Naughty, naughty, naughty
I recently received an email from a gentleman named Sach Kohli, in which he pointed out how three pieces that had appeared in the Times of India appeared remarkably similar to pieces that had appeared in Cosmopolitan. He included an email that he had sent Jaideep Bose, an editor at the ToI, bringing this to his attention. I emailed Jaideep myself to ask if there was any innocent explanation for this that I was missing. (Perhaps a content-sharing arrangement with Cosmopolitan, though the content would then surely have been attributed to them.) Two days have passed, and I have received no reply. Thus, with Sach's permission, I'm reproducing the mail he sent Jaideep, as well as the incriminating pictures.
The pictures:
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¶ amit varma | Thursday, November 24, 2005 | ---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Sach Kohli <[email id snipped]>
Date: 30-Jun-2005 19:36
To: Jaideep Bose <[email id snipped]>
Dear Editor,
I wish to report a striking similarity between three articles that
appeared in Monday's and Tuesday editions of Bombay Times, and those
that appeared in the June 2005 issue of the US edition of Cosmopolitan
magazine.
Monday, June 27
BT: page 6, titled "Give yourself a Break", Gif Attachment:
BT_GiveYourselfABreak.GIF
US Cosmopolitan June Edition 2005: page 179, titled "Give Yourself a
Break", attached file COSMO_giveyourselfabreak.jpg
Tuesday, June 28
BT: page 6, titled "10 Clues He'll be Bad in Bed", GIF Attachment:
BT_10CluesHe'llBeBadInBed.GIF
US Cosmopolitan June Edition 2005: page 203, titled "10 Clues He'll be
Bad in Bed", attached file COSMO_10clueshe'llsuckinbed.jpg
and
BT: page 6, titled "Tap into his Guy Mind-set", GIF Attachment:
BT_TapIntoHisGuyMind-Set.GIF
US Cosmopolitan June Edition 2005: page 238, titled "Tap into his Guy
Mind-set", attached file COSMO_tapintohisguy.jpg
Note: the Cosmo pictures were scanned from a personal copy of the June
2005, US Edition. The Bombay Times pictures were grabbed from your
epaper (epaper.indiatimes.com) service.
Nobody has paid me to do this, nor am I doing this out of any malice.
I'm just a regular reader of the Times. However, the fact that I could
detect three cases of blatant plagiarism in your paper merely out of
buying a single copy of the June 2005 Cosmopolitan issue points to a
rot that a much deeper rot! I can understand that the Bennett
management may not care for the 'editorial integrity' of Bombay Times.
But, when in the period of two days, your esteemed paper blatantly
lifts at least three articles, with their layouts, out of a single
issue of Cosmopolitan US, with minor changes in copy [...]
it simply reeks of lazy incompetence. If this is the regular deal, I
wonder if Bennett Coleman appreciates the legal implications of this
practice??
Yours,
A regular reader, Sach
The pictures:
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Comments:
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I guess you will be waiting a long time for a reply...or maybe they are looking in cosmo again for an appropriate answer.
# posted by 
: November 24, 2005 3:15 AM
: November 24, 2005 3:15 AM
Maybe you could also get in touch with the Cosmopolitan people and let them know about this.
If it really is plagiarism then they should respond to you and and maybe take other action against BT.
If it really is plagiarism then they should respond to you and and maybe take other action against BT.
# posted by : November 24, 2005 3:51 AM
: November 24, 2005 3:51 AM
You know, when the Nikhat Kazmi incident happened last year a few of us lazily speculated what might happen if the Chicago Sun-Times decided it was worth their while to sue a company as large as Bennett & Coleman. One of my friends did in fact send a mail to Roger Ebert about the plagiarism but Ebert didn't want to get too involved - maybe he thought it was a small Indian newspaper and there was no point following it up.
Just a thought. Perhaps these foreign newspapers/mags should be told just how big B&C is.
Just a thought. Perhaps these foreign newspapers/mags should be told just how big B&C is.
Dont insult TOI, they will sue you. They are the best and no one else knws anything.
# posted by : November 24, 2005 5:25 AM
: November 24, 2005 5:25 AM
Those readers who are wondering what the Nikhat Kazmi incident is that Jabberwock referred to, click here.
Yes, a couple of days ago I did send a copy of this letter to Ashish Bagga of the India Today Group and also to Kate White, editor-in-chief of Cosmo. White sent me a one-line reply saying that they're looking into it. So that's that.
sach
sach
# posted by : November 24, 2005 5:41 AM
: November 24, 2005 5:41 AM
They couldn't even do a good job of 'indianizing' it and goofed up once.
I noticed your 'I Love Cricket' Hat, Are you into *RACING*??????
