# Cindy Adams plagiarized this board **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 11, 2014, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024 "2014-10-11T04:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/21 "2014-10-11T17:24:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > šŸ˜• Iā€™m really having trouble parsing this question any way other than what Czarcasm said, or understanding how your clarification relates to it. Not trying to be dense, just not understanding. The question is so ridiculous I didnā€™t think anyone would consider it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/22 "2014-10-11T17:36:01Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The question is so ridiculous I didnā€™t think anyone would consider it seriously. See, the problem with your post is that I clearly havenā€™t had enough coffee yet. Sorry about that, and carry on. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/23 "2014-10-11T20:27:13Z")
Cindy Adams is 84 years old. I seriously doubt sheā€™s spending much seat time in front of the computer. What I would bet is going on is that some 20-something-year-old intern is Googling for her or her editor or whoever is really writing the column and theyā€™re lifting stuff from what they find. I canā€™t speak as to Ms. Adams physical condition or state of mind but sheā€™s not beating the streets herself to get these items. This is probably about half a step away from stuff like _Parade_ā€™s ā€œWalter Scott Personality Parade.ā€ Walter Scott went to that great editing room in the sky a while back. > **[Walter Scott's Personality Parade](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott's_Personality_Parade)** > > "Walter Scott's Personality Parade" is a column in Parade magazine featuring celebrity gossip. As of 2001 Edward Klein is the author of the column, which is in the inside cover of the magazine. > For a 33 year period beginning with the column's establishment in 1958, it was written by Lloyd Shearer while he used the name Walter Scott. In this column he discussed rumors about celebrities using a question and answer style. Joyce Wadler of The New York Times stated that the column's readership was 5... The SDMB is often high up in searches and so it would be likely theyā€™d not go far to get what they were looking for. ā€œCindy Adamsā€ (or whoever) writes a gossip column in the _NYPost_, so this is sort of like expecting cites from the _National Inquirer_. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/24 "2014-10-12T05:17:31Z")
Are you saying the supposed editor is actually writing the columns that go out under the Adams name? Iā€™m shocked to hear that kind of thing goes on. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/25 "2014-10-12T10:41:03Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The question is so ridiculous I didnā€™t think anyone would consider it seriously. Happens to me all the time. But seriously, has anyone asked Ms Adams about this? ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/26 "2014-10-12T10:54:33Z")
Just goes to show you should take almost any source with a pinch of salt. A few years ago, I read an interesting BBC article (I canā€™t remember the subject, but I might be able to dig it up again). I thought Iā€™d find out more about the subject, so I headed to Wikipedia. I was surprised to discover that the BBC article was just a 5 minute rearranging of the Wikipedia entry. But here, and on Wikipedia, BBC articles are considered good citations. I wonder how many other ā€œgoodā€ ones are based on supposedly much less reliable sources, without even any cross-referencing or fact-checking. I notice that Cindy Adams, whoever she is, has taken some perfectly well-written comments and rearranged them into quite an annoying style. Iā€™d much rather just read the SDMB thread than come out of a newspaper article feeling informed, but extremely violent towards anyone who. Uses too many. Full. Stops. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/27 "2014-10-12T11:18:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are you saying the supposed editor is actually writing the columns that go out under the Adams name? > > Iā€™m shocked to hear that kind of thing goes on. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/28 "2014-10-12T12:25:47Z")
Soā€¦we shouldnā€™t wait up for a royalty check? Anyhoo, seems pretty scummy. She not only lifted the contents from that thread, she also stole some of the commentary. And yet weirdly, she also altered stuff in quotation marks. I wonder if she was trying to prevent people from searching for the quotes and stumbling back on the SDMB thread. The changes seem pretty trivial, and donā€™t really scan better than the originals. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/29 "2014-10-13T02:09:28Z")
Itā€™s really pathetic. I have sent this over to Edā€™s attention. Thanks for the detective work, Little Nemo. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/30 "2014-10-13T13:43:57Z")
In almost entirely unrelated vein, back in 2000 I once found a scrap of paper at work, on which was written the old puzzle about the three guests in the hotel sharing the $30 room (details upon request). I recognized it immediately, of course, from having read it in a Straight Dope book. I laughed out loud when I saw at the bottom of the page that it was attributed to Cecilia Adama. šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/31 "2014-10-13T16:20:14Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Are you saying the supposed editor is actually writing the columns that go out under the Adams name? > > Iā€™m shocked to hear that kind of thing goes on. Round up the usual editors! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/32 "2014-10-13T16:40:38Z")
A couple of these would be fine. But in at least one case, the words are exact. That makes it plagiarism. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/33 "2014-10-13T23:21:38Z")
Copyright infringement is illegal. To establish copyright infringement under the Copyright Act of 1976, you have to show: 1. Unauthorized 2. Copying 3. Of the protectable aspects of a ā€” a. creative ā€” b. and original ā€” c. work of expression ā€” d. that has been fixed in a perceivable format. ā€” Copyright law protects _expression_ only, not ideas or facts. Plagiarism is not illegal. Generally speaking, plagiarism is the uncredited appropriation of another personā€™s work. This definition might have some degree of overlap with copyright infringement, but plagiarism often covers _ideas_ as well as expression, which is a significant difference with respect to copyright law. Plagiarism is specifically defined individually by entities such as educational institutions or private companies which decide on their own whether to take action against a member of that entity who has engaged in plagiarism. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2014, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/34 "2014-10-13T23:53:47Z")
What irritates me more isnā€™t the taking of content from the board, itā€™s the fact that all the content is unsubstantiated hearsay from unknown (to her) sources. Sheā€™s passing it off as fact, when itā€™s really more like ā€œI overheard someone in the subway say this about the guy.ā€ I know a story about a celebrity (dead now) who would pay for everything with a check in the hopes that the recipient would rather have the check with her signature than the money. I donā€™t mind sharing that story, but Iā€™d be freekin pissed if someone put that story in a newspaper as fact without mentioning that the story is from a guy who is married to the woman who met this celeb a couple of times and heard the story from someone else. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/35 "2014-10-14T02:07:06Z")
Whatever you do, \*donā€™t \* have pizzas delivered en masse to her home. Turns out she loves her a pie, and can put them away as fast as theyā€™re delivered. Or so they say. (Anonymous source.) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/36 "2014-10-14T03:28:41Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > What irritates me more isnā€™t the taking of content from the board, itā€™s the fact that all the content is unsubstantiated hearsay from unknown (to her) sources. > > Sheā€™s passing it off as fact, when itā€™s really more like ā€œI overheard someone in the subway say this about the guy.ā€ Isnā€™t that the whole point of a gossip column? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/37 "2014-10-14T03:51:30Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > What irritates me more isnā€™t the taking of content from the board, itā€™s the fact that all the content is unsubstantiated hearsay from unknown (to her) sources. It has been said before but The New York Post is not a quality source of news anyway. They donā€™t strive to meet the standards of good journalism. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/38 "2014-10-14T04:19:44Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It has been said before but The New York Post is not a quality source of news anyway. They donā€™t strive to meet the standards of good journalism. That article didnā€™t even strive to meet the standards of good grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2014, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024/39 "2014-10-14T10:29:22Z")
I do appreciate that itā€™s a gossip column, and in the Post, but itā€™s sort of like knowing that a friend is a ā€œslobā€ then seeing his apartment and itā€™s filled with rotting garbage. You donā€™t quite realize how bad it really is. Itā€™s a column utterly devoid of anything resembling journalistic integrity. Itā€™s so bad that it actually drains the journalistic integrity from nearby articles, if there is any. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cindy-adams-plagiarized-this-board/701024.md?page=1)