"It Takes a Village" was ghostwritten for Hillary Clinton by Barbara Feinman

[IndianaGreen]

Originally Hillary and the Clinton White House had claimed that Hillary was the sole author.

Now, who is the plagiarizer?

[woolldog]

1. Can you substantiate that please? (nt)

[IndianaGreen]

7. Link

Clinton has been criticized for not giving credit to a ghostwriter in connection with It Takes a Village. The majority of the book was reportedly written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.<8> When the book was first announced in April 1995, The New York Times reported publisher Simon & Schuster as saying "The book will actually be written by Barbara Feinman, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Ms. Feinman will conduct a series of interviews with Mrs. Clinton, who will help edit the resulting text."<9>

Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work.<10> Feinman, however, was not mentioned anywhere in the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village

[eleny]

11. Ooops

[truedelphi]

60. Here's my two cents

http://tinyurl.com/2897yw

[lame54]

71. Wikipedia is your source? c'mon

It may or may not be true - But, wikipedia is not a good source - I use it to point me in the direction of real sources

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

78. The wikipedia article contains references.

The NYT, the Scotsman, the book itself...

[lame54]

83. Still not a good source - read this...

and the comments too
http://spring.newsvine.com/_news/2006/08/01/307864-stephen-colbert-causes-chaos-on-wikipedia-gets-blocked-from-site
when i see a wiki URL i can see the poster is just being lazy

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

90. I think using that argument is lazy.

Not just lazy because you didn't check out the secondary references, but also lazy because you failed to realize that story you posted supports Wiki's credibility.

[Cha]

113. hilary doesn't give anyone any credit

for anything ..it's all "I I I"

[CorpGovActivist]

117. .

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Straight from the horse's mouth:

"The problem came when Mrs. Clinton decided, for reasons still a mystery to me, not to acknowledge my help, or that of anyone else by name. Because the White House had issued a press release early on in the process stating that I had been hired to "help prepare the manuscript," when it was finished and there was no mention of me in the acknowledgments, the anti-Clinton forces went to town. The irony was that by not acknowledging me, rather than diminishing my role, she unwittingly elevated me to a sort of literary Joan of Arc with the likes of everyone from Don Imus to Maureen Dowd to Rush Limbaugh weighing in before Thank-YouGate blew over"

http://www.awpwriter.org/magazine/writers/btodd01.htm

[Whisp]

22. hahaha! don't you just love this Boomerang Shit?

a unique unplagarised word invented for the Clintons 08 campaign.

They can't say Nuttin' without it coming back threefold in their smug faces.

:rofl:

[truedelphi]

61. Pls see the below mentioned URL for some additional laughs

Well maybe not laughs, there were lives destroyed

http://tinyurl.com/2897yw

[BuyingThyme]

55. Game, set, match.

[H2O Man]

65. Thank you.

Much appreciated.

[marlakay]

74. Just read the article from your link

and the thing that got me is when she talked about how she only admired a few people and mentioned the skater and didn't mention Hillary at all...that was very telling to me and she spent a long time with her. Of course not acknowledging someone after her work I am sure left her with a bad taste.

[VotesForWomen]

102. may be in poor taste, but not plagiarism; she had *permission* to use the writer's work. theft vs. b

theft vs. buying, you know.

[godai]

10. Here's a link:

the 1996 book It Takes a Village, was largely written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman <48>. Originally the publisher and the White House had indicated that Feinman would be assisting Clinton in preparing the manuscript, perhaps using audiotapes dictated by Clinton. Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work <49>. However, Feinman was not mentioned anywhere in the book. Clinton’s acknowledgment section began: “It takes a village to bring a book into the world, as everyone who has written one knows. Many people have helped me to complete this one, sometimes without even knowing it. They are so numerous that I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually, for fear that I might leave one out.”

