Former New York Times executive editor Jill Abramson addressed plagiarism allegations in a lengthy statement Thursday evening.
Abramson’s new book Merchants of Truth, which provides insight into the news business, has been criticized for alleged errors and for containing phrases that are similar to those that appear in other works.
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In her statement, Abramson says she was “up all night” looking into the claims of plagiarism.
— Jill Abramson (@JillAbramson) February 8, 2019
She said the 70 pages of footnotes “don’t match up with the right pages in a few cases and this was unintentional and will be promptly corrected.”
She added: “The language is too close in some cases and should have been cited as quotations in the text.”
Abramson, who was abruptly fired from the New York Times in 2014, stressed the “ideas” and “opinions” in her book are “original.”
Abramson’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, also put out a statement defending the book as being “exhaustively researched and meticulously sourced,” but did state that “[i]f upon further examination changes or attributions are deemed necessary we stand ready to work with the author in making those revisions.”
Michael Moynihan, “Vice News Tonight” correspondent, was one of Abramson’s first critics.
Another critic, Ian Frisch, claimed Abramson had copied his own book Magic is Dead “at least seven times,” sharing excerpts comparing the infringing passages.
Naomi Lim contributed to this report.
