On Sunday, June 23, the Publisher of Church Times Nigeria, Gbenga Osinaike called out a national Newspaper and other unnamed Online platforms over the republishing of his exclusive content without crediting him.
According to Osinaike, he wrote an exclusive story with the title “Adeboye: I will no longer take attack on me lightly” published on June 17 on his Church Times platform, and was shocked to see the same story in the Sunday edition of the newspaper on June 23 and many other Online platforms with the same headline and the same content with many failing to credit the source. One even took credit for the story.
In his Facebook post, he wondered “Why are some newspapers so shameless and unprofessional? They just don’t want to lift a finger.”
“How can Church Times Nigeria do an exclusive story and (the newspaper) and some other irresponsible online platforms lift the story word for word and still dare to publish the same story attributing it to their sources ..is this not the wickedness of an extreme order, ” he added.
Republishing the Church Times exclusive report by the other platforms without attributing it to the paper and even taking credit for it is unethical.
Indiscriminate copying and pasting of the content of other publications by some platforms is a common unprofessional practice in the country despite copyright laws that make it an offence and a violation of the code of ethics for journalists.
Even when some platforms have an “All rights reserved” warning stating that “This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission” most publications don’t comply.
Regarding Plagiarism, the Code of Ethics for Nigerian journalists clearly states, “A journalist should not copy, wholesale or in part, other people’s work without attribution and/or consent.”
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On Copyright, the Code states that “Where a journalist reproduces a work, be it in print, broadcast, artwork or design, the proper acknowledgement should be accorded to the author.” adding that “A journalist should abide by all rules of copyright, established by national and international laws and conventions.”
We urge newspapers and other Online platforms to stop indulging in indiscriminate copying and pasting of content that is not theirs. If they have to take content from other platforms, they should at least credit their source.
Generating exclusive content, including photos and video costs money and other resources and it is wrong to profit from the work of others without their permission.
To answer the question by the Church Times publisher in his post: What manner of journalism is this? The answer for us is ‘Unprofessional and Lazy Journalism.’