CNN fires ex-Reuters trainee for plagiarism

The plagiarism was discovered by CNN editors performing a regular spot check of content in the network’s publishing queue last week. They found that a story by Marie-Louise Gumuchian (photo) included material taken without attribution from another source. Using plagiarism detection software, they quickly turned up more examples and found that she plagiarised in roughly 50 articles.

CNN leaders announced their findings and her firing in an editor’s note on Friday. Gumuchian was on the CNN world desk, and appears to have written frequently about the Middle East, among other topics.

“Most of what we found was [lifted] from Reuters, which she was previously employed by,” a CNN source said. “We also notified [Reuters]. She worked for us for about six months, so if we found that many in six months I can’t imagine the job Reuters has now.”

A CNN source said there was something strange about a passage in one of Gumuchian’s stories, so the copy editor checked it in Google. Up came a story from Reuters with the same passage. When Gumuchian was asked about it, she said that she had worked at Reuters for nine years and that it wouldn’t surprise her if she used language similar to that found in a Reuters piece. “She didn’t have much to say,” the source said.

“We had good faith in her,” a CNN source said. “She had great recommendations, a great career at Reuters and she did extremely well in the interview process.”

Gumuchian joined the Reuters graduate trainee journalism scheme in 2004. A Reuters spokesperson said: “While employed by Reuters we were not aware of any concerns raised about Ms. Gumuchian’s work. However in light of press reports we are reviewing her stories.” ■