Topic: WorldNetDaily
So WorldNetDaily put a Band-Aid of an editor's note on its plagiarism-laden Jerome Corsi article, putting the blame on the "trusted Kenyan professionals" who put the research together:
Editor's note: The following article is based on a paid, 8,000-word report by Kenyan researchers commissioned by WND. Unknown to WND, the report included unattributed references to a July 25, 2008, story by the Evening Standard of London. WND included a link to the 2008 story to back up the claims of the report, which WND believed was original. WND regrets the error.
As we noted, this only scratches the surface of the problems with Corsi's article, The editor's note fails to address the other issues Loren Collins identified with Corsi's article -- the AFP article that was also apparently plagiarized and the copyrighted photo that was presented without attribution.
WND's explanation of the Evening Standard link is also suspect. If the link was already there, that means Corsi read the article and, thus, should have known that the exact same information was in that "8,000-word report" WND commissioned from those "trusted Kenyan professionals." As Collins pointed out, sections of Corsi's article are directly copied-and-pasted from the Evening Standard article. Did nobody at WND really notice this before Collins reported on it? This raises serious questions about the competency of both Corsi and the WND editing staff.
Speaking of competency questions, there's Corsi's sources in Kenya, which have a long history of supplying Corsi with bum information. We've already detailed the cases of two memos Corsi touted in 2008, both of which are clearly fraudulent.
There's another fake document Corsi has been touting. In a Dec. 19 article, Corsi describes the "secret Memorandum of Understanding" then-Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga -- the guy whom Corsi has falsely accused then-Sen. Barack Obama of campaigning for during a 2006 trip to Kenya -- made with Muslim Sheik Abdullah Abdi, the chief of the National Muslim Leaders Forum of Kenya. In the memo, according to Corsi, "Odinga promised to rewrite the Kenyan constitution to install Shariah as law in "Muslim declared regions," elevate Islam as "the only true religion" and give Islamic leaders 'oversight' over other religions, establish Shariah courts and ban Christian proselytism."
Just one problem: That appears to be a fake too. From a Nov. 28, 2007, IHS Global Insight article (via Nexis):
After weeks of speculation and negative publicity, yesterday Kenyan Muslim leaders finally revealed the contents of the so-called memorandum of understanding (MoU) they signed with leading opposition candidate Raila Odinga in August, denying that the agreement was designed to promote their religion at the expense of others in the event of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) presidential candidate's victory in the upcoming election. The National Muslim Leaders Forum (NAMLEF), which signed the MoU on behalf of the country's Muslim constituents, said it had decided to make the contents of the deal public after a fake document circulated on the Internet claimed that Odinga's ODM had pledged to introduce shari'a in parts of Kenya where Muslims are the majority. "There was a fear that Muslims will force their faith on other people, Islam does not allow suppression of other religions and we will be the last to advocate for this," NAMLEF Chairman Sheikh Abdullahi Abdi said.
According to the MoU released yesterday, Odinga has pledged to defend Muslims against harassment and victimisation by state security forces that claim to be fighting terrorism. He has also promised to set up a commission to investigate renditions of Muslims to Somalia, Ethiopia, and the U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay on the island of Cuba. The document also commits Odinga to initiate policies to redress the present marginalisation of Muslims living in the Coast and North-East provinces.
The fake document -- which he apparently obtained from anti-Odinga sources -- is the one Corsi is citing as the "secret" memorandum.
As far as we can recall, Corsi has used no named sources in a reporting on claims that originate from Kenya -- and that includes the "a former Kenyan Parliament member with whom WND has worked confidentially since 2008" and the "trusted Kenyan professionals" who put out the plagiarized "research" Corsi used.
Perhaps Corsi could explain how he came to trust these "trusted Kenyan professionals"and how they became so trustworthy. Perhaps WND editor JOseph Farah should explain why Corsi should remain on his payroll after such an embarrassing incident that gave yet another body blow to what little credibility WND has.
After all, if Corsi and WND found these folks to be "trusted," they obviously have an extremely low bar for such things. Real news organizations have much higher standards.
Here's an idea: Why doesn't WND post this "paid, 8,000-word report by Kenyan researchers" on its website so the rest of us can check it out? After all, WND paid handsomely for this piece of crap, so it shouldn't feel that bad about throwing these "trusted Kenyan professionals" under the bus, right?
Or is WND going to continue to protect their identities in the hope of getting more "research" from them?
