internet-stained wretches

After Plagiarizing Blogger’s Story, Cooks Source Magazine Has a (Possibly Fake) New Facebook Page [Updated]

Yesterday, the collective fury of the underpaid, overworked Internet masses found a worthy target in Cooks Source magazine. Blogger Monica Gaudio posted a troubling e-mail exchange with Cooks Source editor Judith Griggs, whose Facebook page has since been deleted, detailing her inquiry as to why Griggs published a version of a story Gaudio had written years earlier in the magazine without informing her and without compensation. Griggs politely clued her in to the facts that (1) the entire web is “public domain,” (2) her draft of the story sucked, and she should be thankful to now have an edited clip, and (3) that really, when you think about it, Gaudio should pay her. Lessons in professionalism! The exchange was posted everywhere and supporters took to the magazine’s Facebook page to express their disappointment and distaste. “Nerd rage, man,” Gaudio marveled to Time’s Newsfeed. This morning, the Facebook administrator for Cooks Source started a new page, declaring the old one “hacked.”

As you can see, the old page, for Cooks Source Magazine, features a steady stream of negative posts, some alleging previous acts of plagiarism, others following a meme of things the magazine has done wrong (“Cooks Source makes Keanu sad“). But like the definition of “public domain,” they seem to interpret the word “hacked” rather broadly. Maybe they’re unable to delete offensive comments or, more likely, find themselves inundated with them, but the people posting appear to be real accounts; it’s not like they got 4Chan-ed. The new page, for Cooks Source Mag, is already peppered with snitty posts from the administrator like, “There’s lots of people here that do not seem to understand a few basics yet they seem to all be experts in the print business.” Griggsy, is that you? But rest assured, “For those that have asked POLITELY, no we will not be stopping the magazine.”

Related: Magazine Editor Explains to Blogger How It Was Okay to Reprint Her Story Because Entire Web Is ‘Public Domain’

Updated: It’s looking more and more like the new page is a fake. We’ve reached out to Cooks Source for comment. Stay tuned.

Yup, it’s a fake.

After Plagiarizing Blogger’s Story, Cooks Source Magazine Has a (Possibly Fake) New Facebook Page [Updated]