You remember the many cases of plagiarism where Kenyans have made their voice be heard that they don’t want con writers. Yes it seems the practise is still very prevalent. A tip from a friend sent to him by an anonymous user reveals that Nation Media still has the largest number of con writers. The latest culprit being Jackson Biko aka @BikoZulu on Twitter who is being accused of plagiarising an article from The Economist.
Jackson did not lift off the whole article but just part of it. He is those cons who are trying to be creative in the thieving. He plagiarised certain sections of a previous interview Ayisi Makatiani did with The Economist for an article he wrote last week about the same guy.
Jackson Biko quotes him as saying “If you don’t pay bribes, people don’t ask for them.” and “Instead, Ayisi appointed a well-connected board of directors that would shield Africa Online from further turmoil.” Both statements and the article background seems to have all come from an interview conducted in The Economist magazine published in 2006.
Nothing is wrong if an article acknowledges a source of a statement but this is not the same with Jackson Biko in this case. He seems to be thinking that the target audience for the Business Daily magazine doesn’t have much time to counter check on such.
Plagiarism has ended the career of many journalists notable one Independent UK Journalist Johann Hari who was fired for faking quotes and using quotes from previous interviews like Biko is doing.
Jackson Biko is doing the Business Daily a disservice.
Jackson Biko interview Ayisi makatiani http://www.
Economist Interview Ayisi Makatiani. http://www.economist.com/node/
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
