# Posted 9:52 AM by Ariel David Adesnik  

THOUGHTS FOR SEAN PAUL: Until now, I have said nothing about the misconduct of Sean-Paul Kelley, who committed serious acts of plagiarism in his role as editor of The Agonist. I consider Sean-Paul a friend, and was thus saddened to find out what he had done.

In light of the significant praise that I have given Sean-Paul's work in the past, I feel compelled to make some sort of statement about the situation in which he now finds himself. First of all, I am extremely disappointed to find out that the success of a friend was a product of deception. I was very proud of what Sean-Paul had achieved, both for himself and for the blogosphere.

Most disturbing of all is the fact that Sean Paul refused to acknowledge the impropriety of his actions until they were well-publicized. Rather than admit wrongdoing, he shamefully sought to accuse his critics of duplicity.

For the moment, Sean-Paul has continued to serve as a collator of war-related news. Perhaps that is appropriate, at least until the end of the current conflict. Afterward, however, I would like to see Sean-Paul return to his pre-conflict role as a voice of informed opinion. My initial praise for him was a response to the intelligence of his commentary. Regardless of the impact that the current scandal has had on his credibility as a presenter of facts, I believe he is still well-qualified to comment on those facts' significance.

Finally, with regard to the impact that Sean-Paul's situation will have on the credibility of the blogosphere, I believe that it will -- and should -- have a negative effect. We work in a medium that is susceptible to manipulation and must acknowledge that fact.

Meryl Yourish is right to observe that the presence of plagiarism in the mainstream media does not mitigate its presence in the blogosphere. When a mainstream journalist commits an act of plagiarism, it is often another mainstreamer who exposes his misconduct. As Meryl observes, this does not and should not repair the damage done to the mainstream media's credibility, regardless of the pride it can take in effectively policing itself.

Thus, while we should all acknowledge the integrity and effort that Strategic Armchair Command invested in exposing Sean-Paul's misconduct, SAC's achievement should not make the rest of us complacent. What we can be proud of, however, is that we are beginning to develop a capacity for self-regulation which parallels that of the much more established mainstream media.

As Ken Layne rightly points out, it was the mainstream media that offered unstinting praise for Sean-Paul without making any effort whatsoever to verify the appropriateness of his methods. Thus, our elder cousin may have something to learn from us.

(For a comprehensive set of links to other bloggers' comments, please see this post by Dan Drezner.)

Sean-Paul, I am sure that this experience has been very hard on you. But I am sure that if you learn from it, you will be able to rehabilitate yourself in the eyes of all but the most unforgiving critics. (0) opinions -- Add your opinion