General Telecommunications Forum http://washpost.com Blogger Plagarizes, Then Quits

WashingtonPost.com Blogger Quits

A new conservative blogger for http://washingtonpost.com  resigned
Friday, a day after allegations surfaced that he had plagiarized movie
reviews as a journalist in college.

Ben Domenech, 24, had just started writing a daily Web log when
another online publication, http://Salon.com , made the allegations.

"In the past 24 hours, we learned of allegations that Ben Domenech
plagiarized material that appeared under his byline in various
publications prior to washingtonpost.com contracting with him to write
a blog that launched Tuesday," said Jim Brady, executive editor of the
Washington blog.

"An investigation into these allegations was ongoing, and in the
interim, Domenech has resigned, effective immediately," Brady said in
a statement posted on the newspaper's Web site.

Brady said http://washingtonpost.com  was unaware of the allegations
when it hired Domenech to write for the blog, Red America.

http://Salon.com  accused Domenech of using material by its writers without
attribution while he was a student columnist at the College of William &
Mary. Efforts to reach Domenech Friday were unsuccessful.

It is the second time this year that http://washingtonpost.com  has had
issues with bloggers.

In January, the Web site shut down a blog after readers posted personal
attacks against the Washington Post's ombudsman. That blog was later
restored.

Domenech attended William & Mary, but he did not earn a degree,
college spokesman William Walker said. Domenech left school and landed
a job as a speechwriter for Tommy Thompson, the former secretary of
the Department of Health and Human Services, in 2002.

Domenech is best known as founder of http://RedState.com , a
conservative blog.

On The Net:

washingtonpost.com: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press.

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