SafeLibraries in ALA Media Again; Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom Plagiarizes Story ALA Planted in USA Today and Miller-McCune Magazine

ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom Logo

What is it called when two substantially similar stories appear in separate media sources authored by different people at about the same time for something not necessarily newsworthy?  What is is called when content is substantially copied then claimed as one's own?

The American Library Association [ALA] has caused false flag stories to be published in two major media sources.  It then plagiarized one of the stories.  Precisely because of the apparent deception by the ALA, both media sources should be held harmless.

Here are the stories, and I'll ignore for now the false information the ALA caused to be contained therein.  Notice the substantial similarities:

• "Those Challenging Books Find Strength in Numbers," by Didi Tang and Mary Beth Marklein, USA Today, 1 December 2010 (updated 6 December).

• "Book Banners Finding Power in Numbers; Efforts to Ban Books in Schools have Shifted Subjects and Tactics, with the Efforts of Single Parents Now Being Replaced by Organizations," by Lewis Beale, Miller-McCune, 10 February 2011.

This comes to my attention now as a result of the ALA writing about me, SafeLibraries, again, this time in the March 2011 edition of the ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom [NIF] (a subscription to NIF costs $70/year despite the "intellectual freedom"):

• "School Book Challenges Increasingly Organized Efforts," by American Library Association, Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, LX:2 (March 2011).

The ALA itself has apparently substantially plagiarized the USA Today story.  Compare the two.  It is interesting to see the differences. 

For example:

• USA Today: "The number of reported challenges in the past 30 years has hovered between about 400 or 500 each year, says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, an attorney with the American Library Association."
• NIF: "The number of reported challenges in the past 30 years has hovered between about 400 or 500 each year, according to Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Associate Director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom."  

I find the removal of the reference to being "an attorney with the [ALA]" to be telling, particularly where the attorney has possibly committed unethical and/or illegal acts that I will bring to the attention of her state's board of legal examiners for further disposition as befits the facts. 

Note also the claim to copyright by the ALA of the story it changed from the USA Today original.  I find the ALA is making plagiarism a regular part of its practice.

Excerpt of SafeLibraries in the ALA's Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom, March 2011

Will someone tell me why the ALA that plants media stories and plagiarizes, including the planted stories, should be taken seriously?  Please comment below.

.