My Story: On Sunday, May 23, 2010, I received an unwelcome email from a person calling herself, Old Word Wolf. This person called me a plagiarist due to a recent article that I wrote about a dentist starting a practice in North Port. But she takes it a step further and writes her opinions about me on a blog and posts it on the Internet.
This woman, Nan Edwin, writes a scathing story of me calling me a plagiarist and even had some unkind comments to make about the dentist that I was writing about. And it is simply NOT true.
But this is how we have to deal with the articles that we write and the Internet. Where do our responsibilities lay?
I knew this wasn’t a legitimate blog or blogger because when I went to post my rebuttal to the accusations in the comment box after the article, Miss Edwin took the comment off the blog. So she doesn’t want her readers to really know the truth. She needs to remain looking good after a hard day of mud slinging.
So, for those who care about the truth-I will tell my side of the story here, on my own website, for all other writers to read and hopefully learn some valid points on writing and the Internet. After writing more than 1,000 articles in my life, it is a shame that one person feels that they have the right to get away with drugging me throw the mud, making me look bad, and bringing down my business.
I left the article and Edwin’s blog in tact at the bottom of this article for those interested in reading it. But I am going to have my day in court first.
1. First fallacy. Miss Edwin writes...“Sun Correspondent-Reiki Master-Tuning Fork Therapist Milford presents this article as an interview she conducted with the dentist, eliciting this personal anecdote from Gaeta:
Before I became a dentist, I had observed my grandparents in their twilight years and specifically the impact that failing teeth had on them. Their quality of life had been diminished and there was a constant complaint of discomfort. Failing dental health affected their self image; it limited their diet and the basic ability to chew.”
Well guess what Miss Edwin-I DID spend more than one hour interviewing Dr. Gaeta and this is EXACTLY the story that I got from him. How did you think I took the photograph of him that appeared in the article? And why on earth would I think that he was making up a story about his own grandparents? That’s ridiculous! I NEVER went to a website and I NEVER went to any brochures. This information came DIRECTLY from the Dr.
2. Second Fallacy“The Reiki Master and inventor of Tuning Fork Therapy -- turned journalist”
Well, Miss Edwin, if you would have done YOUR homework, you would have realized that I was writing articles for more than a decade before I became a Reiki Master or invented Tuning Fork Therapy, a wonderful system of natural healing that combines the use of vibration and sound in the healing sessions.
3. Third Fallacy“Milford has an obligation to readers, editors and journalism’s professional standards to report these charges instead of simply promoting Gaeta’s practice expansion as the next best thing to Color Therapy. She has an obligation to ask if his sudden affailiation with Alan Devos' dental practice (Devos will be Gaeta's "associate," Milford writes) has anything to do with a state requirement for professional supervision.”
Again, Ms. Edwin, NO-I don’t have an obligation to look into Dr. Gaeta’s background for any dirt or past business dealings. Nor, do I have an obligation to ask if his sudden affiliation with Alan Devos’ dental practice is due a state requirement for professional supervision. That is NOT what a fluff piece is and that is NOT what I was getting paid for.
I did the job that I was paid to do.
If I was being paid to do an expose’ on Dr. Gaeta, than the story would indeed look very different and I would have delved into his past business dealings. And even then, I wouldn’t be accusing him of practices without proof as you have none making innuendo’s of a man who has been in business for more than 20 years on one accusation. To me, that is not what a journalist would/should do-period. Believe me, if he was horrible-he wouldn't have a license to practice.
4. Fourth Fallacy“Milford’s 20-incher on page 11 of today’s local section, “Area dentist hopes to improve quality of life,” is a pastiche of dentist Joseph A. Gaeta Jr.’s own Web sites and chunks of material that appear in scores – hundreds, actually – of other practitioners’ vanity sites.”
Really? Since you claim to have been an editor than surely you would know that writers like me NEVER write the titles of the articles that appear in the newspaper. Perhaps it has been so long since you have worked for a newspaper that you just didn’t remember that.
And as far as editing goes---How do you know that I didn't have quotes around my sentences, or cited sources, when I sent the article in to the editor and that they weren't later removed to save space? You don't know-you again just made assumptions and accused me of a crime---without real evidence. You could have dropped me an email or made a phone call to get my side of the story before lambasting me across the Internet. But no, you chose to go the old route of just condeming people and then giving them no way to comment back besides going through the judicial system.
