INDY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE NEWSPAPER HIGHLIGHTING ARTS, ENTERTAINMENT AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

‘Indianapolis Star’ admits publishing plagiarized story

The Indianapolis Star has reported that the paper published a story in its Oct. 28 sports section that copied without attribution large portions of an ESPN.com article published Sep. 10. The Star article, “‘James Gang’ sells tickets for opponents,” was printed under the byline of Assistant Sports Editor Dave Lewandowski but mimicked the prior article by ESPN.com writer Darren Rovell. Both stories dealt with Cleveland Cavaliers rookie LeBron James’ appearances affecting NBA ticket revenue. “All I can tell you is he no longer works here,” said Star Editor and Vice President Dennis Ryerson, when asked about Lewandowski. “These things are very serious issues in our industry. I know people with different philosophies may quibble over sources and attribution, but this was pretty cut and dried.” A message left at Lewandowski’s home seeking comment was not returned. Last September, NUVO reported that The Indianapolis Star’s front-page headline story of Sep. 6, 2002 on the World Basketball Championships had Lewandowski’s byline, but contained several paragraphs that mirrored those contained in an Associated Press article by a different writer (“The Sincerest Form of Flattery,” NUVO, Sep. 11, 2002). When NUVO informed Star Assistant Managing Editor for Sports Tim Wheatley of that situation, Wheatley investigated and told NUVO that the lack of attribution to AP was not intentional. The Star published a small correction the next day. Ryerson announced the current Lewandowski situation in a “To Our Readers” note on a lower corner of the front page of The Star’s Nov. 1 sports section. Patrick McKeand, publisher of the IUPUI Sagamore and an adjunct professor of journalism at IUPUI, said The Star handled the most recent plagiarism situation correctly. “I do have to compliment The Indianapolis Star for recognizing the ethical and credibility concerns this sort of plagiarized reporting and writing provokes and for taking action on the matter,” McKeand said. “With all the online access to information available in today’s world, it is absolutely critical for editors — and educators, journalism and otherwise — to use all the resources at our disposal to guard against plagiarism.” Star editor Ryerson told NUVO he was aware of the September 2002 incident involving Lewandowski, and said he believes that situation was handled appropriately. Ryerson confirmed that The Star has investigated past stories by Lewandowski, but declined to say if other plagiarized stories were discovered.