Ben Domenech

Ben Domenech resigned March 24, 2006, from the Washington Post following allegations that he had "plagiarized material that appeared under his byline in various publications prior to washingtonpost.com contracting with him to write" the new daily blog Red America, that just launched on March 22, 2006. "An investigation into these allegations was ongoing, and in the interim, Domenech has resigned, effective immediately," the WaPo said.

Domenech is "a board member and one of three founders" of conservative RedState.com,  Editor & Publisher reported March 21, 2006. "After a stint as chief speechwriter for Senator John Cornyn (R-Tx.), he co-founded [RedState.com] and became a book editor at Regnery Publishing, where he worked with Michelle Malkin and others."

Domenech is "also known as a Bush appointee, and the son of a Bush appointee, and as a contributor to National Review Online," Joe Conason reported in Slate March 24, 2006.


 * Domenech was "an intern and researcher for the Bush White House, served as a speechwriter for Tommy Thompson, then the health and human services secretary, and then spent two years working for Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.)."


 * In July 2001, Doug Domenech, former Loudon County (Virginia) Republican Committee Chairman, was appointed by President George W. Bush to "the position of deputy director of the Office of External and Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of the Interior." In January 2002, Domenech was appointed "as the White House Liaison for the Department of the Interior."

The "decision by Post management has provoked much speculation about its motive for employing Domenech. Many observers surmise that Domenech was brought on to 'balance' Dan Froomkin, the popular White House Briefing blogger on WashingtonPost.com whose skepticism and wit have provoked whining from the right -- and defensive reactions from certain Post reporters worried by accusations of 'liberal bias' at the paper," Conason wrote.

"Froomkin has spent a decade at the Post, and also worked for the Winston-Salem Journal, the Miami Herald and the Orange County Register. Froomkin is also deputy editor of niemanwatchdog.org, the web site of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University," E&P wrote.

"Whatever Froomkin's political views may be, he is a veteran reporter with a long résumé of newspaper jobs, including a decade at the Post. Domenech is a partisan operative with no newsroom experience of any kind, no training in journalistic standards and ethics, and nothing to guide him except home schooling and Republican reflexes," Conason wrote.

Plagiarism
"Almost immediately the liberal blogosphere exploded with outrage over Domenech's hiring by the Post. But by Thursday bloggers had more than ideological reasons to oppose the Post's move, as he plagiarized film critic Stephanie Zacharek, and Mary Elizabeth Williams, writing about television," Joe Conason reported in Slate March 24, 2006.

"As a college student Ben Domenech lifted arts criticism; as a GOP henchman, he was accused of fabricating a Tim Russert quote," Conason wrote.

On March 23, 2006, "the liberal Web sites Daily Kos and Atrios posted examples [see external links below] of what appeared to be instances of plagiarism from Domenech's writing at the William & Mary [College] student paper [The Flat Hat]. Three sentences of a 1999 Domenech review of a Martin Scorsese film were identical to a review in Salon magazine, and several sentences in Domenech's piece on a James Bond movie closely resembled one in the Internet Movie Database," Howard Kurtz reported. "Domenech said he needed to research the examples but that he never used material without attribution and had complained about a college editor improperly adding language to some of his articles."

Commentary by Ben Domenech
"Under his regular pseudonym, 'Augustine' [at RedState.com], he questioned President Bush's decision" to attend Coretta Scott King's "funeral because she is a 'communist,'" Howard Kurtz wrote in the March 24, 2006, Washington Post.

"'I regret using the term because I think it's been way overblown,' Domenech said. But he said King worked with organizations affiliated with communists in the 1950s and 1960s." 

Jim Brady, executive editor of Washingtonpost.com "called it 'a silly comment' but said he is satisfied with Domenech's admission of error," Kurtz wrote.

"As 'Augustine', Domenech has engaged in numerous personal attacks, some of which were compiled by the blog Dragonfire. Domenech has called cartoonist Ted Rall a 'steaming bag of pus'; said Teresa Heinz Kerry looks like an 'oddly shaped egotistical ketchup-colored muppet'; called Pat Robertson a 'senile, crazy old fool'; and described Post.com's 'White House Briefing' columnist Dan Froomkin as 'an embarrassment'," Kurtz wrote.

Contact Information
Website: http://www.bendomenech.com/blog/

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * blogging

Profiles

 * Bio at www.bendomenech.com/blog.
 * Ben Domenech in the Wikipedia.

1999

 * "Party guidelines for real bashes," The Flat Hat, November 19, 1999. Editor's Note: "It has been brought to the attention of The Flat Hat that Ben Domenech, a writer for The Flat Hat from 1999 to 2001, copied from and failed to cite sources in several articles. The Flat Hat is currently investigating these allegations."

2002

 * Brendan Nyhan, "Blogger defenses of "trifecta" don't make the cut," Spinsanity, June 20, 2002.

2005

 * Comments Posted By Ben Domenech, VA Conservative.com, 2005.

