“No hunting for people”: plagiarism checker wants to change procedure after suicide attempt Shooting during Super Bowl parade: two teenagers charged

The storm of criticism erupted in December. In the middle is Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, deputy editor of the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (SZ). She wrote a book called ‘Journalists must be super clean’, but according to ‘Media Insider’ she does not adhere to it herself. As a Middle East expert, the Berlin magazine accuses her of copying from other texts in several articles without citing the source.

The 53-year-old defends himself. These passages are not about intellectual achievements, but about descriptions of facts, she answers.

The editors of SZ then worked on the subject at an internal conference, but mainly saw the problem as politically motivated slander. The ‘media insider’ also makes this public. The editor-in-chief of the SZ was then persuaded to launch a surveillance operation to search for the source of the indiscretion within its own ranks, but without success. This escalates the matter.

Stefan Weber is a communications scientist and ‘plagiarism hunter’. With six employees, it offers plagiarism reports and resumes. In Switzerland, he has already accused a professor from St. Gallen, a canton councilor of the SVP of Zurich and the director of the trade association of plagiarism in scientific articles. A total of thirteen people have already lost their academic degrees because of him.

Weber is interested in the German issue and contacts the ‘Nius’ portal of former Bild editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt. For a low four-figure fee, he was commissioned to research Föderl-Schmid’s dissertation. Already in the introduction he finds text fragments that the author has copied without citing the source. He also accuses her of plagiarism in other journalistic works. When “Nius” reported about this in two articles on February 5, Föderl-Schmid withdrew from daily business.

Weber then goes further on his own initiative, publishing further allegations of plagiarism on his blog on February 7. He also writes an inflammatory email to the members of the SZ editorial staff, with the exception of Föderl-Schmid, in which he makes further accusations. At the same time he announces further publications.

The editor-in-chief forwards the letter to the suspect. She responded with an email to Weber and a distribution list for journalists on Thursday morning, February 8: “I learned a lot about media, mechanisms and business. At least this hunt is over.”

Weber is publishing this response on Platform X because he believes it is a threat of legal action. But Föderl-Schmid announced a suicide attempt. This Thursday she disappears and goes missing. Weber deletes his tweet. The next day, a rescue team found her hypothermic in a river.

Mr. Weber, what was going through your mind a week ago Thursday?
Stefan Weber: That day, when we all had to assume that Alexandra Föderl-Schmid was dead, the following words kept running through my head like a mantra: “What I have done so far in my working life has been pointless.” Now I’m further along in the processing process and I don’t see it that way anymore. And there are many new findings…

Would you like to apologize to her?
It would be unfair if I were to say to her now: “I’m sorry I snooped in your dissertation.” Because it is publicly accessible, just like your journalistic articles. We didn’t do anything illegal, we just checked that citation rules were being followed. Of course, I still stand by my accusations because I can prove them all. But I now doubt my approach.

Looking back: what would you do differently?
I draw two lessons from this case. First, we will no longer publish our results in bits and pieces. Because this continuously increases the suffering of the plagiarists and pushes them more and more into a corner. In the future, we will collect the allegations first and then publish them at the same time. Secondly: We will confront the suspect with the accusations in advance in the future

This is a requirement of honesty. Why haven’t you done this until now?
Until now I have assumed that an earlier request would not yield anything. Either the plagiarists do not comment, or they try to prevent publication by filing an injunction. But I will now face this process. Perhaps Alexandra Föderl-Schmid’s case would not have taken this dramatic turn if I had sought a personal conversation with her first. Sorry about that…

Why did you contact ‘Nius’ in the first place and not offer your services directly to the SZ?
The question is legitimate. Why didn’t I offer my expertise to SZ first? I don’t always have to do my reports behind the scenes. The SZ would probably never have responded. But I could have at least tried. Maybe we could have saved ourselves a lot…

They published the allegations piecemeal to maximize attention. However, as reviewers they must be neutral.
Yes, you are absolutely right. A moral discussion can and should be had about this. I’ll be honest: my biggest problem is my impatience. When I come across a passage about plagiarism, my indignation is still as great today as it was when I first encountered it sixteen years ago. Then I want to share it immediately with part of the audience

