Scholars, Hucksters, Copycats and Frauds (washingtonpost.com)

Scholars, Hucksters, Copycats and Frauds (washingtonpost.com): (Stephen Gillers.)

"Scholars who lend their names and titles to ghostwritten op-eds that are meant to advance the commercial or political interests of others betray the public trust. Their conduct deceives the newspaper that publishes the op-ed and its readers -- but worse, it threatens our faith in the educational enterprise. This is the academic equivalent of turning back a used car's odometer, but the potential harm is greater. We know to be careful when buying a used car. We are encouraged to trust scholars, but won't for long if they become shills for private interests."

This is a comment related to another piece in the Opinions section of Sunday's Washington Post titled ""How Original . . .These Scholars Shared a Ghost. Who Knew?"" by William M. Adler. Adler tracked down the PR firm that wrote pieces that were submitted by professors to the editorial pages of their local newspapers.

Still a third piece, "One Campaign's Generous Help" (apparently by the Post's editors) describes how the Bush campaign is automating the job of people who wish to send the words of others to local papers as if they were their own.