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===Plagiarism and fabrications===
===Plagiarism and fabrications===


Hari had interviewed many leading figures, including [[Martin Amis]], [[Tony Blair]], [[Gordon Brown]], [[William F. Buckley]], [[David Cameron]], [[Hugo Chavez]], the [[Dalai Lama]], [[Abu Hamza al-Masri|Abu Hamza]], [[Christopher Hitchens]], [[David Irving]], [[Malalai Joya]], [[Ann Leslie]], [[Gideon Levy]], [[George Michael]], [[Antonio Negri]], [[Dolly Parton]], [[Shimon Peres]], [[Salman Rushdie]], [[Gareth Thomas (rugby player)|Gareth Thomas]], and [[Gore Vidal]]. Initial discovery of Hari's plagiarism and fabrications was made by the magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' in 2003<ref name="Thompson_The Daily Telegraph">{{cite news
Hari had interviewed many leading figures, including [[Tony Blair]], [[Gordon Brown]], [[David Cameron]], [[Hugo Chavez]], the [[Dalai Lama]], [[Abu Hamza al-Masri|Abu Hamza]], [[Malalai Joya]], [[Ann Leslie]], [[Gideon Levy]], [[George Michael]], [[Antonio Negri]], and [[Gareth Thomas (rugby player)|Gareth Thomas]]. Initial discovery of Hari's plagiarism and fabrications was made by the magazine ''[[Private Eye]]'' in 2003<ref name="Thompson_The Daily Telegraph">{{cite news
| url = http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100094749/johann-hari-the-back-story/
| url = http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100094749/johann-hari-the-back-story/
| date = June 30th, 2011
| date = June 30th, 2011

Revision as of 17:54, 27 September 2011

Johann Hari
Johann Hari
Born (1979-01-21) 21 January 1979 (age 45)
Glasgow, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Alma materKing's College, Cambridge
Occupation(s)Journalist and writer

Johann Hari (born 21 January 1979) is a British journalist and writer. He was a columnist for The Independent and the Huffington Post. His work also appeared in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic, The Nation, Le Monde, El Pais, the Sydney Morning Herald and Ha'aretz. He appeared regularly as an arts critic on the BBC Two programme the Review Show, and he was a book critic for Slate. In 2011, Hari was suspended from The Independent following accusations of professional misconduct. He later apologised for plagiarising and for using Wikipedia to make malicious attacks.

Early life

Hari was born in Glasgow and raised in London. Having attended fee-paying John Lyon School (affiliated to Harrow School) and Woodhouse College.[1] After studying at King's College, Cambridge, he graduated with a double first in Social and Political Sciences in 2001.[2] In 2000 he was joint winner of the Times Student News Journalist of the Year, gaining a six week work placement with Sky News.

Political and religious views

Hari has broadly progressive political views,[3] and is sympathetic to the environmental movement.[4] He also espouses republicanism and a number of classical liberal positions, such as drug legalisation[5] and gay rights.[6]

Hari supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq,[7] basing this not on the evidence for WMD[8] but on a visit to Iraq in December 2002[9] and the March 2003 Kenneth Joseph story.[10] In 2006 he declared that his support had been a "terrible mistake" and he "should have known all along Bush would produce a disaster."[11] He credited Noam Chomsky's condemnation of support for the Iraq war as having "helped me figure out where I had gone so badly wrong"[12] on Iraq. Both when he supported the Iraq war and after 2006 when he opposed it, Hari had several public disagreements with other public figures, such as George Galloway,[13] Harold Pinter,[14] and Nick Cohen.

Hari is a secularist and atheist.[15] In February 2009 an English-language Indian newspaper, The Statesman, republished an article by Hari,[16] critical of Islam and claiming the right to criticise any religion. The editor (Ravindra Kumar) and publisher (Anand Sinha) of The Statesman were subsequently briefly arrested when in Kolkata, and then released on bail on charges of outraging religious feelings.[17][18]

Hari opposed Pope Benedict XVI's 2010 state visit to the UK and spoke alongside Richard Dawkins at the major rally against him.[19][20]

Journalistic controversy

In June/July 2011 Hari was accused of plagiarism in his use of unattributed quotations in interviews, where he had reused previously published quotes in place of his interviewees' recorded answers. The Orwell Prize, which he had won in 2008, was withdrawn. He was shown to have been making misleading edits on Wikipedia under a pseudonym. Hari apologised for his actions. The apology was publicly criticised.