If you forego this, you will lose the opportunity to advertise your business.
Believe me or not, I don’t really need the media attention anymore. My company works that way too. The big media companies are not the cash cows anyway. On the contrary: I often work on it without pay. The problem actually lies in my impatience. Now I have to get this under control somehow…

Since when has your company been doing well?
Until 2020, I lived from hand to mouth, moving from one thousand-euro contract to another. Then came the plagiarism case involving the Austrian Minister of Labor. My orders have increased tenfold. That’s why I was able to build a team. Even now, in the crisis that the Föderl-Schmid case put me in, things continue in exactly the same way. My clients are only interested in one thing: is someone entitled to a PhD or not?

What other responses have you received?
The owner of the “Sternbräu” in Salzburg banned me from the house. And I received an unprecedented stream of swear words in my mailbox. In Austria I was also the target of the “Kronen Zeitung”. Until recently, I was the cool guy who regularly bragged to those in power. And now I’m a paid life destroyer. I put my family members in a difficult situation

Now suddenly they sound thin-skinned. You only experience what you have done with the plagiarism so far.
In fact, I have never felt the agony of being caught plagiarizing. The reason is simple: because I have never plagiarized myself. But you’re right: I also feel a little teary when I complain about the media campaign against me. I’ll get through this. This is also a sign of aging. At 53, I now have other things that give me stability in life. I don’t live for the plagiarism check that is finally getting the social recognition it deserves

You describe yourself as a plagiarism hunter. A hunter kills his prey. Why so brutal?
The term has evolved over the years. I could not have foreseen that this would have such real consequences. In light of current events, I need to reconsider the terminology. Because I don’t hunt people. I used the hunting metaphor ironically until Thursday a week ago. For example, on my X-profile I quoted Bach’s cantata “What I like is only the lively hunt”. I have now removed this. I prefer it when people call me a plagiarism expert

Some of your accusations against Föderl-Schmid were exaggerated. For example, you accused her of copying Wikipedia into the people box for an interview. General knowledge does not need to be cited.
If you describe general knowledge in your own words, you don’t actually have to prove it. But that doesn’t mean you can just write it off. Anyone who simply copies passages of text should also cite the source for common knowledge. If a print media copies the facts for a box from Wikipedia, it is not a sin that will destroy the world. But I think it’s wrong. I expect a paid newspaper to deal professionally with sources

Will you announce further charges in this case as announced?
It is not yet known how extensive the plagiarism is in this case. But as long as the woman is not fit again, I will hold back. However, my team and I remain curious about this issue and want to know: how widespread is plagiarism in journalism? It would be best if I could discuss the follow-up with the editor-in-chief of SZ and the research committee.​

Another criticism of your work: you examine scientific articles only at the textual level. However, only experts in the field in question can assess your own mental performance.
You’re right: I’m not interested in the content at all. In my opinion, the plagiarism check should always be done before reviewing the content. This is also my message to all reviewers of scientific articles. If I run a plagiarism check with my software and see that entire parts have been copied without citing the source, then I am no longer interested in the content, but only in the extent of the plagiarism. But I approach it differently when I have a work about dentistry on my desk than when I have a work about theology. I note that the requirements for citation methods are different for these topics

You yourself would have liked to pursue a university career, but that did not work out.
I have suffered all my life from the social structures within science. I am an individualist. I’ve never been the club boss. The party register and the connections with these social networks, with freemasons, brotherhoods, etc. are missing. That’s why I didn’t get that far in the university world. Despite this disappointment, I am passionate about the subjects of science. Although I did not have a university career, I have come far in science, which for me means in thinking and writing. I am currently working on a new book on radical linguistics. That’s actually what I’m talking about.

Many of the plagiarists you caught wanted to adorn themselves with a PhD. But why do you also emphasize your own PhD?
Yes, it’s true: on my website I introduce myself as a teacher, Dr. Stefan Weber in front. I do this for marketing reasons. I would like to emphasize that I am the scientist Stefan Weber and not some freak or someone like the Austrian “porn hunter”. But when customers call me and address me as “Doctor Weber,” I always immediately say: “’Weber’ is enough.” (aargauerzeitung.ch)