Culture
NBC political reporter found plagiarizing articles
Finn's improper sourcing was reportedly discovered during normal editing
May 2, 2022 4:55pm
Updated: May 3, 2022 1:14pm
NBC News on Monday acknowledged that one of their reporters repeatedly plagiarized parts of stories over the last year.
NBC discovered 11 articles that did not meet their "standards for original material," the agency said in a press release.
All of the articles were written by Teaganne Finn, who describes herself on her LinkedIn profile as a former Bloomberg reporter who graduated with a masters in public affairs and journalism from American University in 2016. She began working at NBC in July 2021.
The 11 stories have Editor's Notes published at the top, identifying the improperly sourced material and noting its removal.
The earliest incidence of improper attribution mentioned by NBC was in September 2021 in the article titled "Republicans keen on hammering Biden on inflation as the White House projects hike."
"Maintaining the trust of our readers and viewers is essential to NBC News, and our work must always meet the highest standards of our profession," the agency stressed in a statement.
Finn's improper sourcing was discovered during normal editing, an NBC News source told Mediate. The other incidents were discovered when Finn's articles were subsequently reviewed again.
"This is the first known instance of an incident of this nature occurring at NBC News," the source explained.
Finn is "no longer with NBC News," the NBC source said.
Her most recent NBC story appears to be from March 31, 2022. She stopped posting on her official Twitter account around this time as well.