Community Corner

Portions Of Two Novak Blogs Appear To Have Been Copied

Candidate for Second Congressional District Suspended From Blogging By Patch

After receiving complaints from Patch readers claiming that portions of two blogs authored and posted by Second Congressional District candidate Daria Novak were copied from other sources, Patch editors investigated and determined that portions of the two posts appear to contain text copied from other sources without attribution or indications of direct quotation from such sources.

As a result, because these two blogs did not meet Patch’s standards for publication, Patch has taken down all seven blogs posted by Ms. Novak on the Local Voices blogging platform, and suspended Ms. Novak’s permission to use the platform.

Ms. Novak, a Republican candidate for the office, was blogging on Patch sites throughout eastern Connecticut that are part of the Second Congressional District.

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The first complaint was made on Monday (March 12) about a blog post titled “Proof Your Faith Is Under Attack From Washington” posted on March 11. Large portions of Ms. Novak’s post were virtually identical to text in "America’s Most Biblically-Hostile U.S. President" by David Barton on www.wallbuilders.com but did not include attribution or quotation marks.

From Barton’s piece:

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“Many of these actions are literally unprecedented – this is the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of President Obama toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president.”

From Ms. Novak’s blog:

“Many of these actions literally are unprecedented – the first time they have happened in four centuries of American history. The hostility of President Obama and this Administration toward Biblical faith and values is without equal from any previous American president.”

The blog was removed from all Patch sites on which it was posted.

The second complaint was made Tuesday (March 13), regarding a blog that Ms. Novak posted on March 8 titled “China Builds Power Plants While President Obama Shuts Ours Down.” A reader noted similarities between Ms. Novak’s blog post and an editorial dated March 5 in The Washington Times, titled Obama Undermines Coal.

Similarly, text that appears in Ms. Novak’s March 8 post, with no attribution, links or quotations marks, uses virtually identical language to paragraphs that appear in the March 5, Washington Times editorial.

From The Washington Times:

“On Feb. 29, two utility companies announced the shuttering of nine coal power plants in the East and Midwest. That sent the number of plants slated for deactivation since 2010 beyond the century mark to 106.

GenOn Energy said it would shutter seven coal plants and one oil-fired plant in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois with a total generating capacity of 3,140 megawatts. Midwest Generation followed suit with an advisory that it would close two coal plants serving Chicago.

The shutdowns represent a victory for President Obama, who in a 2008 interview as a candidate signaled his intention to run the coal industry into the ground: ‘So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s emitted’.”

From Ms. Novak’s blog:

“On February 29 two additional utility companies announced the shuttering of nine coal power plants in the East and Midwest. Since 2010, that pushes up the number to 106 slated for deactivation. 

GenOn Energy said it would shutter seven coal plants and one oil-fired plant in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois with a total generating capacity of 3,140 megawatts. Midwest Generation followed suit with an advisory that it would close two coal plants serving Chicago.

The shutdowns represent a victory for President Obama, who in a 2008 interview as a candidate signaled his intention to run the coal industry into the ground:

‘So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can, it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s emitted’.”

In her blog post titled “Proof Your Faith Is Under Attack From Washington,”  Ms. Novak wrote that she had citations available upon request for the information included in a bullet point list that was part of the blog, but that she had not included them out of concerns for length.

When Patch asked Ms. Novak in an email to comment on the broader issue of copying, Ms. Novak stated she reacted right away when questioned about the posts and wanted to pull down her entries for review. Patch's platform doesn't allow users to remove blogging submissions once they're published.

She also wrote in response to our request for comment that, "When I read material from multiple sources, and have multiple people emailing me without attributions, I assume the material was in the public domain." She also noted the second (but earlier) blog post questioned by a reader came before our communication with her so "no further violations of your policy occurred after you explained your policy."


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