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On Thursday, the Fox News website published an article about the Pope’s Swiss Guard, the elite company of Roman Catholic Swiss who have protected the pontiff for over 500 years. The article by Allison Barrie, “Stripes and Solids, Protecting the Pope,” is here.

The piece bears an incredibly strong resemblance to a April 2005 article in the Guardian by W. Thomas Smith Jr (who has written under “The Tank” moniker at National Review Online and Town Hall).

Here are the obvious similarities:

• The Guardian: “They are members of the Swiss Guard - often referred to as the papal guards or Swiss mercenaries - an elite, company-sized military force that has defended a succession of popes for more than five centuries and not always without bloodshed.”
• Fox News: “Although tiny in number, they are a force to be reckoned with — an elite, company-sized military force that has defended pontiffs for more than 500 years, a duty that has sometimes demanded bloodshed.”

• The Guardian: “. . . the Swiss Guards are best known to outsiders as the armed men who stand watch throughout the Apostolic Palace, including at the doors to the Pope’s private apartments and the exterior gates of the Vatican. The guards are a favorite subject of photographers and tourists, and their quiet presence is an impressive show of force much like the US marines at the White House and the various regiments that guard Buckingham Palace. Like American marines and British guardsmen, the Swiss Guard are crack soldiers, trained and equipped to fight an armed enemy should the need arise.”
• Fox News: “Trained and equipped to fight an armed enemy (should the need arise), they are like the American Marines at the White House and the Beefeaters guarding Buckingham Palace. The Swiss Guards stand watch throughout the Apostolic Palace from the Vatican’s exterior gates to the entrance to the Pope’s private apartments.”

• The Guardian: “They must stand at least 172cm (5ft 8in) tall, and they must have completed military training in the Swiss armed forces. Once joined, they learn to handle swords and halberds, just as their predecessors did. Additionally, they are required to maintain a high level of physical fitness and a mastery of modern weaponry such as the SIG Sauer 9mm pistol and the H&K submachinegun. They also work hard at developing skills in close-quarters fighting, tactical movement, security, and counter-terrorism techniques.”
• Fox News: “To be selected, a candidate must also be at least 5-foot-8 and have completed military training in the Swiss armed forces.
  Carrying on tradition, the selected recruits train to handle swords and the Guard’s trademark weapon: a combination spear and battle-axe known as the halberd.
  . . .
  While they still wear armor and carry antique weapons, it’s not all medieval warfare for the Swiss Guards. They must maintain a high degree of physical fitness and master modern weaponry, such as the H&K submachine gun and the SIG Sauer 9 mm pistol. To best protect the Pope, they also train at close-quarters fighting and tactical movement, as well as security and counter-terrorism techniques.”

This morning I’ve sent an email to foxnews.com asking for comment about the apparent unattributed lifting of passages, i.e. plagiarism, from Smith’s article in the Guardian. As I post this, I’ve not received any response.

Update: Ironically, W. Thomas Smith, the author of the Guardian piece, has also been at the center of controversy regarding questions over the legitimacy of his reporting. To be fair, the alleged questions aired at the Huffington Post over Smith, raised a backlash of criticism, so I’m not taking any sides in that matter.

Tags: Allison Barrie, Fox News, Guardian, Plagiarism, Swiss Guard

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 8:44 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.