Two University of Georgia-Athens seniors are accused of plagiarizing articles that appeared in the student newspaper and will not graduate this semester from the university's journalism school, according to Dean John Soloski of the Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication at UGA.
The articles appeared last week on consecutive days in The Red & Black, UGA's student newspaper. Both students were writing for The Red & Black under a program that allowed them to earn them academic credit.
In an article about a cycling race published April 26, David Kross used information from an article published in the Athens Banner-Herald two years earlier, according to The Red & Black.
\I just broke every single journalistic principle I learned in class,"" Kross told the Banner-Herald.
An April 27 column by Jessica Thomas also contained unattributed material, The Red & Black wrote in a retraction.
Soloski said one of the students might be able to graduate from another UGA college this semester, but not the journalism school. Despite the accusations, Soloski spoke highly of Kross and Thomas.
""The unfortunate irony in all this is that these are two very, very excellent students,"" Soloski said. ""It was unfortunate what they did, they are apologetic, they are embarrassed by it, they can't really explain it, but they will graduate, eventually, with a degree.""
Soloski said plagiarism usually is a private issue between a student and a professor.
""Because this happened to be in a student newspaper it became a very public issue, and the students realize that, you know, this is going to be with them for the rest of their lives,"" Soloski said.
Plagiarism in journalism has not always been such a public issue, according to UW-Madison journalism Professor Emeritus James Hoyt.
He said plagiarism has been a ""well-kept"" secret in journalism, adding people outside the field have been unaware because newspapers tend to handle these issues internally.
Hoyt said he did not know if plagiarism is becoming more prevalent or simply more publicized, but said it ""goes absolutely to the heart"" of the field in terms of importance.
""It is clearly one of the most critical issues that would face journalism, because when you get right down to it, what has journalism ... got going for it if it's not credibility?"" Hoyt said.
