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Daily Beast reporter resigns after plagiarism, at least 6 articles unpublished

Daily Beast reporter Lizzie Crocker resigned last month after being busted for plagiarism. Now, the Daily Beast has deleted at least six of her articles and replaced them with editor’s notes stating the articles broke the news site’s ethics and standards code.

Crocker’s Jan. 12 article, “How Katie Roiphe Became Feminism’s Nemesis-In-Chief,” has been replaced with a note reading, “Editors’ Note: The story published about author Katie Roiphe violated The Daily Beast’s Code of Ethics and Standards and has been removed.”

iMediaEthics wrote to the Daily Beast to ask how many articles have been replaced by editor’s notes, and if they are all because of plagiarism. iMediaEthics received a statement from editor John Avlon explaining:

“As The Daily Beast’s Code of Ethics and Standards makes clear – and our newsroom understands – plagiarism is unacceptable. When we first became aware of Lizzie Crocker’s plagiarism, we deleted the article in question with an editors’ note. Crocker offered to resign and her resignation was accepted. When further instances of plagiarism emerged, those stories were deleted as well. A larger investigation of her work at The Beast is underway. We take plagiarism seriously, and will not allow the hard-earned trust we’ve built with our millions of loyal readers to be compromised.”

New York Times Magazine contributing writer Thomas Chatterton Williams spotted the plagiarism, tweeting side-by-side comparisons of Crocker’s article with the Weekly Standard‘s Alice Lloyd’s article. iMediaEthics has tweeted Crocker.

In addition to Crocker’s article on Roiphe, the Daily Beast has deleted five other stories, iMediaEthics notes:

 

Crocker’s LinkedIn says that she started working for the Daily Beast in 2011.

Crocker hasn’t tweeted since before her resignation. iMediaEthics has tweeted her for her response to the editor’s notes and plagiarism accusations.

Hat Tip: Alex Griswol