Plagiarism and fabrications

Hari had interviewed many leading figures, including Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Hugo Chavez, the Dalai Lama, Abu Hamza, Malalai Joya, Ann Leslie, Gideon Levy, George Michael, Antonio Negri, and Gareth Thomas. Initial discovery of Hari's plagiarism and fabrications was made by the magazine Private Eye in 2003[21] and blogs examining Hari's interviews and comparing them with past interviews by other journalists and past written works by the interview subjects. Hari was criticised for this in The Guardian[22], The Telegraph[23], and The Washington Post[24]

Initially Hari said on his blog[25] that he had taken material previously written by interviewees and presented it as part of the interview, but said that this was not plagiarism as he was not passing off someone else's thoughts as his own. Later Hari said that his use of unattributed quotes was only a clarification, both on his blog[26] and in The Independent.[27] This defence met with some criticism[28] though some felt it was foolishness rather than dishonesty.[29] Simon Kelner, then editor-in-chief of The Independent, said on 28 June that the newspaper had not previously received any complaints about Johann Hari.[30] In July 2011, Hari was suspended from The Independent for two months[31] "pending investigation" by Andreas Whittam Smith.[32]

  • Brian Whelan, editor of Yahoo! Ireland, compared Hari's 2010 interview with Gideon Levy[35] against Levy's previous writing[36] .

Orwell Prize withdrawal

In June 2011, the Media Standards Trust announced that they recognised the potential of allegations of plagiarism to damage the reputation of the Orwell Prize,[46] which Hari had been awarded in 2008, and instructed the Council of the Orwell Prize to take action[47] to examine the allegations. A month later the spokesman for the Council of the Orwell Prize announced that it had "arrived at a clear and unanimous decision" as to whether Hari would be allowed to retain the prize he had been awarded in 2008. Public announcement was delayed after the Independent had "requested that the council consider further representations by Johann Hari before announcing the decision".[48] which could not be made while the Independent inquiry was ongoing.

In July 2011, both Private Eye and Damian Thompson in his blog at The Telegraph accused Hari of inventing an atrocity for his Orwell Prize winning article on the Central African Republic.[49][50][51]

In September 2011, Johann Hari announced that, though he stood by the articles which won the Orwell prize in 2008, he would be returning it as an act of contrition for the errors he had made elsewhere.[52] The return of the plaque by courier was confirmed by the Council of the Orwell Prize[53]. Later the Council confirmed that the Orwell Prize would have been withdrawn had Hari not returned it, following a ruling by the Council on 21 July 2011 that "the substantial use of unattributed and unacknowledged material did not meet the standards expected of Orwell Prize-winning journalism".[54] The council also disclosed that Hari had not returned the prize money he received of 2000 pounds.[55]

Wikipedia editing

In July 2011 New Statesman legal correspondent David Allen Green wrote on his personal blog that in January 2005 a Wikipedia user had discovered that a Wikipedia editor, David Rose, using the account 'David r from meth productions' shared an IP address with The Independent newspaper.[56] On the same day Nick Cohen in The Spectator[57] wrote that he had been attacked on Wikipedia by David Rose following a dispute with Johann Hari, as had Cristina Odone, Telegraph columnist[58] and Oliver Kamm,[when?] the Times leader writer. Cohen also wrote that Rose had edited Hari's Wikipedia entry "to make him seem one of the essential writers of our times".[57].

In September 2011 "David Rose" was shown to be Johann Hari.[59]

Apology

The Independent reported in September 2011 that "Johann Hari, the writer and columnist for The Independent, has admitted plagiarism allegations and will attend a journalism training course before being allowed to rejoin the newspaper" but that the results of the investigation by Whittam Smith are not to be made public.[60] The editor of The Independent, Chris Blackhurst, said: "We always pride ourselves on pursuing the highest ethical standards at The Independent. Regrettably, Johann fell below those in some aspects of his journalism. He has acknowledged his mistakes and made a full apology. There is no doubting his talent as a columnist and we are hoping to see him back in The Independent in the not too distant future.”[60]

Hari published an apology and admission of misconduct[52], and admitted to using a pseudonym to add positive material to the Wikipedia article about himself and negative material to Wikipedia articles about people he had disputes with.[52] Hari said he would take unpaid personal leave of absence until 2012 and seek training in journalistic ethics at his own expense.

