‘I’m told that you are conducting a poll about ... ‘

“Writing is one of the few professions left where you take all the

responsibility for what you do.”

-- Erica Jong, novelist

Often I am asked by readers or elected officials if we scrutinize

our letters to the editor and if we guard against letter-writing

campaigns.

The short answers are yes and yes. But the long answer is that it

is impossible to verify each and every time that the words a letter

writer writes actually belong to him or her.

Which brings me to a recent phenomenon being hotly debated in the

world of journalism. Newsweek magazine and some newspapers have

recently reported on a slew of letters being received and published

by major news organizations, praising the Bush Adminis- tration and

its economic policies. Newsweek reported about 10 letters have

appeared nationwide that are word-for-word the same as other

authors’. The Boston Globe admitted it unwittingly had published four

of these same letters since October.

This new phenomenon is called Astroturf (meaning the opposite of

grass-roots), in which form-letter e-mails are sent en masse to news

organizations. The way it works is that you sign up on a Web site,

agree to have your name attached to the letter and off it goes.

This results in hundreds if not thousands of form letters being

sent off saying the same exact thing.

To be sure, the Republicans and the Bush Administration are not

alone as many organizations use similar methods.

Which makes me wonder if these people have ever heard of something

called plagiarism. Plagiarism occurs when you take the words or

thoughts of someone else and claim them as your own. It’s dishonest

and too bad that this practice is actually being promoted on Web

sites.

Journalists who plagiarize another writer’s work face stiff and

severe penalties, usually resulting in termination. And I regularly

lecture my journalism students at Orange Coast College about the

plague of plagiarism and warn them of its consequences.

So I find it a sad commentary that the same practice I warn them

against, a practice that can result in a journalist being fired is

actually being promoted by certain groups.

Form letters are nothing new and we are not immune to this copy

cat letter-writing scourge here at the Pilot and have indeed received

the same letters praising the Bush Administration. We often get

letters here that say the same exact thing. The debate over the

proposed boardwalk in the Back Bay is an example of where we received

many verbatim letters or calls. It especially happened with those

proponents of the boardwalk.

But the truth is this subterfuge is easy to spot and starts off

with something like: “I’m told that you are conducting a poll about

,” an easy tip off that this person hasn’t read the story but is

being coached what to say.

Next week, I’ll tell you what we are doing to ensure accuracy in

our Forum pages.

* * *

Feb. 4 marked the second anniversary of our Sunday Edition. Since

its inception, this edition has expanded and enhanced our weekend

coverage of events around Newport-Mesa.

We’ve brought you the readers at least 100 Look Back history

features, Peter Buffa and Karen Wight columns and an equal number of

Q and A interviews with local leaders, elected and otherwise.

Our Sunday Sports has benefited immensely with premium coverage of

UCI sports and the ability to cover sports events from start to

finish, like the Toshiba Senior Classic, the Daily Pilot Cup soccer

tourney and the Newport to Ensenada Yacht race.

I hope you have enjoyed our Sunday Edition. We certainly enjoy

producing it for you.