This led Feinman to complain at the time to Capitol Style magazine over the lack of acknowledgement. <50> In 2001, The Wall Street Journal reported that “New York literary circles are buzzing with vitriol over Sen. Clinton’s refusal, so far, to share credit with any writer who helps on her book.” <51> Later, in a 2002 article for The Writer’s Chronicle <52>, Barbara Feinman Todd (now using her married name) related that the project with Clinton had gone smoothly, producing drafts in a round-robin style. Feinman denies that Clinton was uninvolved with the project, but also states that, “Like any first lady, Mrs. Clinton had an extremely hectic schedule and writing a book without assistance would have been logistically impossible.” Feinman reiterates that her only objection to the whole process was the lack of any acknowledgement. As of 2005, a web page for Feinman states that It Takes a Village was one of “several high-profile books” that she has “assisted, as editor, writer and researcher.” <53>

Clinton also reportedly used three ghostwriters for her 2003 Living History memoirs, veteran ghostwriter Maryanne Vollers, speechwriter Alison Muscatine, and researcher Ruby Shamir. <54>. This time, Clinton’s acknowledgment section stated: “This book may not have taken a village to write, but it certainly took a superb team ... The smartest decision I made was to ask Lissa Muscatine, Maryanne Vollers and Ruby Shamir to spend two years of their lives working with me. Lissa responsible for many of the words in my speeches as First Lady and in this book ... Maryanne the rare gift of understanding how to help another’s voice emerge ... Ruby amassing, reviewing and synthesizing millions of words written about me.” However, the three women did not receive co-writing credit on the book’s cover, unlike for example, the co-writing credit fellow Senator John Edwards gave to ghostwriter John Auchard on his book Four Trials <55> and fellow Senator John McCain gave to administrative assistant Mark Salter on his books Faith of My Fathers, Worth the Fighting For, Why Courage Matters, and Character is Destiny.



http://www.hillaryproject.com/index.php?/wiki/Barbara_Feinman/

[tishaLA]

20. Ouch!

[nomorewhopper]

47. "YES WE WILL" "I am the candidate for CHANGE" Original thoughts, all of them.

[bunnies]

2. Glass house. Stones. Never a good idea. nt

[ChairmanAgnostic]

56. chromed tool steel boomerangs with razor edges are even worse.

[AtomicKitten]

3. Oh dear ....

:toast:

[eleny]

4. Link?

[niyad]

5. cite links and proof please.

also, please note that ghostwriting and plagiarism are NOT the same thing. please acquaint yourself with a dictionary.

[eleny]

15. I would check out reply #8 here in the thread

Feinman thought it was an issue. So now, you can either respect Feinman's feelings on the issue or not. Your choice.

[niyad]

23. ghostwriting and plagiarism are NOT the same thing.

[IndianaGreen]

30. plagiarism is taking someone else's work and claiming it as one's own

Clearly Hillary did that by refusing to acknowledge in the book, and in the subsequent PR storm, the contribution made by Barbara Feinman.

[niyad]

39. in view of the fact that the publisher acknowledged ms. feinman, that charge does not hold.

[IndianaGreen]

41. Hillary and the White House denied the book had been ghostwritten

that's what led to the small PR fiasco at the time. Since then, Hillary has had to acknowledge that this and other books were ghostwritten.

[eleny]

42. The Clinton campaign isn't trying to get down to those fine points

All they're really trying to do is to get people to think that Obama is a cheater. They know his relationship to Gov. Patrick. But they throw some mud at the wall and hope it will stick because people probably don't know about the relationships.

Furthermore, it's been pointed out how she has lifted things directly from Obama speeches. I don't hear any outrage from you towards her because of that. So please get real. All you care about is smearing him.

If it matters to Ms. Feinman, the ghostwriter, it ought to matter to you since you're acting like you're candidate walks a higher ground.

Your candidate has to take this one on the chin. Her campaign screwed up. Again.

[lapfog_1]

51. Ghostwriting and claiming the work as your own

is much much worse than simply neglecting to cite a phrase or passage as being written or uttered by another.

The entire work is a fraud, not just a passage.

