Noelle McCarthy
November 26th, 2008 at 4:27 pm by David FarrarThe Sunday Star-Times did a large and prominent story on Noelle McCarthy and raised issues about whether some of her verbal on air essays were too similiar to articles from various European newspapers.
I’m possibly somewhat biased on this issue as the GPS system in my car is called Noelle, but I think David Cohen’s blog on this issue is very apt:
we feel like offering a bit of solidarity towards Noelle McCarthy over the media treatment she received this past weekend, when a small number of her articles and columns were deemed of sufficiently compelling interest by the Sunday Star-Times to warrant a manifestly overlong story on their purported similarities with a number of previously published British pieces.
Despite having spent the better part of a week poring over McCarthy’s efforts, reporter Kim Knight came up with nothing more earth-shattering than the fact that McCarthy reads fairly widely when it comes to British papers, and yes, she had probably been a bit naughty in riffing a little too hard on a few of their recent reports. But did that pretty inconsequential discovery justify anything more than a small aside in a media column?
Cohen has written a lot on plagiarism:
As it happens, we’ve spent some effort in the past looking at real plagiarism scandals — you know, the ones involving entire chapters of books, existing scholarly essays and questions of wholesale academic integrity — and we’ve also ribbed McCarthy from time to time over other matters.
And David has shown, at the link he provides, that he has and will ping McCarthy when she deserves it. He also pings me often when I deserve it 
Bus his conclusion here:
Involving as it does just a few words and the odd phrase here and there, this latest one simply doesn’t make the serious cut. Especially not in a country where slapping new intros on to a press release and running the lot as a news piece is standard fare among many overworked reporters.
There is a fine line between when you do and do not need to attribute, and Noelle was probably on the wrong side of that line with a couple of her on air pieces, but as Cohen says I don’t think it warranted such a big story, and you do wonder if the fact she also writes a column for the SST’s rival newspaper was a factor.
Related posts:
- Even Noelle McCarthy takes the piss
- SST editor made redundant
- SST online edition three weeks out of date
- Quoting newspapers
November 26th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
I don’t like the woman’s shameless methods, and haven’t for a few years, so I’m bias, but I was shocked to see the so called “…just a few words and the odd phrase here and there…”
I’m sure not even a blog commenter would try to get away with that sort of thing. Oh wait yes I have seen it done once here, forget who by, but it was exposed rapidly and rightly loudly denounced. In a world where authors try to sue over similar ideas, that whole sentences are exactly the same and in the same context makes it a serious infringement.
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
“But did that pretty inconsequential discovery justify anything more than a small aside in a media column?”
Like for example the fake allegations against Ann Coulter? I don’t buy into this “give the sweet young Irish thing a go” bullshit. She’s just another main stream media commie pumping out poison and who is like most of her Herald colleagues, one of those fast driving the newspaper industry into bankruptcy. ..and if these are the standards they tolerate, they deserve it.
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
What has she said about Ann Coulter?
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
” … and yes, she had probably been a bit naughty in riffing a little too hard on a few of their recent reports”.
The sort of standards you expect in a country where the PM signs other people’s paintings and passes them off as her own. (No pecuniary benefit, of course, just a chance to engender misplaced gratitude and polish one’s ego.)
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
“What has she said about Ann Coulter?”
Sorry Lee. Didn’t mean to imply that. Coulter was falsley accused of plagiarism some time ago and the mainstream media sprayed it full blast for weeks.
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
If I was cynical I would suggest it has more to do with rumours about her possibly being in line for Sean PLunket’s role at RNZ, or that she might take over from Jim Mora.
To my mind she is a lightweight and her on air performance on Election Night amply demonstrated it, note the put down from Jane Clifton http://adamsmith.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/10119/ or Coddington http://adamsmith.wordpress.com/2008/11/16/10056/
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
If she’s nicking stuff from the UK oress and thinks no-one will notice…
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
These are the same outraged lefties who hounded Bruce Logan out of his Maxim Institute job for the same offence…
I guess the National Radio posers and plagiarists operate to a different (lower) standard than that which they demand their “opponents” must meet.
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Did not US Vice President elect Biden get into trouble for quoting a speech by Neil Kinnock without acknowledging the source once. I seem to recall it cost him a shot at the (?) 1992 presidential nomination.
Vote:November 26th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
s.russell,
yes, I think your right, although in that particular case the worst crime would have been repeating anything Neil Kinnock said.
Vote:November 27th, 2008 at 10:06 am
On a scale of 1-10, Noelle’s infringements must rank about 0.05 I’m afraid.
What a lot of twaddle about nothing.
Do I have to give attribution to Bill Shakespeare every time I use one of the many words he invented?
What a storm in a teacup.
Vote:November 27th, 2008 at 10:38 am
Actually, I think she does have a case to answer, and the fact that RNZ says she has breached their editorial policy shows it.
I’ve never understood just why or how she has risen so far so fast. Apart from her pretty accent, I see very little sign of intelligent life. And her election night performance confirmed that .
If she had a thick kiwi nasal accent I bet she wouldn’t have the job.
Vote:November 27th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Actually, have you noticed how we’re getting quite a few more “foreign-sounding” TV reporters on the news too.
It’s almost as if they think that someone with a pomme accent will lend more credibility to the items.
Are there not enough local-born journalism grads with the looks needed for TV?
Vote:November 27th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I don’t care what the accent is so long as it is intelligible. But I just think she hasn’t shown the journalistic cred to get where she has – I think it’s actually a bit of sexism and cultural cringe mixed together – “Pretty girl, pretty accent…job”
Vote:November 27th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
s.russell is right Joe Biden used sections of a Neil Kinnock Speech without attribution, but it was in his campaign for the 1988 election. But Neil Kinnock.
I think Mike S is probably correct in his assessment
aardvark no one expects you to attribute words Shakespeare invented, but I would suggest that where you quote a stanza or a famous line or two most people would attribute
As I understand it the real sin is she was passing off reviews and critiques as her own work, maybe thus confirming that she is not very bright.
Vote:November 29th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Just getting back on the subject, I think Noel is just another in a long line of irritatingly pretentious National Radio wimmin presenters – Catheryn Ryan being the glaring exception to this. I find her accent grating and forced.
I’ve only just starting listening to National Radio again after Jim and Catheryn started. Kim Hill is just appalling and just completely fails to listen to anything her victims say.
I hope that Noel isn’t being a warmed up for a permanent position because she is clearly a leftie and we have too many of those on our tax payer funded radio station for my liking!
Vote:November 29th, 2008 at 11:03 am
oh, another plagiarist in the NZ media, nothing to see here move along.
I see she has been slapped with a wet bus ticket and allowed to continue over summer. Good to see radio nz is retaining its standards of quality objective journalism (sic)
why do we keep importing this low skill shysters and then giving them pulpits. Radio NZ is the most boring and predictable radio station these days. Soft leftist mush 24/7. (when it isnt nasty aggressive leftist mush courtesy of Kim Hill).
The only thing worth listening to over summer is matinee idol, which is cheap and at least amusing.
Vote:December 2nd, 2008 at 8:54 am
Come on!!!
Vote:Stealing other peoples work… is just that.
It is a JOURNALISTIC STANDARD to have INTEGRITY in your works.
I always thought Noelles column etc. was a bit high hitting and try hard for a girl her age.
But now i have worked it out… she was ripping off senior writters from overseas!!
I certainly won’t be reading her column any more- in the back of my mind I’d be thinking, “where did she come up with this?” or “who really wrote this”!!!
July 10th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
Apart from blatant plagiarism, the young woman is a totally clueless bore.
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