2006

 * Michelle Malkin, "A conservative blog at the W. Post!" michellemalkin.com, March 20, 2006.
 * Greg Sheffield, "Wash Post Readers Incensed Over Hiring of Conservative Blogger," News Busters, March 21, 2006.
 * "'Wash Post' Launches Conservative Blog, Provokes a 'Firestorm'," Editor & Publisher, March 21, 2006.
 * "Meet Ben Domenech," Your Logo Here, March 21, 2006.
 * "The Ben Domenech Years," TBogg, March 21, 2006.
 * kos, "Ben Domenech and Abramaoff," Daily Kos, March 22, 2006.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Jim Brady Presents Ben Domenech of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists: The New Face of the Washington Post," The Huffington Post, March 22, 2006.
 * Steve Verdon, "My Take on Ben Domenech," Outside the Beltway, March 22, 2006.
 * "Domenech on federal judges' upholding abortion rights: 'In the past 30 years, how many innocent lives has the KKK ended? How about the Judiciary?'" Media Matters for America, March 22, 2006. See Domenech ('Augustine')'s Supreme Court/KKK commentary.
 * James Joyner, "Attacking Ben Domenech," Outside the Beltway, March 22, 2006.
 * georgia10, "If I Were Ben Domenech," Daily Kos, March 22, 2006.
 * Joshua Micah Marshall, Talking Points Memo, March 22, 2006. re Doug Domenech-White House-Abramoff-Interior Dept.-Indian tribes connection.
 * Erick, "We Must Defend," RedState, March 23, 2006.
 * "Domenech's colorful background," The Carpetbagger Report, March 23, 2006.
 * "Media Matters to Wash. Post brass: Fire bigoted blogger," Media Matters for America, March 23, 2006.
 * Jane Hamsher, "Late Nite FDL: Lessons in Right Wing Logic", "An Open Letter to Jim Brady," and "Box Turtle Bigot," Firedoglake, March 23, 2006.
 * Hunter, "Washington Post's New Conservative Voice a Plagiarist: It's Now a Blood Bath," Daily Kos, March 23, 2006.
 * Oregon guy, "Ben Domenech - Plagiarist," Daily Kos, March 23, 2006.
 * FleetAdmiralJ, "Comprehensive (to date) Domenech plagiarism diary," Daily Kos, March 23, 2006.
 * athenae, "Ben also owns up to being 'Augustine' on the RedState blog," First Draft, March 23, 2006.
 * "New 'Wash Post' Blogger: OK, Coretta King Was Not a Communist, My Bad," Editor & Publisher, March 23, 2006.
 * Garance Franke-Ruta, "Fast Trip, Long Drop," TAPPED, March 23, 2006.
 * Oliver Willis, "Conservatives Vs. The Real World," Like Kryptonite to Stupid, March 23, 2006.
 * James, "Nail? Meet Coffin," Your Logo Here, March 23, 2006.
 * hilzoy, "Plagiarism," Obsidian Wings, March 23, 2006.
 * MJS, "The Party of Racists, Plagiarists, Demagogues & Sloppy Seconds Bloggers," Corrente Wire, March 23, 2006.
 * DHinMI, "Domenech Isn't the Problem. The Problems Are Conservatives and The Washington Post," Daily Kos, March 23, 2006.
 * Joe Conason, "A portrait of the blogger as a young plagiarist," Salon, March 24, 2006.
 * Howard Kurtz, "Some Readers See Red Over Post.com's New Blogger," Washington Post, March 24, 2006.
 * Matt Stoller, "A Challenge to the Right-wing Bloggers Defending Ben Domenech," MyDD, March 24, 2006.
 * athenae, "It Wasn't Just College," First Draft, March 24, 2006.
 * James, "This is how we deal with plagiarists at William & Mary," Your Logo Here, March 24, 2006.
 * "Going, Going ... Gone?" Confederate Yankee, March 24, 2006.
 * Alex Koppelman, "The Post’s 'Embarassment'. Why the Washington Post, shouldn't have hired their new blogger," Dragonfire, March 24, 2006.
 * Michelle Malkin, "The Domenech Debacle," michellemalkin.com, March 24, 2006: "I certainly understand the impulse on the Right to rally around Domenech. But I can't ignore the plain evidence."
 * Rick Moran, "Ben Domenech Must Resign," The American Thinker, March 24, 2006.
 * Staff Editorial: "Poison of plagiarism," The Flat Hat, March 24, 2006.
 * "Ben Domenech Resigns," Washington Post/post.blog, March 24, 2006 (1:17 PM EST).
 * Andy Zahn, "Domenech appears to have copied from National Review column," The Flat Hat, March 24, 2006.
 * Lindsay Beyerstein, "Ben Domenech is a serial plagiarist," Majikthise, March 24, 2006.
 * Robert B. Bluey, "Blogger Ben Domenech Strikes Back; Calls Washington Post Editors 'Fools'," Human Events Online, March 24, 2006.
 * Julie Bosman, "Washington Post Blogger Quits After Plagiarism Accusations," Washington Post, March 25, 2006.
 * Tim Rutten, "Web pulls apart a web," Los Angeles Times, March 25, 2006.
 * Julie Bosman "Washington Post blogger Quits After Plagiarism Accusations", New York Times, March 25, 2006,
 * Scott Butki, "Bloggers Turn On One Of Their Own" and "Blogger Tries To Spin His Plagarism Problem, Then Acts Contrite," Blogcritics.org, March 25, 2006.
 * Robert B. Bluey, "Domenech Admits to Plagiarism," Human Events Online, March 25, 2006.
 * Kevin Aylward, "On Ben Domenech and Tucker Max," WizBang! Blog, March 26, 2006.
 * "Ben Domenech: It's the Liberals Fault," MyDD, March 30, 2006.