[VotesForWomen]

103. exactly. O folks are either ignorant or making deliberately false charges. so much for the new tone.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

6. link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_takes_a_village#Ghostwriter_controversy

[sniffa]

12. SNAP

Ghostwriter controversy

Clinton has been criticized for not giving credit to a ghostwriter in connection with It Takes a Village. The majority of the book was reportedly written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.<8> When the book was first announced in April 1995, The New York Times reported publisher Simon & Schuster as saying "The book will actually be written by Barbara Feinman, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Ms. Feinman will conduct a series of interviews with Mrs. Clinton, who will help edit the resulting text."<9>

Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work.<10> Feinman, however, was not mentioned anywhere in the book. Clinton's acknowledgment section began: "It takes a village to bring a book into the world, as everyone who has written one knows. Many people have helped me to complete this one, sometimes without even knowing it. They are so numerous that I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually, for fear that I might leave one out."<11> During her promotional tour for the book, Clinton said, "I actually wrote the book ... I had to write my own book because I want to stand by every word."<2> Clinton stated that Feinman assisted in interviews and did some editorial drafting of "connecting paragraphs", while Clinton herself wrote the final manuscript in longhand.<2>

This led Feinman to complain at the time to Capitol Style magazine over the lack of acknowledgement.<12> In 2001, The Wall Street Journal reported that "New York literary circles are buzzing with vitriol over Sen. Clinton's refusal, so far, to share credit with any writer who helps on her book."<13> Later, in a 2002 article for The Writer's Chronicle,<14> Barbara Feinman Todd (now using her married name) related that the project with Clinton had gone smoothly, producing drafts in a round-robin style. Feinman agrees that Clinton was involved with the project, but also states that, "Like any first lady, Mrs. Clinton had an extremely hectic schedule and writing a book without assistance would have been logistically impossible." Feinman reiterates that her only objection to the whole process was the lack of any acknowledgement. A 2005 Georgetown University web page bio for Barbara Feinman Todd states that It Takes a Village was one of "several high-profile books" that she has "assisted, as editor, writer and researcher."<15>

[RoadRage]

9. WOW.. Pot, meet Kettle!

Seriously.. a few words from a guy who was happy to "lend them" vs. an entire book from an author who actually WANTED credit.

I seriously suspect that this thread is about to become very absent of Hillary supporters...

Hello?

HELLO??

[calmblueocean]

36. It Takes A Village... To Attack Barack!

And now that village is strangely empty.

[eleny]

45. I think you're right.... listen....

http://buzz.ifas.ufl.edu/489ss2.wav

[Forkboy]

13. LOL

:thumbsup:

[flyarm]

14. do you even understand ghost writing?..do you?

Noun 1. ghostwriter - a writer who gives the credit of authorship to someone else

[godai]

18. Do you understand plagiarism? It's not the Clintons' job to decide this.

This whole topic (plagiarism and ghostwriting) is meaningless but, once it's brought up, similar topics will be brought up. Drop the plagiarism crap and maybe the unrecognized ghostwriting will stop also.

[noiretextatique]

24. i haven't posted anything about plagiarism

but comparing ghostwriting to plagiarism is complete nonsense.

[susankh4]

97. That is true!

I have a friend who "ghost writes." He is forbidden to say for whom.... or he may lose his royalties.

Ghostwriters are paid to remain behind the scenes.

[HeraldSquare212]

19. That's from the ghostwriter's perspective; Hillary was claiming authorship.

It may be the ghostwriter's job to give credit (although don't they usually get some mention? like "with so-and-so) but it's not usually someone's job to claim they wrote something that they in fact did not.

[IndianaGreen]

21. Feinman complained over the lack of acknowledgement by Hillary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village

[noiretextatique]

27. her complaint doesn't make it plagiarism

Sometimes the ghostwriter will receive partial credit on a book, signified by the phrase "with..." or "as told to..." on the cover. Credit for the ghostwriter may also be provided as a "thanks" in a foreword or introduction. For non-fiction books, the ghostwriter may be credited as a "contributor" or a "research assistant". In other cases, the ghostwriter receives no official credit for writing a book or article; in cases where the credited author or the publisher or both wish to conceal the ghostwriter's role, the ghostwriter may be asked to sign a nondisclosure contract that forbids them from revealing their ghostwriting role.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghostwriter#Remuneration_and_credit

[IndianaGreen]

31. It is plagiarism if Hillary claimed to be the sole author of the book

and refused to give any credit to Barbara Feinman.

