Oakland Press Executive Editor Glenn Gilbert has apologized to the Washington Examiner for a “word-for-word usage of material” from a Dec. 6 Examiner article, according to an article on the website of the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank based in Florida.
Andrew Beaujon wrote Gilbert had earlier told Examiner Managing Editor/Digital Jennifer Peebles: “You’re not going to get an apology” and said his usage of the story, by Zack Colman, was “fair use.”
Reached by email, Gilbert told Poynter “If the accepted standard is use of direct quotes then I should have done that.”
“I define plagiarism as claiming material as your own when it is not — basically the failure to atttribute,” he wrote. “I used three separate attributions as sources of my material, and verified its accuracy from other sources. Except for one paragraph, I feel it is clear to the reader the material is from the Examiner, and is mostly statement of established fact.”
Gilbert oversees the Oakland Press and group editor of all 21st Century newspapers in Michigan, including the News-Herald Newspapers in Southgate. He has announced he plans to retire.
