I’m not sure if plagiarism is on the rise across the board, but I know I see it more regularly in my classes these days. I can count on at least one blatant rip-off paper per semester. I only teach two classes, so that’s a fairly high ratio.
I doubt most of my students read much outside of class, but if they are reading Ann Coulter’s latest screed, then maybe they’re copying her composition ethics as well as her myopic political views. There’s an old adage that “good writers copy; great writers steal.” If there’s any truth to that statement, I submit that the only thing Ann Coulter has, or ever will have, in common with great writers is that she’s a plagiarist. Unlike her, I’ll back up my claims with some sources:
- Here’s the New York Post story that broke the case.
- Here’s a nice video clip from Keith Olbermann’s show that covers the same sources and interviews the CEO of the plagiarism detection company that the Post hired to parse Ms. Coulter’s “works.” Includes some of the passages in question. You be the judge.
What I can say is that any one of the examples in the above interview would mean a grade of “F” for any freshman composition student and a trip to the department head’s office. Her syndicators and the publisher of her latest book have defended her. Remember that they have a vested interest in doing so. Any disinterested third party can see that the evidence only points to one conclusion.