[noiretextatique]

50. no, it doesn't

frankly, IndianaGreen, this is beneath you. i can understand the ghostwriter's complaint, but it still doesn't equal plagiarism. Feinman doesn't make that charge, does she?

[okasha]

77. No, it isn't.

Whether Feinman has a grievance or not depends on the terms of her contract with Hillary and the publisher. If the contract states that Hillary's name is to be on the book as sole author, Feinman has no beef. If the contract calls for Feinman to be credited in some fashion and she was not, then we have a possible breach of contract and an ethical issue, but not plagiarism.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

37. None of this has anything to do with plagiarism.

The accusations against Obama have to do with a speech he gave written by Axelrod, which were similar to a speech given by Patrick, which were also written by Axelrod. Obama has permission from both.

So not only has Obama not plagiarized, he hasn't even come close to doing anything unethical.

[noiretextatique]

52. i agree with you...the accusation is as ridiculous as this one

all of this 'tit for tat' crap is juvenile.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

76. I disagree this one exception.

Plagiarism is a very serious accusation, and when it turns out to be phony then all bets are off.

[RoadRage]

46. Fine, then Obama got a small part of his speech from a Ghost Talker..

Someone who was MORE THEN WILLING to let him borrow a few lines, with no credit required. So why is this an issue?

[Renew Deal]

80. do you even understand hypocrisy?..do you?

hy·poc·ri·sy
1. a pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.

[baldguy]

16. Normally, the claimed author of a ghostwritten piece is not considered a plagiarist.

The true author is aware of who its being written for, agrees give up the claim of authorship, and is paid very well.

Nor is a person giving a speech normally considered to be a plagiarist when he uses a single phrase or idea without attribution.

[rodeodance]

17. if you understand any legal aspects of ghostwriting you would not SPOUT off such nonsense.

[IndianaGreen]

28. The author complained that Hillary did not even acknowledged her contribution

Nowhere on the book. When the stories first came out that the book had been ghostwritten, the Clinton White House went into denial mode.

[Divernan]

64. You do not understand legal aspects yourself, but you never stop spouting.

See my reply elsewhere in this thread. I put in a lot of time and paid a lot money to get a law degree. You didn't. You are not licensed to issue a legal opinion. I am.

Ghostwriting is legal. It legally presents someone else's work as your own. That is also, plain and simple, plagiarism. Plagiarism is not a crime under any laws of these United States. It IS against the internal rules and regulations in the academic world. Only if material was copyrited do you get into the criminal area.

So it was legal for Clinton to hire a ghost writer, and choose not to acknowlege said ghost writer.
However, it was a baldfaced lie for Clinton, in response to explicit questions, to claim she(Clinton) wrote the whole book herself.

So, you can continue to spin, wedge, belittle, manipulate and insult in behalf of Clinton, In fact the more you post, the more you hurt Clinton's chances.

You never respond to this question, but just why won't Clinton release her tax returns?

[IndianaGreen]

79. Yeah, why won't Hillary release her tax returns?

Why is she stonewalling on her taxes?

[K Gardner]

25. Kick ? Wailing and gnashing of teeth soon to begin..

:rofl:

[goodgd_yall]

26. You don't know the meaning of plagiarize. n/t

[MethuenProgressive]

29. You do know what a ghostwriter is, don't you? You pay them. Plagiarism is fraud and theft.

DUbamas are Killing DU.

[jackson_dem]

44. Now now, we don't need pesky facts in an Obamite thread

[RoadRage]

48. Well, I don't see anyone claiming that Obama frauded or stole any lines or ideas from them..

The person Obama seemed to take a couple of lines from certainly doesn't seem to think he was robbed.. he's fine with it. So, does that still make it plagerism?

Conversely, the person who wrote Hillary's book DID want credit, and it was denied.

Who's the bigger offender?

[Divernan]

54. No, plagiarism is not fraud or theft.

I'm a licensed atty. & former law professor. Fraud and theft are crimes. Plagiarism is not a crime, unless the work you present as your own has been previously copyrighted by another. Political speeches are not copyrighted. And even then, you would not be charged with "plagiarism", but with copyright infringement.
Hiring a ghost writer is also not a crime. However, an explicit denial that someone ghost wrote all or part of your book is a bald-faced lie.