I noticed your 'I Love Cricket' Hat, Are you into *RACING*??????
# posted by : November 24, 2005 5:49 AM
: November 24, 2005 5:49 AM
I agree with Suyog on this. Just because TOI has a history of "being inspired" doesn't mean that we believe the worst.
Still, I don't think TOI will respond.
Still, I don't think TOI will respond.
Suyog/The Unrest Cure
I, for one, am not believing the worst on this particular issue. But I assume if they had a content sharing arrangement, Cosmo's editor, White, would have told Sach as much, instead of saying they were looking into it. And ToI would have deigned to reply to one of us. How much time does a one-reply reply saying "we have a content arrangement with Cosmo" take?
Anyway, for people who sell their editorial content, something like this is hardly a big step forward. One way of deceiving the reader is as bad as another.
And don't tell me Nikhat Kazmi had a content sharing arrangement with Roger Ebert, and Ebert allowed her to use her name for a piece he wrote. We all know what action ToI took against Kazmi: none at all.
I, for one, am not believing the worst on this particular issue. But I assume if they had a content sharing arrangement, Cosmo's editor, White, would have told Sach as much, instead of saying they were looking into it. And ToI would have deigned to reply to one of us. How much time does a one-reply reply saying "we have a content arrangement with Cosmo" take?
Anyway, for people who sell their editorial content, something like this is hardly a big step forward. One way of deceiving the reader is as bad as another.
And don't tell me Nikhat Kazmi had a content sharing arrangement with Roger Ebert, and Ebert allowed her to use her name for a piece he wrote. We all know what action ToI took against Kazmi: none at all.
As one of the commentor said, you should mail (anonymously if you want) this to Cosmo people, and watch! If they too don't respond, then, well, whatever...
Sure, circumspection is good but anyone who believes that BT has a content deal with cosmo doesn't really grasp the dynamics involved. Yes, it's a possibility but it's an unlikely one because a. BT isn't so much about content, it's a PR supplement (and not a bad one, as PR supplements go). They wouldn't pay for a deal. If they needed content they could dip into their own resources and in the worse case into the magazine group (WWM) of which they own 50% stake b. B&C and ITG are strong competitors. And they wouldnt go to bed with each other for such a trivial thing....Ye
# posted by : November 24, 2005 10:11 AM
: November 24, 2005 10:11 AM
Sach, thanks for bringing the scam to our attention. needless to say i was not surprised.
this said, i would like to ask you - are you a regular subscriber of cosmo?
this said, i would like to ask you - are you a regular subscriber of cosmo?
# posted by : November 24, 2005 10:48 AM
: November 24, 2005 10:48 AM
worst come worst ToI would settle this out of court with Cosmopolitan...or give free ad space to Cosmopolitan. If this happens Cosmo should not have reasons to complain.
To anonymous who asked if i was a regular subscriber to cosmo? yes, I am. The American version. It's quite a popular magazine, you know!
# posted by : November 25, 2005 7:19 AM
: November 25, 2005 7:19 AM
satyajit:
nope. But then legally they don't really owe me an explanation...
SK
nope. But then legally they don't really owe me an explanation...
SK
# posted by : November 30, 2005 10:31 PM
: November 30, 2005 10:31 PM
It's a real shame for such a so called big newspaper.
It even dares to call itself times of the world!!!
height of being most shameless!
You could very well start a movement with prominent other newspaper or the cluster of media channels.
People will definitely support it.
It even dares to call itself times of the world!!!
height of being most shameless!
You could very well start a movement with prominent other newspaper or the cluster of media channels.
People will definitely support it.
# posted by : January 10, 2007 9:03 AM
: January 10, 2007 9:03 AM
hi, may i know where do you find the editor email? I am trying to search it for part of my task but couldn't find any contact number or e-mail of the editor of ToI...
If you don't mind can you post it here? thanks.. it's kinda urgent..
rhyn
If you don't mind can you post it here? thanks.. it's kinda urgent..
rhyn
# posted by : November 29, 2007 8:25 AM
: November 29, 2007 8:25 AM
this seems to be an old post now, but I do remember direct word to word lifts in TOI and Femina, from international websites and magazines!
I landed here while searching for Jojo's mail id. I need the mail id because I am a victom of TOI's plagiarism myself. http://www.flickr.com/photos/twilightfairy/2720464496/.
If you could share his mail id with me, then I would really appreciate it.
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I landed here while searching for Jojo's mail id. I need the mail id because I am a victom of TOI's plagiarism myself. http://www.flickr.com/photos/twilightfairy/2720464496/.
If you could share his mail id with me, then I would really appreciate it.
# posted by : July 31, 2008 12:44 PM
: July 31, 2008 12:44 PM<< Home
