A New York radio man responds to being fired
mainBrian Wise, the classical music writer and producer who was sacked by WQXR for alleged plagiarism, has responded with dignity and humility from a link on his Twitter account. Here’s what he writes:
NPR and WQXR have identified some sentences and phrases in my work that were similar to those used in other media outlets. They are right. These unintentional lapses are entirely my fault. I did not live up to my high standards nor those of NPR and WQXR. I sincerely apologize for this.
I recognize that many people today hold journalists in low esteem, which makes these past transgressions all the more difficult to fathom, especially for those who work or put their trust in the profession. I hope to learn from these mistakes and move forward honing a craft I’ve grown to love over a 15-year career.
I’m one of the authors that NPR lists that Mr. Wise plagiarized. Frankly, I didn’t find his phrase that was similar to one I wrote at all problematic. And even when all the instances from other authors are taken together, I think they would merit something more along the lines of a warning that he needed to be more careful in his writing, or at most a temporary demotion. Firing him, and especially creating such a massive public denunciation, seems too extreme to me.
Overall Brian Wise did very good work. I appreciated his perspectives and the sorts of stories and topics he chose to address. Dozens of journalists wrote articles about the Vienna Philharmonic based on my reports, and many used material far more explicitly than Mr. Wise. I presented a lot of documented material exactly with the hope journalists would use it. I hope Mr. Wise will be able to move beyond this, learn his lessons, and find his way back to journalism. His voice is needed.
Thank God. “High standards?” Seriously? He had me running all over LA trying to find a landline and then gave me interview to some idiot who had no idea what he was talking about — when apparently my “yes” reply went to WQXR’s junk-mail box because of him. WQXR can now lift my “don’t ever call me again” notice.
Sorry, I could not make head or tail of this.
Let’s all keep in mind that the ultimate metric for high quality journalism is the imagined duress from minor inconveniences experienced by Blair Tindall.