I hope this was simple enough for you to understand.

[MethuenProgressive]

63. "Plagiarism is not a crime"? You need to google up a better pretend-to-be-a-lawyer-online website.

Not only is plagiarism a crime, it can be a felony.
Dude, go back to class. You're late for Pottery 101.

[Divernan]

69. Yes, I am a lawyer

I tried to make my explanation as simple as possible, knowing the education demographics of Clinton's supporters. Plagiarism is forbidden in academic settings. Academic rules and regs are NOT l-a-w-s.

So put up or shut up - cite me a law listing plagiarism as a felony. And the law has to use the term "Plagiarism", but not c-o-p-y-r-i-g-h-t..

[MethuenProgressive]

81. Using your Google the first thing that pops up:

when "plagiarism felony" is entered into the search box is:

FAQ Legal Punishments

Most cases of plagiarism are considered misdemeanors, punishable by fines of anywhere between $100 and $50,000 – and up to one year in jail.

Plagiarism can also be considered a felony under certain state and federal laws. For example, if a plagiarist copies and earns more than $2,500 from copyrighted material, he or she may face up to $250,000 in fines and up to ten years in jail.

www.ysu.edu/maag/find/FAQ_plag.html - 12k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

I'm glad when I hire lawyers they actually know what they're doing, and are not just playing one on the Internets. :rofl:
Man, I hate high school vacation week on DU. Enjoy your stay on Ignore.

[noiretextatique]

91. the challenge was to find something

regarding plagiarism as a crime that did not mention the word copyright.

[Dora]

108. The law's concern is not about plagiarism, but protecting copyright, and protecting profit.

The two concerns are entirely different. Offenses of plagiarism are based on standards of ethical behavior, and we all know that one can behave unethically without it being illegal. The offense of copyright infringement is based on one party using/profiting from another party's intellectual property.

When a book is ghostwritten, it is considered a "work made for hire," and the ghostwriter sells their work (in this case the time, research, and writing of ITAV), in FAIR EXCHANGE for monetary renumeration and perhaps also public credit.

HRC's failure to acknowledge or give credit to her ghostwriter IS NOT a case of plagiarism. It can be argued that it was selfish of her, or short-sighted, unethical, whatever. This crap about plagiarism is specious and fantabulist.

[terrya]

32. And "Profiles in Courage" was written by Ted Sorensen.

Like it was said, plagarizing goes on all the time.

There's nothing to this story about Obama. Trivial.

[Perry Logan]

33. Desperate attempt to get Obama out of his pickle. I guess you had to try.

[Metric System]

34. Ha! This is hilarious. Obamaniacs don't even know what a ghostwriter is!!! n/t

[VotesForWomen]

106. well, most of them aren't even old enough to drink. nt

[stahbrett]

35. BREAKING NEWS - Hillary's "Village" voted overwhelming for Obama!

:D


P.S. I stole that from someone - if I remembered whom, I'd consider crediting them! ;)

[ChairmanAgnostic]

58. ergo, villages are now no longer significant.

obviously they can be ignored from now on.

[Renew Deal]

82. Bill Maher

:D

[mtnsnake]

38. I guess on the Green Underground ghost writing means something different than the rest of the world

Nice try

[Moochy]

67. Green Underground

wow, you are a charmer, mr snake.

[pocoloco]

40. Don't know about plagiarizer, would bald faced liar work?

[Tatiana]

43. Thank you, IG. This is the problem with being a hypocrite. It will bite you on the a$$ someday.

This is why Wolfson is backtracking now.

But what will the throngs of followers do? Soldier on with the plagiarism meme or wait for the next set of marching orders?

[noiretextatique]

53. the plagiarism meme is as false as this one

i am disgusted by both sides.

[Moochy]

73. There will be some delay as the shills get faxes emails etc.

It takes a village to coordinate a smear attack! Wolfenson and Penn are sending faxes and dreaming up the next smear.

[IndianaGreen]

49. A 2001 article by Al Hunt on Hillary, including the part about the book

The continuing Clinton melodrama has been a tale of two Hillarys. Anything outside the Senate has been a disaster. She's ensnared in the scandals over her husband's pardons of fugitive Marc Rich, some shady Hassidic Jews in New York, and two crooks surreptitiously represented by her brother.

