Publisher of The Hartford Courant apologizes to readers for plagiarizing competitors

Courant publisher apologizes for plagiarism

HARTFORD, Conn. — The top executive of The Hartford Courant is apologizing for the newspaper’s plagiarism of other media organizations’ work over the past several weeks.

Richard Graziano, the Courant’s chief executive and publisher, wrote in a piece published on Friday’s opinion page that the employees involved have been disciplined. He did not name the workers or say how they were punished.

Courant executives have acknowledged that the newspaper published stories from competing newspapers without attribution, or attributed some of those stories to its own reporters.

Graziano says there was no intent to plagiarize. He wrote that the Courant wanted to assure its readers and staff that the newspaper follows strict ethics rules.