Several people have inboxed me, asking whether my criticism of Fareed Zakaria should be tempered somewhat to take into account what Zakaria’s moderation adds to our polarized media discussions. Short answer: No. You don’t “temper” criticism for someone who puts words on a page that are not their own. If you find an amazing piece of writing that you want to include in your essay, there are these things called quotes, and attributes, and in digital media – link backs. Give credit. Don’t steal. Jill Lepore of the New Yorker wrote a brilliant essay, and Zakaria stole large chunks of it. How wrong is that? In a world where truth matters, it is at least wrong enough to get you fired.
Yes, they support each other's transgressions because it's par for the course, but let some lowly serf commit such an act and it's off to the gallows...
It seems situational ethics becomes common currency among the elite whenever a member of their class risks accountability for transgressions. Well-connected bankers, pols, media personalities and their apologists link arms in tribalistic ritual to justify the unjustifiable. Moreover, CNN's failure to fire his ass for plagiarism punctuates the network's lack of integrity and continued journalistic decline.