Her continuing obsession with money has created other problems. Her huge book advance and solicitation of gifts--before assuming her Senate seat--were unseemly, if not unethical.

<snip>

New York literary circles are buzzing with vitriol over Sen. Clinton's refusal, so far, to share credit with any writer who helps on her book. Such a decision is not unprecedented, but it is unattractive.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/wsj/?id=90000397

[marlakay]

62. I just wonder why people want someone like this

for president? Do they not believe any of the hundreds maybe thousands of things printed about her?

Heh I am just one person who has seen tons of things written that show bad character of Hillary. I am not going to go into it and bash her but you don't have to look far to see it. And not all of it is written by republicans and not all is made up. there are a lot of facts out there.

Do people just see the name and woman and vote?? Who are they voting for? I guess they see her as a strong woman. What I see is a person willing to do anything to win and that scares the hell out of me!

[truedelphi]

57. I don't care that someone else wrote the goddamn screed

What has ALWAYS bugged me about "It takes a village" is that Hillary was, through her time served as personal attorney to Sam Walton and in her position on the Board of Directors to WalMArt, circa 1986 to 1991, she was one of those who either helped WalMArt destroy the village, or one who stood by and did nothing.

Circa 1986 to 1991, WalMarts were built across the MidWest and many times, the location chosen was a small town environment with many local mom and pop stores. These stores would be driven into bankruptcy by the underselling of product pricing - bu tthen - get this! Once the mom and pops closed up, often WalMart decided to close down the store in that exact location, as it "did not show a "positive positioning" in the retail climate.

So then the people in those locations had nowhere to shop. In addition to no jobs either.

How many kids went to bed worried and sick knowing their parents' stores had closed. or that Mom's job at the wonderful New WalMart was gone.

If you never heard about this, here's one reason -- The news media is beholden to its advertisers.

I know about this because of living in the San Francisco Bay area - an area where "Big BOx stores" are voted down through ballot measures. Because WalMArt is not within the confines of the city of San Francisco, WalMart paid no advertising to the San Francisco Chronicle.

So the SF Chronicle was not beholden to WalMart and ran several exposes on this facet of the corporation. Hillary was not mentioned - she was only the wife of a governor of one of the more obscure (by CA standards) states in the South.

[IndianaGreen]

59. Here is Barbara Feinman's own account of It Takes a Village

The Writer's Chronicle

Ghost Writing
Barbara Feinman Todd
September 2002

The actual writing experience of working on It Takes a Village with Mrs. Clinton was not extraordinary in any respect. Together with our editor, we produced drafts in a round-robin style. We worked well as a team and things went about as smoothly as can be expected when you're producing a high-profile book in eight months and one of you is married to the leader of the free world. The problem came when Mrs. Clinton decided, for reasons still a mystery to me, not to acknowledge my help, or that of anyone else by name.

http://www.awpwriter.org/magazine/writers/btodd01.htm

The mystery may well be the fact that Hillary is incapable to admit she made a mistake, and make amends for it. This is why she didn't apologized for her lack of acknowledgement of Feinman's contributions, and why she cannot apologize for her war votes. It is a personality trait of hers that she shares with Nixon.

[Divernan]

68. It is Clinton's pattern. Never admit a mistake.

And of course if you can't admit a mistake, you never FIX a mistake, do you? This latest bruhaha from Texas that her campaign never bothered to learn the rules for the Texas caucus until last week just show how clueless and incompetent she and her campaign staff are.

[npincus]

66. kick

[zulchzulu]

70. It Takes A Phony

That's the book I would write about Hillary Clinton.

[displacedtexan]

72. When you've paid someone, it's not plagiarism.

As for those of you who've never worked for a campaign, what do you
think a "political analyst" is? I got paid for 4 years as one of those,
and I ghosted a ton of letters, briefs, talking points bulletins, op-eds,
official press comments, etc.

Time to wake up to the reality of the party system.

