Syndicator denies Coulter lifted material
Posted 7/10/2006 7:07 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this
Enlarge By Paul Drinkwater, AP
Universal Press Syndicate says its review of Ann Coulter's material did not turn up any stories that need further investigation.
NEW YORK (AP) — The syndicator of Ann Coulter's newspaper columns rejected allegations that she had lifted material from other sources, saying a review of the work in question turned up nothing that merited concern.
"There are only so many ways you can rewrite a fact and minimal matching text is not plagiarism," Lee Salem, editor and president of Universal Press Syndicate, said Monday in a statement.
"Universal Press Syndicate is confident in the ability of Ms. Coulter, an attorney and frequent media target, to know when to make attribution and when not to."
The New York Post and the websites Raw Story and the Rude Pundit have cited numerous passages in Coulter's syndicated columns and in her current book, Godless, that appeared to resemble text from other sources. The Post relied upon a software program, iThenticate, designed to catch plagiarism.
Last week, the Crown Publishing Group, which released Godless, also dismissed questions about Coulter's work, calling them "as trivial and meritless as they are irresponsible."
Coulter, a conservative known for her harsh rhetoric — she labeled four 9-11 widows "harpies" who exploited their husbands' deaths — has also written the best sellers Treason and Slander. Her columns appear in more than 100 newspapers.
