As far as the Bitcoin journalism industry goes, plagiarism is one crime not accepted. With one of the biggest Bitcoin news providers now wound up on this story, evidence is trickling in of a conspiracy as The CoinTelegraph is fighting off allegations of plagiarism.
Original Article: http://t.co/3HZJ22Xm7p Stolen: http://t.co/kutu57Ul4Z Spirit of Bitcoin? @Cointelegraph @Tonilanec pic.twitter.com/WubypWb3oy
— LazyCoins (@LazyCoins) February 14, 2015
Whilst many of the large and reputable sites like BTCFeed, CryptoCoinsNews and CoinDesk pride themselves in providing users with fresh and daily content from all around the Bitcoin world, it has become apparent not all companies play by the rules. It has emerged that CoinTelegraph plagiarized a huge chunk of content from Lazy News. The small Bitcoin site which serves a sizable amount of users initially noticed how a list central to the article was copied word for word from their site. Whilst this may have been deemed acceptable if it was included as a quote and the Lazy News source referenced clearly not only linked, CoinTelegraph attempted to mislead users by copying content without mentioning the real creditors outright, but embedding them insignificantly. This unethical news practice plagues even the biggest corporations in real life but to see it apparent in the Bitcoin news sector is absolutely shocking.
Day started by finding out that @Cointelegraph @tonilanec has stolen a article literally word by word from @LazyTVOfficial. #Bitcoin #Shame — LazyCoins (@LazyCoins) February 14, 2015
The news has just proved how the Bitcoin Industry is prone to all kinds of negative acts, with plagiarism just being one in a whole host of fraud, scams and various other crimes. With the journalism industry now affected it seems as if the site operators are hiding behind a velvet cover of anonymity provided by Bitcoin. With users of Bitcoin extra careful it seems as if CoinTelegraph thought it could get away with plagiarism as the writer can simply change his name and carry on writing. This is also one instance where reputation was used to provide cover as the company thought a insignificant news site like Lazy Coins would never dare place a accusation of this sort forward, but as the site spoke out CoinTelegraphs reputation started its ride downward.
Speculation
Whilst users were fast to spot the plagiarized content it can be assured that the hunt for rogue Bitcoin news operators is on. With plagiarism not on damaging and unethical, it can effectively derail the reputation created by the site. The site once known for its fresh and unique content now has the mark of plagiarism firmly stamped on it and a loss of visitors and viewers is likely even if it may be mild. The news has spread fast with the article being subject to much controversy as users are in a flurry, directing their disapproval at The CoinTelegraph. However on the flip side the news is set to give Lazy News more viewers as it is hailed for speaking
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UPDATE:
CoinTelegraph have reach out to us to explain the situation at hand. After listening to their side of the story and regarding the current situation. With the problems solved between the owners of both sites it seems as CoinTelegraph are not to blame with the article being amended to refer to the Lazy News Source.
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