If you’ve been online or follow any social media news whatsoever, you’ve probably been exposed to the social media spanking being heaped upon Judith Griggs of Cooks’ Source.
If you haven’t seen it, let me sum up:
Monica Guadio wrote an article; Cooks Source (and that apostrophe above is mine — for Pete’s sake, the title of the publication – the way they write it — isn’t even correct!) took it, made some changes and published it as theirs. Monica called them on it and received an outrageously arrogant response from the editor. You really have to read about it on Monica’s website and read the response it its original state to get the full benefit of outrage. The “but honestly, Monica” is so deliciously condescending it’s become both a hashtag and a trending phrase.
Here are five things Cooks Source should do RIGHT NOW:
- Fire Judith Griggs and replace her immediately.
- Apologize, immediately and sincerely (no, “my bad” is not an apology) and begin putting to rights all the wrongs it has committed.
- Re-brand and overhaul the publication — its practices are abhorrent and illegal – if the publication doesn’t go under from lawsuits and legal fees, it will be a minor miracle.
- In a good faith effort, OWN UP to all past mistakes and make a commitment to financially support an up and coming food writer through scholarship, in addition to paying for all of the purloined content they have taken over the years.
- Consider adding that apostrophe if you’re going to keep the name. Just sayin’.
Other posts on this topic:
Internet turns Cooks Source Plagiarism into Worldwide Debate
Love it. I am still amazed by Judith’s response.
I believe that Cooks Source *IS* Judith Griggs. It’s one of those tiny owner-operated outfits. I suspect that the list of five things should look more like this:
1. Hire a lawyer.
2. Stop publishing the magazine.
3. Apologize.
4. Get ready to declare bankruptcy.
5. Find a new line of work.
Well done. Really interested to see how it plays out.
I think it’s too late. I think Dan’s list is spot on. All of this could have been avoided, too.
I have been following this with such shock and horror. I still cannot even fathom how Judith Griggs made it to the position of editor, no matter how small the publication. There is so much wrong with this, it is hard to know where to begin. But one thing has been made abundantly clear: Ms. Griggs still does not want to admit wrongdoing. The “apology” and explanation posted to their website was laughable and carried the same tone as Ms. Griggs emails. Basically, this is what is translates to in my mind: “Come on guys, give us a break. It’s not like what we did was that bad. Besides, it is not our fault, but the fault of some unsavory characters on the web. But whatever, I guess we’ll stop plagiarizing from now on.”
My bad.
Have you seen the latest on this? http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2010/11/09/131194921/cooks-source-update-magazine-sort-of-issues-weirdest-sort-of-apology-ever?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=12911099&utm_campaign=Food+News+Wednesday%2C+November+10
The so-called apology on the Cooks Source website (http://www.cookssource.com/) is bizarre and, frankly, incredibly badly written.
It’s another great example of how not to apologize. There’s a good post topic for you, Jen — “How to Apologize.”