Well, things seem to have been humming over at the Nation. Shortly after my email i’ve received a number of official communications from the Nation through a gentleman by the way of Charles Onyango-Obbo, who I understand is the Managing Editor in charge of products.
The Nation asked him to deal with the matter, and from the communication I have received from him he has been following up the matter diligently. They have gone some way in meeting the concerns raised vocally by you readers, as well as myself, and I am highly encouraged by the sincere responses
First off was this one, in response to the email I sent
To: M
M,
You are right, we should have taken steps to deal with this issue in a timely fashion on our end. We are going to publish an unqualified apology and fully credit the source of Clay’s article on Friday.
I will forward you an email detailing some of the internal decisions taken on this matter. We are sorry about this, and be assured that our editorial policy is unflinching on matters of plagiarism.
Charles Onyango-Obbo
Then, the more energetic of you seem to have had an effect! So for those who emailed the Nation (that I know of) including Mark, Sam, Tracy, and last but most definitely not least the tireless Truphena, rest in the knowledge that letters to editors actually get read
To: M
M,
There are people who have been very outspoken on this issue, one of them being Truphena Wilingiyama. Last Friday, we sent this in reply to several that she has posted our way over the Clay matter.
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2005 6:28 PM
To: ‘Truphena Wilingiyama’
Cc: Muganda Clay; Betty Muriuki; Lucy Oriang; Wangethi Mwangi; Joseph Odindo
Subject: We apologise for failure to acknowledge
Dear Truphena Wilingiyama,
I have been instructed to write you this note formally on behalf of Nation Media Group. We are the leaders in standards in this region, and would like to put it on record that we agree with your position that Clay Muganda’s use of material from “Thinker’s Room” without full acknowledgement falls short of basic intellectual rights norms. Our own Editorial Policy policies require full disclosure of sources. We also recognise the standard that borrowing an idea which is not ordinary, or paraphrasing sentences without full acknowledgement is not right.
We are sorry we were not able to bring this matter to speedier resolution, but please accept our remorse. We shall publish an appropriate acknowledgement in the Weekend magazine next week.
Charles Onyango-Obbo
Finally there was this, that am led to believe shall appear on this Friday’s Weekend
To: M
Sent: Friday, March 4, 2005 7:00 PM
To: Betty Muriuki; Muganda Clay
Cc: Lucy Oriang; Wangethi Mwangi; Joseph Odindo
Subject: Correction for Plagiarism
Apology: Credit to Thinkers Room
The article by Clay Muganda entitled “Job Openings” in the “Clay Court” column (Weekend magazine, February) was adapted from a Kenyan satirist’s weblog (Thinker’s Room” at http://thinkersroom.blogspot.com. While Muganda did say the article is “available on the Internet”, it was not sufficient acknowledgement. We apologise to “Thinkers Room” for not offering full credit for the work.
This I hope will bring to a conclusion to the matter.
As with all things, the entire affair has its positive points:
- Raised the awareness of the Kenyan Blogosphere
- The Weblog has been recognized by the local media as an alternative voice of expression
Moral
You can always make a difference
Coldplay – Trouble
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