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Tribune Suspends Use Of Journatic Service, Citing Plagiarism

CHICAGO (STMW) -- The Chicago Tribune announced Friday night it is indefinitely stopping the use of the company Journatic as a third-party news provider after discovering a sports story published this week had elements it said were plagiarized and fabricated.

"As a result of serious breaches of the Tribune's journalistic standards, we have suspended indefinitely our use of Journatic as a third-party producer of editorial content for our suburban TribLocal publications," Chicago Tribune President Vince Casanova said in a note to readers posted at chicagotribune.com.

"We made the decision after it came to light Friday that a sports story published in this week's Deerfield TribLocal contained elements that were plagiarized and fabricated," the note read.

Part of the story contained a quote "attributed to the subject originally published in a June 7 Deerfield Review story by Bill McLean," Casanova wrote.

Controversy about Journatic erupted recently when it was reported that offshore writers were using false, American-sounding bylines.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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