Reporter, Head of NABJ Chapter, Fired for Plagiarism
On the same weekend as the Jayson Blair book was released, a reporter for Georgia’s Macon Telegraph who is also president of the Middle Georgia Association of Black Journalists was fired for plagiarism.
“A Telegraph reporter was fired Friday after editors were notified of similarities between a story he wrote in October 2003 and one that previously appeared in the San Diego Union-Tribune,” begins a story by Charlie Lanter in today’s Macon paper.
Khalil Abdullah, “who covered education for The Telegraph, admitted Saturday that he had copied material from other newspapers but said he was unsure why he did it.
“Editors are still investigating stories written by Abdullah since he began working for The Telegraph in September 2002. By Saturday evening, they had found 20 stories written by Abdullah that contained passages and quotes that appeared to be copied from stories in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times, Washington Post, Baltimore (Md.) Sun, New York Times and other newspapers.” Editor Sherrie Marshall “said she was calling editors of those newspapers to apologize,” the story continued.
“Friday was not the first time Abdullah left a newspaper under a cloud. He acknowledged Saturday having left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram after being accused of copying material from another publication. . . .
“The Middle Georgia Association of Black Journalists issued a statement Saturday condemning what Abdullah had done and commending The Telegraph’s ‘quick and decisive action.’ Abdullah was president of the organization but resigned immediately, according to the statement.” The association is a chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists. Abdullah said in the story that he would leave the newspaper business.
Marshall, who had been deputy managing editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, was named to the top editorial job at the Macon paper in 2001. When Mike McQueen joined the paper Feb. 2 as managing editor, the Knight Ridder paper became one of the very few dailies with African Americans in the top two editorial positions.
