Netherlands flag.
European news outlets have accused freelance journalist Peter Blasic of plagiarism and unverifiable sources, the Associated Press reported.
Dutch news outlet Nieuwe Revu retracted 27 of his articles because it can’t verify his sources. It listed the articles here.
Dutch news magazine HP/De Tijd found plagiarism in “seven of his 302 articles from 2014 to 2017.” The site noted that it found the plagiarism back in late 2017 but didn’t “make the case public” at the time since he denied it and he was “a novice, inexperienced ‘journalist.'”
Belgian news site Knack.be reported it couldn’t find some of his sources or verify quotes in the six articles he wrote for it. iMediaEthics has written to the three sites for more information. Knack’s editor, Jago Kosolosky, declined to comment on the record.
Nieuwe Revu‘s Jonathan Ursem told iMediaEthics it learned of the problems through De Groene Amsterdammer‘s reporting, but Blasic denies the claims.
Blasic “also works as a civil servant in the southern Dutch town of Roermond,” the AP noted. iMediaEthics has not found any social media or any website for Blasic through Google.
CORRECTION - January 25, 2019 2:26 PM
We incorrectly said Nieuwe Revu is Belgian; it’s Dutch. We regret the error.
1/29/2019 12:42 PM: Our Jan. 25 correction amended the story to correctly say Nieuwe Revu is Dutch, but our correction text at the bottom of the story originally inaccurately said Danish. Nieuwe Revu is Dutch!