Criticism of apology

After Hari's apology was published, Cristina Odone, blogging for the Telegraph, said she had received no direct apology from The Independent or from Hari himself for his malicious editing of her Wikipedia article, as neither had the other victims.[61]

Hari's published apology attracted a withering critique from journalist Toby Young, who accused Hari of being disingenuous, a "sanctimonious little prig" and of "galloping careerism", as well as criticising The Independent for failing to sack him.[62] Simon Chivers, also in The Daily Telegraph, called the apology "evasive",[63] while Richard Seymour wrote in The Guardian, "As for Hari himself, any temptation I had to feel sorry for him evaporated when I read his self-serving apology. No one could feel more sorry for Hari than he does for himself, and he acknowledges none of the serious charges made against him, no matter how strong or irrefutable the evidence is".[64] David Allen Green in the New Statesman wrote: "the terms of the apology do not really approximate to what was actually done. Something very wrong happened, over a significant amount of time, involving a systemic exercise of malice and dishonesty".[65]

Awards

See also

References

  1. ^ Hari, Johann. "A simple lesson on schools: Money works". Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  2. ^ Hari, Johann. "Who Is This Guy?". johannhari.com. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ "Johann Hari: Cameron a progressive? I don't think so". The Independent. London. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  4. ^ Hari, Johann (13 August 2007). "We should all be at Heathrow protesting". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  5. ^ Hari, Johann (11 June 2010). "Accept the facts – and end this futile 'war on drugs'". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  6. ^ Hari, Johann (10 September 2001). "Gay marriages last longer". The New Statesman. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  7. ^ Bond, Paul (22 April 2006). "A mea culpa on Iraq by pro-war journalist Johann Hari". World Socialist Website. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  8. ^ Hari, Johann (10 January 2003). "Forget the UN: Saddam Hussein is the best possible reason for liberating Iraq". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  9. ^ Hari, Johann (3 December 2002). "The mother of all package tours". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  10. ^ Hari, Johann (26 March 2003). "Sometimes, the only way to spread peace is at the barrel of a gun". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  11. ^ Hari, Johann (20 March 2006). "I was wrong, terribly wrong - and the evidence should have been clear all along". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  12. ^ Hari, Johann (18 July 2010). "The Enduring Truth-Telling of Noam Chomsky". Huffington Post. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  13. ^ Hari, Johann (23 April 2003). "I'd rather it was money than belief that made George Galloway support Saddam". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011.
  14. ^ Hari, Johann (6 December 2005). http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/?article=868 "Pinter does not deserve the Nobel Prize". The Independent. Retrieved 12 July 2011. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help)
  15. ^ [1][dead link]
  16. ^ Hari, Johann (28 January 2009). "Johann Hari: Why should I respect these oppressive religions?". The Independent. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
  17. ^ Bhaumik, Subir (12 February 2009). "Pair held for 'offending Islam'". BBC News. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  18. ^ Newswatch Desk (12 February 2009). "Editor and publisher of Statesman arrested in Kolkata for "maliciously insulting" Muslims". Newswatch.in. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  19. ^ "Letters: Harsh judgments on the pope and religion". The Guardian. London. 15 September 2010. Retrieved 16 September 2010.
  20. ^ Johann Hari Protest the Pope Speech. YouTube, 2010.
  21. ^ Damian Thompson (June 30th, 2011). "Johann Hari: the back story". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved September 27th, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  22. ^ Sabbagh, Dan (28 June 2011). "Johann Hari denies accusations of plagiarism". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  23. ^ O'Neill, Brendan (29 Jube 2011). "Johann Hari and the tyranny of the 'good lie'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 September 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ Flock, Elizabeth (28 June 2011). "Johann Hari denies he plagiarized, sparking #interviewbyhari mockery campaign". Washington Post. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  25. ^ Hari, Johann. "Interview Ettiquette". http://johannhari.com. Retrieved 28 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  26. ^ Hari, Johann. "My response to yesterday's allegations". http://www.johannhari.com. Johann Hari. Retrieved 29 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  27. ^ Hari, Johann (29 June 2011). "Johann Hari: My journalism is at the centre of a storm. This is what I have learned". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  28. ^ Banks, David (28 June 2011). "co-author of McNae's Essential Law for Journalists". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  29. ^ Preston, Peter (3 July 2011). "Johann Hari's anonymous attackers have spun foolishness into dishonesty". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  30. ^ Sabbagh, Dan (28 June 2011). "Independent editor joins Johann Hari row on Twitter". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  31. ^ McAthy, Rachel. "Orwell Prize Council begins investigation into Johann Hari|Johann Hari suspended for two months pending investigation". http://www.journalism.co.uk. Mousetrap Media Ltd. Retrieved 12 July 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  32. ^ Deans, Jason (13 July 2011). "Journalist suspended over plagiarism row". The Guardian. p. 10. Retrieved 13 July 2011.
