Viro Valian, a columnist at CMP Media Inc.'s TechWeb site, was discovered plagiarizing last week from Fortune magazine and was "summarily dismissed," CMP spokeswoman Barbara Kerbel said Tuesday.
In an editorial Monday, editor in chief Jeff Pundyk admitted that Valian's columns "were not his original work."
"We were duped," Pundyk said. "We are embarrassed ... and very, very sorry." The company would not say whether it will take legal action.
A three-page piece on Cisco from Fortune's 12 April issue had been copied "word for word" by Valian for his column, said Rik Kirkland, deputy managing editor at Fortune. "This was just like a sixth-grader copying an entry out of the World Book."
Valian, who edits the Software Stock Advisory Service and runs Valiant Publishing, had first come to Pundyk's attention just as TechWeb was launching its TechInvestor section. "When we were looking to start [that area of the site], we wanted to have real experts," says Pundyk. "He submitted a very impressive portfolio and he looked like a legitimate person."
But on Friday, a tip from investor guide TheStreet.com alerted Kirkland to Valian's work. He alerted Pundyk, who immediately removed Valian's columns from the site.
Pundyk said the Fortune incident was not the only instance of plagiarism by Valian. "Apparently, there were several articles that he submitted that were not his original work," Pundyk said.
Pundyk said Valian apologized to him and expressed his regrets. Kirkland says he hasn't been heard from since, and speculates that he's "somewhere out in the flatlands of Texas."
From the Wired News New York Bureau at FEED magazine.