[ProSense]

75. It is when you misrepresent what happened

Clinton has been criticized for not giving credit to a ghostwriter in connection with It Takes a Village. The majority of the book was reportedly written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.<8> When the book was first announced in April 1995, The New York Times reported publisher Simon & Schuster as saying "The book will actually be written by Barbara Feinman, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Ms. Feinman will conduct a series of interviews with Mrs. Clinton, who will help edit the resulting text."<9>

Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work.<10> Feinman, however, was not mentioned anywhere in the book. Clinton's acknowledgment section began: "It takes a village to bring a book into the world, as everyone who has written one knows. Many people have helped me to complete this one, sometimes without even knowing it. They are so numerous that I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually, for fear that I might leave one out."<11> During her promotional tour for the book, Clinton said, "I actually wrote the book ... I had to write my own book because I want to stand by every word."<2> Clinton stated that Feinman assisted in interviews and did some editorial drafting of "connecting paragraphs", while Clinton herself wrote the final manuscript in longhand.<2>

link

The problem came when Mrs. Clinton decided, for reasons still a mystery to me, not to acknowledge my help, or that of anyone else by name. Because the White House had issued a press release early on in the process stating that I had been hired to "help prepare the manuscript," when it was finished and there was no mention of me in the acknowledgments, the anti-Clinton forces went to town. The irony was that by not acknowledging me, rather than diminishing my role, she unwittingly elevated me to a sort of literary Joan of Arc with the likes of everyone from Don Imus to Maureen Dowd to Rush Limbaugh weighing in before Thank-YouGate blew over. Pundits had a field day opining how much of the book she had actually written. The truth was much more prosaic: Like any first lady, Mrs. Clinton had an extremely hectic schedule and writing a book without assistance would have been logistically impossible. The book, despite the fact that it was at best a mediocre political tract on the virtues of governmental responsibility in the raising of children through subsidized programs like Head Start, was a bestseller and its audio version won Mrs. Clinton a Grammy.

link

[Baby Snooks]

100. Ghostwriting

The practice is really looked down on simply because the real author of course is never acknowledged as such but of course most ghostwriters are doing it for the money, $120,000 isn't a bad fee, but of course most ghostwriters are at least given some sort of "hidden" acknowledgement by name but of course all of this is just another example of how the Clintons operate. Not to defend them, which I won't, it may be that there was an agreement with Hillary Clinton that no acknowledgement would be made. Hillary can certainly call me the next time she wants to pay $120,000 for a ghostwriter and I won't have any problem whatsoever with her not acknowledging me. And she can be assured I won't be making an issue of it with the media. Which raises the question of why Barbara Feinman did. Ghostwriters are supposed to not be seen. Or heard from.

[Dora]

109. No, it's still not plagiarism. It's unethical, but it is not plagiarism. nt

[yourguide]

84. As recently as Jan 3 2008 Hil took full credit for writing that book

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/news/speech/view/?id=5024 (third paragraph from the bottom)

This was part of her speech on caucus night.

I wrote a book some years ago called "It Takes a Village to Raise a Child" and in it I have a chapter that I titled "Every Child Needs a Champion." I think that the American people need a president who is their champion and that is what I intend to be.

[IndianaGreen]

85. That's our "girl!"

BTW, how come Hillary refuses to allow the public to read her Master thesis? It has been locked up at the request of Bill Clinton.

[yourguide]

86. she wont release her finances either

n/t

[IndianaGreen]

87. All candidates release their tax returns, except Hillary.

What is she hiding? And why does she say she will release them after she wins the nomination?

:eyes:

[CorpGovActivist]

88. Oh, dear. An Inconvenient Truth. n/t

[NastyRiffraff]

89. So is giving a speech written by a speechwriter plagiarism?

After all, everyone knows that most if not all of any candidate's speeches are written by a paid speechwriter. It's never acknowledged, but it's there, and certainly isn't seen as plagiarism.

That said, I think the entire plagiarism thing on BOTH sides is ridiculous, and grasping at straws. Obama took significant parts of someone else's speech and "recycled" them; Hillary didn't acknowledge that she had a ghostwriter.

Not exactly what we want to see, but not the big deal everyone's making of this.