  33. ^ Hari, Johann (17 August 2004). "Antonio Negri: The nostalgic revolutionary". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  34. ^ "HARI KARI/HACKERY". Deterritorial Support Group. DSG. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  35. ^ Hari, Johann (24 September 2010). "Is Gideon Levy the most hated man in Israel or just the most heroic?". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  36. ^ Whelan, Brian. "Is Johann Hari a copy-pasting churnalist?". http://brianwhelan.net/. Brian Whelan. Retrieved 29 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  37. ^ Hari, Johann (16 May 2006). "An audience with Chavez, the man with the most powerful enemies in the world". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  38. ^ Walters, Guy (29 June 2011). "Just before you accept Johann Hari's apology ..." New Statesman. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  39. ^ Sabbagh, Dan (29 June 2011). "Johann Hari faces fresh plagiarism allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  40. ^ [2]
  41. ^ Hari, Johann. "Ann Leslie - Part One". http://www.johannhari.com/. Johann Hari. Retrieved 4 July 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  42. ^ Hari, Johann (30 January 2010). "Gareth Thomas on the joy of coming out". The Independent. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  43. ^ Dowell, Ben (1 July 2011). "Johann Hari: more plagiarism allegations". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  44. ^ Duns, Jeremy. "How Johann Hari plagiarized the Daily Mail". http://jeremyduns.blogspot.com/. Jeremy Duns. Retrieved 4 July 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  45. ^ Whelan, Brian. "Time to come clean Johann Hari". http://brianwhelan.net. Retrieved 29 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  46. ^ "Media Standards Trust response to Johann Hari allegations". http://mediastandardstrust.org. Media Standards Trust. Retrieved 28 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  47. ^ Gunter, Joel. "Orwell Prize Council begins investigation into Johann Hari". http://www.journalism.co.uk. Mousetrap Media Ltd. Retrieved 30 June 2011. {{cite web}}: External link in |work= (help)
  48. ^ Andrew Pugh (25 July 2011) Announcement on Hari's Orwell Prize decision delayed, Press Gazette
  49. ^ Johann Hari 'invented quotes' in report from Central African Republic, says charity that took him there – Telegraph Blogs
  50. ^ Damian Thompson (27 July 2011) Johann Hari in Africa: the crucial emails
  51. ^ (Jul 27, 2011) Johann Hari suddenly in much more trouble. The liberal UK journalist, accused of plagiarism, is now said to have invented a key part of an award-winning story, Salon
  52. ^ a b c Johann Hari "A personal apology", The Independent (website), 14 September 2011
  53. ^ "Press Statement: The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2008". The Orwell Prize. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  54. ^ "The Orwell Prize and Johann Hari". The Orwell Prize. Orwell Prize Council. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  55. ^ "The Orwell Prize and Johann Hari". The Orwell Prize. Orwell Prize Council. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  56. ^ Allen Green, David. "Who is David Rose?". Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  57. ^ a b Cohen, Nick (9 July 2011). "Diary". The Spectator. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  58. ^ Odone, Cristina Odone (11 July 2011). "I fell out with Johann Hari – then 'David Rose' started tampering viciously with my Wikipedia entr". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  59. ^ Green, David Allan (15 September 2011). "The tale of Mr Hari and Dr Rose". New Statesman. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  60. ^ a b Cahal Milmo "Independent columnist apologises for plagiarism", The Independent, 14 September 2011
  61. ^ Cristina Odone "Johann Hari hounded me for years: all he gets is four months' unpaid holiday from the Independent. But the truth will come out", Daily Telegraph, 15 September 2011
  62. ^ Toby Young: "Fisking Johann Hari's 'apology' in today's Independent", The Telegraph, 19 September 2011.
  63. ^ Simon Chivers (19 September 2011). "We Lefties shouldn't be so quick to forgive Johann Hari". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  64. ^ Richard Seymour (16 September 2011). "The Johann Hari debacle". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  65. ^ David Allen Green (15 September 2011). "The tale of Mr Hari and Dr Rose". The New Statesman. Retrieved 22 September 2011.
  66. ^ Award Categories the Comment Awards[dead link]
  67. ^ "AIUK : Media Awards". Amnesty.org.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  68. ^ "Johann Hari picks up Martha Gellhorn Prize". Blogs.pressgazette.co.uk. 24 May 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  69. ^ "Independent journalist wins Stonewall award". The Independent. London. 7 November 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  70. ^ Award Categories - the Comment Awards[dead link]
  71. ^ Winners announced for Environmental Press Awards - Press Gazette
  72. ^ The Orwell Prize | Johann Hari | Exclusive interview[dead link]
  73. ^ "Johann Hari". BBC News. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2010.
  74. ^ The Independent. London http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/. Retrieved 6 May 2010. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  75. ^ Morris, Sally (15 June 2000). "Future Perfect". The Times.

External links

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