So my dear Edwin, blaming me for someone else’s job is again-ridiculous and petty. And how do you know for certain that Dr. Gaeta didn't write that stuff himself? Why are you assuming that he is a plagiarist?
What do you have against me personally anyway?
Is she right, or Does she just hate Alternative Practitioners?
And here is where the truth may be stranger than fiction. After a little research into Miss Edwin, I have found that Miss Edwin doesn’t care for Alternative practitioners very much.
I figured that out on my own when I saw sentences such as:
“The Reiki Master and inventor of Tuning Fork Therapy -- turned journalist..”
“…a licensed massage therapist who offers Bamboo Chair Massage when she’s not doing journalism…”
“Sun Correspondent-Reiki Master-Tuning Fork Therapist Milford…”
Come on Miss Edwin, really? What did you gain (instead of adding some extra mega tags to your blog) by bringing my personal business into the article and thus personally attacking me? Are you trying to say that Reiki Masters or massage therapist really can’t write? Or are you just mad at Alternative practitioners in general and taking it out on me and others who practice? I will just let MY readers decide. And readers, please be aware of some interesting points about Miss Edwin. This is her bio as it appears on the front page of her blog.
Old Word Wolf One Reader's Review of Journalism as Practiced in the Pages of "America's Best Community Daily"
Nan Erwin·
Industry: Communications or Media
· Occupation: editor
· Location: United States
About Me. I once did more editing and writing than now; I'm pretty much retired. I occasionally teach or undertake freelance jobs that interest me. If it's 3 p.m., I'm probably napping in the hammock next to the butterfly garden -- one of the joys of "old." In my busy career days, I had been looking forward to a retirement spent, at least in part, with good newspapers. But the gods of journalism have not favored me. All we have here is the DeSoto Sun -- a good-news-only type of newspaper. Hence this blog, born of my amazement that one paper could fail to serve its community in so many ways.Ask me a question that you have about writing, grammar, language or journalism.
And readers-how about this blog that she posted on another website:
· http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/03/24/the-stupidity-of-plagiarism/· · I hope plagiarists never stop! I've built a blog largely around local (southwest Florida) journalists who crib copy from the NYT, WaPo, Internet, government press releases. For more than three years now, ferreting out the weasels is has been almost as much fun as a wild game safari. The hunt begins with patient stalking, watching and waiting (Jon's right about the approx two weeks it takes to incubate each new spawn). Sooner more often than later, the hunter detects the rank, fulsome whiff of stolen goods. The hunter fixes a scope on the prey. Google, a couple of deep-web engines, "caches," Newseum, and more; a spin through news releases on the PR wire and, voila! Same copy as Staff Writer Schmuck, just three weeks earlier in the LAT. The plagiarism hunter's adrenaline surges and then subsides as she works out the word-for-word evidence of CTL-C, CTL-V in operation. The satisfaction of another prey brought to ground ebbs into a cozy schadenfreude as the hunter posts offender's name, crime scene evidence, and sends off a little e-mail that says "You've been bitten by the Wolf: · (Edited by a moderator)
Don't they put down mad dogs that bite in this country?
And Readers, don’t forget the certified Editor seal that she is so proud of that is on her website:
Well, I did click to verify and this is what I got below. I mean, really? This is where clicking that link takes you:
Click Here to Verify Grammatika Seal Certified ©2010 grammatikacertified.com All rights reserved.
And now, Below is the article.
Yes, folks, I will have my day in court---guaranteed.
Justice will be served.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Congratulations to Francine Milford, “Sun Correspondent” who today helps continue Sun Media Group’s tradition of filling its pages with plagiarized material. The Reiki Master and inventor of Tuning Fork Therapy -- turned journalist -- has raised the bar: her plagiarism is combined with her naïve promotion of a dentist whose practices have put his license at risk and who is facing substantial fines and professional probation from the state's Board of Dentistry.
We’ll start with the plagiarism.
Milford’s 20-incher on page 11 of today’s local section, “Area dentist hopes to improve quality of life,” is a pastiche of dentist Joseph A. Gaeta Jr.’s own Web sites and chunks of material that appear in scores – hundreds, actually – of other practitioners’ vanity sites.
Using the pre-written material is plagiarism because Milford, a licensed massage therapist who offers Bamboo Chair Massage when she’s not doing journalism, copies and presents the words of others as her own – her by line, no attribution, no credit, no quotation marks, no acknowledgement.
