Yes and no.
Yes, the hodgepodge of knowledge, trivia, and information readily available--and downloadable--in the internet is one of the culprits for plagiarism. The spontaneity of the internet allows people to share information as their own. There may be watermarks in some of the uploaded photos but they can be erased and fabricated to make a seemingly ingenious and original work of art.
There is the principle of proper attribution but many forget--intentionally or otherwise--to do so.
Just recently, a UP student won an international photo contest after submitting a photograph of a boy with a seaweed farm backdrop. The child, according to Mark Joseph Solis, was from Zamboanga City in Mindanao, where there is an ongoing standoff. It turned out, Solis PLAGIARIZED and CLAIMED THE PHOTO AS HIS, when in fact the winning photo was actually taken by Brazil-based photographer, Gregory John Smith.
Solis won $1,000 and round-trip tickets to Chile and Brazil.
Smith of course, cried foul. And so am I!
I am a writer from a major newspaper and one of the basic rules in professional journalism is plagiarism. If one is to copy, he or she must properly attribute the sources. But it doesn't take a writer to know the ins and outs of plagiarism when it is actually taught in school. Besides, taking something from someone sans acknowledging it is a basic rule of nature.
I am aghast and disappointed with Solis, not that I know him personally. According to news stories, he is a U.P. Political Science graduate and is currently taking Masteral degree in Public Administration in the same school. He is also a debater and has competed across Asia. Furthermore, he was given scholarship grants in Japan and Thailand.
"Unfortunately, I was driven by my youth, lack of experience, and inability to see the repercussions of my action. The sheer amount of the prize, the stiff competition, and the unique opportunity to be abroad," Solis says in his apology letter.
I CANNOT TAKE AND UNDERSTAND HIS CAUSES AND REASONS, FOR ME THEY ARE PURE ALIBI.
Come on! He's from U.P. (the top school in the Philippines) and of legal age, he surely knows what he's doing. Apparently, Solis has been plagiarizing for at least five times and has never been caught until now.
Solis should be kicked out from school! What a shame!
Solis' "winning photo" captioned as "The Mettle of the Filipino Spirit". The boy, according to Solis, was Nilo from Zamboanga City. The photograph was in fact grabbed from Smith's Flickr account, originally titled, "Neptune, King of the Sea".
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| Photo from Yahoo! Philippines, which they grab from Facebook |