1. Nada Behziz: The Copy
Cat
By: Christian Babinsky, Zaira Brusola, Nick Nores, and
Jonathan Tate

2. Who:
Nada Behziz
● 25 year old reporter and first year as the health writer
for The Californian of Bakersfield
● Journalism degree from SF State University
● Many prestigious awards
● 7 years of experience and an internship for
Investigative Reporting in the SF area

3. What:
● Fired for multiple cases:
-plagiarized quote from teen smoking article
-potential fabrication
-Californian Investigation found 29 other
pieces containing plagiarism
-attributed plagiarized quotes

4. Where/ When
● In Bakersfield California
● The Newspaper Building
● October 17, 2005

5. Why:
● Californian investigation shows more than
1/3 contain plagiarized material
● Factual errors where people's existence
couldn't be verified- including seven
physicians and a UCLA professor
● "Presented other reporters' work as her
own"
● Potential fabrication of stories

6. Bottom line:
● Reporters have to deliver the truth
● Behziz work may have been true, but it was
copied
● Ruined aspirations in becoming a reporter
● You have to acknowledge other people's
work
After her scandal, Behziz has not been heard
of since - apparently hasn't worked in
journalism

7. Extra details:
“Work from major newspapers such as the New York
Times and Los Angeles Times show up in Behziz’s
plagiarized stories” -Gretchen Wenner from Bakersfield.
com
Behziz’s comment: “This is a witch hunt. Too bad your
news organization is not this vigilant in pursing true
wrongdoers.”

8. Works Cited:
"Top 10 Plagiarism Scandals of All Time." Online Classes.
N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. <http://www.onlineclasses.
org/2009/10/21/top-10-plagiarism-scandals-of-all-time/>.
"Narcissistic Views on News/Politics." : Nada Behziz Back
in the News. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Aug. 2012. <http://rpv.
blogspot.com/2005/11/nada-behziz-back-in-news.html>.