How could NYT let Kouwe plagiarism occur?

Marketwatch.com media columnist Jon Friedman is asking that question in his column Friday, wondering how the plagiarism by New York Times business reporter Zachery Kouwe, who resigned this week, was allowed to happen.

Friedman writes, “The public-relations nightmare comes at a time when the Times is trying to establish itself on the Internet. It takes pride in its many blogs and has increasingly devoted resources to creating more of them as advertising continues to be a worry for the newspaper industry.

“Did the Times make a mistake by assigning Kouwe to this position? Did his superiors do a poor job of supervising him? Did his bosses put too much pressure on this reporter and others in general? Did the Times create a toxic culture that all but ensured that something horrendous like this might happen sooner or later?

“Last week, I asked in this space how a newspaper with such a long tradition of journalistic excellence could make so many business mistakes.

“Now, I’m asking: How can a newspaper with such a record of journalistic excellence allow this disaster to take place?”

Read more here.