wrote about in his book 1984.
Here's the text of today's BBC article
The Independent's Johann Hari returns Orwell Prize
Journalist Johann Hari is handing back a writing prize after an investigation into allegations he plagiarised quotes in his articles.
Mr Hari was suspended two months ago while The Independent newspaper investigated claims against him.
It says he has admitted "embellishment of quotations/plagiarism" and of using a pseudonym to attack critics online.
Mr Hari will return the Orwell Prize and take four months' unpaid leave as well as taking a journalism course.
In an online statement, the writer apologised to his readers, colleagues and "the people hurt by my actions".
"Although it has been a really painful process and will surely continue to be for some time, I think in the end I'll be grateful my flaws have also been dragged into the light in this way," he said.
Mr Hari admitted he had created a false username on Wikipedia to edit parts of his profile he did not like and also changed other people's profiles.
He said he stood by the articles that won him the prestigious Orwell Prize but was returning it as "an act of contrition" for his other mistakes.
"But this isn't much, since it has been reported that they are minded to take it away anyway," he added.
A spokesman for the award said the prize "was returned this afternoon by courier".
"The Orwell Prize accepts Hari's withdrawal," it added.
'Trial by Twitter'
The allegations against Mr Hari first surfaced in June when political blog DSG found an interview he wrote in 2004 which appeared to lift words from a 2003 book about Italian communist Toni Negri.
The editor of Yahoo! Ireland and blogger Brian Whelan then randomly selected another interview written by Mr Hari and searched through the quotes. Mr Whelan said he found the Independent interview with journalist Gideon Levy had used quotes from an article in Israel's Haaretz newspaper.
In response, Mr Hari admitted he took quotes from books and interviews by other journalists but said it was so that the reader "understands their point as clearly as possible".
He wrote on his blog: "I stress: I have only ever done this where the interviewee was making the same or very similar point to me in the interview that they had already made more clearly in print."
He said he had been subject to "to trial by Twitter" and wrote an apology published in the Independent.
Independent editor Chris Blackhurst announced on 12 July that the newspaper's co-founder, Andreas Whittam Smith, was conducting an internal investigation into the claims against Mr Hari.
Mr Hari, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in London, has also written for the New York Times, Le Monde, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Sydney Morning Herald.
Journalist Johann Hari is handing back a writing prize after an investigation into allegations he plagiarised quotes in his articles.
Mr Hari was suspended two months ago while The Independent newspaper investigated claims against him.
It says he has admitted "embellishment of quotations/plagiarism" and of using a pseudonym to attack critics online.
Mr Hari will return the Orwell Prize and take four months' unpaid leave as well as taking a journalism course.
In an online statement, the writer apologised to his readers, colleagues and "the people hurt by my actions".
"Although it has been a really painful process and will surely continue to be for some time, I think in the end I'll be grateful my flaws have also been dragged into the light in this way," he said.
Mr Hari admitted he had created a false username on Wikipedia to edit parts of his profile he did not like and also changed other people's profiles.
He said he stood by the articles that won him the prestigious Orwell Prize but was returning it as "an act of contrition" for his other mistakes.
"But this isn't much, since it has been reported that they are minded to take it away anyway," he added.
A spokesman for the award said the prize "was returned this afternoon by courier".
"The Orwell Prize accepts Hari's withdrawal," it added.
'Trial by Twitter'
The allegations against Mr Hari first surfaced in June when political blog DSG found an interview he wrote in 2004 which appeared to lift words from a 2003 book about Italian communist Toni Negri.
The editor of Yahoo! Ireland and blogger Brian Whelan then randomly selected another interview written by Mr Hari and searched through the quotes. Mr Whelan said he found the Independent interview with journalist Gideon Levy had used quotes from an article in Israel's Haaretz newspaper.
In response, Mr Hari admitted he took quotes from books and interviews by other journalists but said it was so that the reader "understands their point as clearly as possible".
He wrote on his blog: "I stress: I have only ever done this where the interviewee was making the same or very similar point to me in the interview that they had already made more clearly in print."
He said he had been subject to "to trial by Twitter" and wrote an apology published in the Independent.
Independent editor Chris Blackhurst announced on 12 July that the newspaper's co-founder, Andreas Whittam Smith, was conducting an internal investigation into the claims against Mr Hari.
Mr Hari, who was born in Glasgow but grew up in London, has also written for the New York Times, Le Monde, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Sydney Morning Herald.
A previous BBC article back in July gives Hari further airtime to make as complete a self-exoneration as possible following his suspension at the Independent. I notice they didn't report about the Orwell Prize Committee recalling their award.
BBC - looking after their own