Midday Sunday: Plagiarism

(FOX 11) - Journalist Jerrett Hill (@JarrettHill) a was at a Starbucks in Culver City Monday night, watching the Republican National Convention.

When Melania Trump ended her speech, Hill had the feeling he had heard some of it before. He was quickly able to confirm that he had heard the same phrases in Michelle Obama's speech eight years earlier at the Democratic National Convention.

Soon after posting his discovery on Twitter, the story went viral. In the aftermath there were allegations of plagiarism and questions about who actually wrote Ms. Trump's speech, as well as speculation concerning the speech's impact on the presidential election.

Professor Gordon Stables (@gstables) at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School for Communications and Journalism has to constantly be on alert for plagiarism in the work done by his students.

In addition to questons about ethics and precedents, Professor Stable is concerned that the Melania Trump controversy could set a bad example for people who can easily cut-and-paste ideas wherever they would like.

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