Why a Former News-Press Columnist Will Blog on Patch

Former Glendale News-Press columnist penned his "Education Matters" column for several years until he faced plagiarism allegations.

In September, the News-Press cancelled his column because he reportedly plagiarized a Sept. 9 column and duplicated the work of Sam Pizzigati’s column "Joe the Machinist."

Kimber, a Montrose local, . 

So why will he now tell his story on Montrose Patch?

The reason is pretty simple: Patch is a forum for the entire community.

We need to make clear that we make a distinction between blogs on Patch and articles.

Patch articles are written by trained and paid journalists. Articles are subject to journalistic standards of accuracy, fairness, originality and ethics and are edited to conform to those standards. We own them and we are responsible for them.

By contrast, blogs are submitted by unpaid volunteers who are community members. Some are writers, but the majority are simply residents with something to say. We invite all to blog, but we don't tell you what to say. We don't edit what you write. Bloggers own their blogs. They are responsible for what's in them, and they are free to say what they like. Patch simply provides a platform.

That said, we are aware of what Kimber did. But on Patch, Kimber will be a blogger, not a journalist working for Patch. Since he is a member of the community, we are affording him--as we would anyone--the opportunity to offer his point of view.

That said, we hope he doesn't plagiarize anyone. If we find out he has, we will take his blog down. If YOU happen to find out that he has plagiarized anything, we hope you'll let us know. But in the meantime, we think he may have something interesting to say. That, of course, will be for you to judge.

Let us know what you think!