Through a combination of state-of-the-art technology and treatment plans, Gaeta preserves healthy teeth and gums, alleviates oral discomfort and improves the appearance of smiles on a daily basis. He has applied his unique blend of artistic and technical skills to produce durable and aesthetic results in thousands of patients.
Search using any key phrase in the paragraph and Google coughs up 380 occurrences on the Web – only the names change to accommodate specific practices, which range from Los Angeles to New York and seem to appear in most if not all 50 states. With that number and range, the statement comes close to being an industry standard. Milford, however, claims she wrote it when she hands it in to her editors without quote marks, attribution, or a source other than her own by line.
Sun Correspondent-Reiki Master-Tuning Fork Therapist Milford presents this article as an interview she conducted with the dentist, eliciting this personal anecdote from Gaeta:
Before I became a dentist, I had observed my grandparents in their twilight years and specifically the impact that failing teeth had on them. Their quality of life had been diminished and there was a constant complaint of discomfort. Failing dental health affected their self image; it limited their diet and the basic ability to chew.
Compare that with a Web site called Imagine Your Smile where a testimonial by John C. of St. Paul MN posted two years ago that goes like this:
I had observed my parents and grandparents in their twilight years and specifically the impact of failing teeth. In each case, the quality of life had been diminished. Failing dental health affected their self image; it limited their diet and the basic ability to chew. Also, there was a constant complaint of discomfort ...
Actually, it's unlikely Milford stole the testimonial from “Imagine Your Smile” because Gaeta himself had already plagiarized the material and posted it on a free, self-publishing vanity service called PRLog just this past March.
Milford’s plagiarism isn’t her only failure as a journalist. She didn’t take a peek at Florida Department of Health’s Web site and check Gaeta’s status with the state. If she had, she would have found six administrative complaints and four disciplinary actions -- and the threat of additional sanctions -- lodged against Joseph A. Gaeta Jr. D.D.S.
Gaeta's most recent discipline stems from a 2003 patient complaint described in the disciplinary section of the minutes of the Board of Dentistry’s July 31, 2009 meeting. In this case, Gaeta is accused of failing to meet “minimum standards in diagnosis and treatment” and failing “to keep written dental records” that would justify a specific course of treatment.
The Board of Dentistry’s hearing officer that day recommended a $20,000 fine and a 30-day license suspension, during which time Gaeta could not practice dentistry. The hearing officer also recommended five years professional probation, a two-year remedial education course, and continuing education credits every year for the rest of the life of his practice.
In its final decision, the disciplinary board moderated the recommendation to a reprimand, $5,000 fine and a 30-day license suspension. It ordered Gaeta to take and pass a laws-and-rules exam within one year of the board’s final order. It ordered him to complete a two-year, comprehensive dentistry course within 36 months and remain on probation until this is done. In addition, Gaeta must also complete continuing education credits annually for the next four years. And finally, he has to reimburse the board within three years for the $40,000 it is costing the state to investigate, prosecute, and oversee his case until it closes.
The most recent communication from the state to the public about this dentist occurred just four weeks ago. On April 26, the Board posted notice that Gaeta has failed to pay the $5,000 fine and now is seeking “one or more” of several actions that include permanent revocation or suspension of practice, restriction of practice, an administrative fine, reprimand, probation, or “other corrective actions,” such as remedial education.
Milford has an obligation to readers, editors and journalism’s professional standards to report these charges instead of simply promoting Gaeta’s practice expansion as the next best thing to Color Therapy. She has an obligation to ask if his sudden affailiation with Alan Devos' dental practice (Devos will be Gaeta's "associate," Milford writes) has anything to do with a state requirement for professional supervision. Labels: Francine Milford, Joseph A. Gaeta DDS, plagiarism 0 comments: Post a Comment
Tips for writers. Be sure to do your own work. Should you copy information from another source, be sure to site it. It doesn't matter if the source is the website, book, or person. Also, be sure to keep good solid and clear records of your writing. Include website addresses, phone numbers, etc. Because you never know when you will need them in a court of law to defend yourself.
After years of doing my job, I make sure I either tape the conversations that I am having with clients, or I have them put everything that we covered down in writing and emailing them to me. It is just a way I have of making sure that everything is spelled correctly and time lines are cohesive. It is also a way of having written (or audio) proof that a person something to you. It happens, people forget or they think that they said one thing but they actually meant another. So I keep my records for posterity. Yes, I have boxes upon boxes of the stuff-but you just never know when you will need to defend yourself, like I just found out.