[Medusa]

93. Last time I checked it was not standard practice to credit your speechwriter

but it IS in the book biz to either acknowledge the assistance of your ghost writer or in this case, the person who REALLY wrote the damned book.

[Mme. Defarge]

92. The Empress Has No Clothes!

[Hart2008]

94. It takes a village to have an idiot! n/t

[PretzelWarrior]

95. K&R!!!! way to go!

[Mother Of Four]

96. Oh.....SNAP! nt

[Ladyinblack]

98. Been around forever

That expression has been around as long as I can remember. I do not think it can be stolen. It is like saying be nice or bless you. It has been used in social work forever.

[Ladyinblack]

99. It is an African Proverb

It was in a book by Pearl Buck and is an African Proverb. Can you steel proverbs. I do not think so.

[billyoc]

101. "It Takes a Company Town" woud've been the title if Sen. Clinton wrote it. nt

[Nedsdag]

104. Oh, I remember that story.

She never gave Feinman credit. In typical Clintonian fashion didn't she blame it on someone else?

Ladies and gentleman, if you want this woman to be your nominee, then you all need your heads examined.

[David Zephyr]

105. Nothing escapes the eye of IndianaGreen.

The plagiarism charge will not stick. It was silly to have made it in the first place.

[TexasObserver]

107. It Takes a Village to cover up Hillary's plagiarizing an entire book.

[Seabiscuit]

110. Doesn't anyone know the difference between a ghostwriter or speechwriter and

lifting word for word, phrase for phrase, sentence for sentence some other politician's speech while holding oneself out as original and inspirational?

None of the lame-ass crap people here have been posting about Hillary as a reflexive reaction to the revelations about Barack and Patrick have anything to do with the kind of copy-catting Obama has been revealed to have been engaging in.

[TexasObserver]

114. Yes, I know the difference. She's a plagiarizer and he isn't.

She turned in work, a book, and took credit for someone else's work. THAT is plagiarism.

[suston96]

111. Uh, here is another version.......

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Takes_a_Village

Ghostwriter controversy

Clinton has been criticized for not giving credit to a ghostwriter in connection with It Takes a Village. The majority of the book was reportedly written by ghostwriter Barbara Feinman.<8> When the book was first announced in April 1995, The New York Times reported publisher Simon & Schuster as saying "The book will actually be written by Barbara Feinman, a journalism professor at Georgetown University in Washington. Ms. Feinman will conduct a series of interviews with Mrs. Clinton, who will help edit the resulting text."<9>

Feinman spent seven months on the project and was paid $120,000 for her work.<10> Feinman, however, was not mentioned anywhere in the book. Clinton's acknowledgment section began: "It takes a village to bring a book into the world, as everyone who has written one knows. Many people have helped me to complete this one, sometimes without even knowing it. They are so numerous that I will not even attempt to acknowledge them individually, for fear that I might leave one out."<11> During her promotional tour for the book, Clinton said, "I actually wrote the book ... I had to write my own book because I want to stand by every word."<2> Clinton stated that Feinman assisted in interviews and did some editorial drafting of "connecting paragraphs", while Clinton herself wrote the final manuscript in longhand.<2>

This led Feinman to complain at the time to Capitol Style magazine over the lack of acknowledgement.<12> In 2001, The Wall Street Journal reported that "New York literary circles are buzzing with vitriol over Sen. Clinton's refusal, so far, to share credit with any writer who helps on her book."<13> Later, in a 2002 article for The Writer's Chronicle,<14> Barbara Feinman Todd (now using her married name) related that the project with Clinton had gone smoothly, producing drafts in a round-robin style. Feinman agrees that Clinton was involved with the project, but also states that, "Like any first lady, Mrs. Clinton had an extremely hectic schedule and writing a book without assistance would have been logistically impossible." Feinman reiterates that her only objection to the whole process was the lack of any acknowledgement. A 2005 Georgetown University web page bio for Barbara Feinman Todd states that It Takes a Village was one of "several high-profile books" that she has "assisted, as editor, writer and researcher."<15>

[TexasObserver]

112. delete

[maximusveritas]

115. Very true

Good point.

[King Coal]

116. FUCK! Knock it off. Are you democrats or fucknuts?

Sorry I shouldn't say that.