N.Y. Times Reporter Accused of Plagiarism Quits

NEW YORK – The New York Times is looking into the work of one its reporters following accusations that he plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal and other sources.

The newspaper published an editor's note online Sunday and in papers Monday that said reporter Zachery Kouwe "appears to have improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organizations."

The Times said Journal editors pointed out similarities between a Journal story from Feb. 5 and Times pieces later that day and on Feb. 6. The Times said that a search found similar examples taken from media outlets such as Reuters and that an investigation was ongoing.

Kouwe declined to comment on Tuesday.

The Journal's letter listed six examples from a story about Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff's relatives.

Among the examples was a sentence from Journal reporter Amir Efrati that read, "Mr. Picard said the family received about $141 million in the six months leading up to Mr. Madoff's December 2008 arrest." The letter pointed out that Kouwe's version read, "Mr. Picard said the family received about $141 million in the six months leading up to Mr. Madoff's arrest in December 2008."

The Times said that a search of Kouwe's work didn't turn up any indications that his stories had any inaccuracies. The newspaper declined to comment on any penalties Kouwe could face.

However, the Times reported on its Web site Tuesday night that two people speaking on condition of anonymity said Kouwe resigned at a meeting late Tuesday afternoon with representatives of the Times, The New York Times Co. and the Newspaper Guild of New York to discuss possible disciplinary action.

"The Times has dealt with this, as we said we would in our Editors' Note, consistent with our standards to protect the integrity of our journalism," Times spokeswoman Diane McNulty said.

In 2003, Times reporter Jayson Blair resigned from the paper after it became clear that he had engaged in plagiarism and fabrications in his work.