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Columbia Journalism Review content tagged Jonah Lehrer

1. July 16, 2012 10:50 AM

   Do they get that it’s wrong?

   Journalism students can be "truly baffled" when confronted for plagiarism

   By Kristal Brent Zook

   Perhaps Liane Membis, the Wall Street Journal intern fired recently for inventing quotes, started out with noble intentions. As Miss Black America-Connecticut last year, she spoke against high illiteracy rates among African American children and of wanting to represent black women “in a positive light.” We’d assume that Membis, a Yale graduate, brought these ideals to her internship at one...

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2. June 21, 2012 03:00 PM

   Gladwell makes excuses for Lehrer

   Undefined “conventions of blogging” a weak defense

   By Curtis Brainard

   The media drama surrounding Jonah Lehrer continued Thursday with author Malcolm Gladwell offering a weak defense of his embattled colleague, who’s been accused of “self-plagiarism” for reusing parts of old stories for other publications in blog posts for The New Yorker and Wired. Gladwell, to whom Lehrer has often been compared, told WWD: The conventions surrounding what is and is...

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3. June 20, 2012 12:53 PM

   How Jonah Lehrer should blog

   The art of glossing the news

   By Felix Salmon

   In the wake of the revelations that Jonah Lehrer is a serial self-plagiarist, Josh Levin declares that if you’re an “ideas man”, you shouldn’t be a blogger: For professional thinkers like Gladwell and Lehrer, the key to maintaining a remunerative career is to milk your best ideas until there’s no liquid left and pray you’ve bought yourself enough time to...

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4. July 30, 2012 02:45 PM

   Lehrer resigns from The New Yorker

   Tablet busts the writer for fabricating Bob Dylan quotes in his new book, Imagine: How Creativity Works

   By Curtis Brainard

   Science writer Jonah Lehrer has resigned as a staff writer for The New Yorker following revelations that he made up quotes and misquoted singer Bob Dylan in his book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, which was released in March. Monday afternoon, Tablet magazine published the results of an investigation by staff writer Michael C. Moynihan, a self-described "Dylan obsessive" who found...

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5. August 1, 2012 05:30 PM

   The bright-young-things hypothesis

   Jonah Lehrer’s mistakes are not our fault

   By Curtis Brainard

   The downward spiral of Jonah Lehrer’s career over the last month has shocked his peers and instilled in them a visceral need to understand. Following the revelations of self-plagiarism, outright fabrication, and lying to cover his tracks, we were bewildered. How could such a seemingly talented journalist, and only 31 years old, have thrown it all away? One theory, proffered...

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6. September 6, 2012 06:50 AM

   The rules of the freelance game

   Tips for pitching like a pro and double-dipping story ideas without going the full Jonah Lehrer

   By Ann Friedman

   Aside from the general advice of networking and putting yourself out there, how do I break into freelancing? What makes a good query letter? Can you really still make a living off freelancing, and how? —Melissa Quick! Off the top of your head, name five editors you know will recognize your name and open your pitch emails. If you can’t,...

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7. August 15, 2012 04:30 PM

   UPDATED: Crime and punishment

   As Zakaria stands trial, Lehrer gets an undeserved pardon

   By Curtis Brainard

   As Fareed Zakaria’s trial-by-blogosphere for alleged plagiarism continues, Jonah Lehrer, whom the same jury convicted of fabricating quotes last month, has received a measure of clemency from an old employer. Last week, Time magazine and CNN suspended Zakaria for borrowing passages from a New Yorker article, without attribution, in pieces he wrote about gun control for both outlets. But critics...

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