CTRL-C, CTRL-V Journalism

Real reporting got'ya down? Too hard?

Not so! Especially with these handy Internets at our fingertips. Not when you can re-report the actual work done by actual reporters. Except would-be plagiarists are usually savvy enough to rewrite the copy and make a phone call of their own, even throw in a few "such and such told us in an exclusive interview."

Which makes for an entertaining (some might assert troubling?) lapse by Pasadena Now, as recounted by our Public Editor Lawrence of Wilson:

Rewriting someone else's stories is one thing. Simply stealing them word for word is another. We all know that the one-man-band news site Pasadena Now doesn't have much staff, whether in Bangalore or Pasadena. That's why they can't cover the news like a professional organization. It's tough all over, but our science and health writer Elise Kleeman, a Caltech grad and extraordinary professional journalist, worked hard recently to get the long covered-up story about a huge back-pay settlement Huntington Hospital has been ordered by a court to pay its nurses.

Here's a couple excerpts for comparison's sake -- Larry posted both stories in full.

From our by-lined story by science reporter Elise Kleeman:

Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin, who ruled in September that the hospital was attempting to dodge overtime laws, sided with the employees again in accepting their calculation of the underpaid wages.

Huntington lawyers had argued the restitution amount should be decreased by approximately $20 million.

The class-action lawsuit, filed by four former Huntington nurses, charged that the hospital failed to pay adequate overtime for 2,117 employees between 1999 and 2004.

"We're very pleased," said Joseph Antonelli, lawyer for the nurses. "I think it's going to be a landmark decision because there hasn't been a trial court decision on this issue before."

And from Now's "staff report:"

Superior Court Judge William MacLaughlin, who ruled in September that the hospital was attempting to dodge overtime laws, sided with the employees again in accepting their calculation of the underpaid wages.

Huntington lawyers had argued the restitution amount should be decreased by approximately $20 million.

The class-action lawsuit, filed by four former Huntington nurses, charged that the hospital failed to pay adequate overtime for 2,117 employees between 1999 and 2004.

"We're very pleased," said Joseph Antonelli, lawyer for the nurses. "I think it's going to be a landmark decision because there hasn't been a trial court decision on this issue before."

Score one for these fine, vast Interwebs!