Plagiarism

A visiting correspondent from a leading Italian daily was stopped by security at Ben Gurion Airport on his way back home and asked what he had done during his stay in Israel. He told them that he had spent the day by the pool at the American Colony, then popped into his room in the late afternoon to copy whatever Reuters had put out. Judging by the output of one Jerusalem-based correspondent from another leading Italian daily, this tradition still lives on! 

In a slightly different vein, a senior foreign correspondent for The Times once told me in Italy: “My dear boy, you work so that I can live”. ■