Comments on: USA Voice Plagiarizes CNN!

By: ddddddddd

ddddddddd — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 06:28:08 +0000

I just don’t feel like put my email address anywhere anymore here’s the BBB report on USAVoices.

BBB of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania
1411 K St. NW, 10th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-3404

BBB Reliability Report
May Not Be Reproduced for Commercial or Sales Purposes

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USAVoice.Org
1425 K St NW
Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
MAP
General Information
Original Business
Start Date unknown

BBB File Opened September 18, 2006

Principal Contact Mr. Alex Siman (Managing Director)

Complaint Contact Mr. Alex Siman (Managing Director)

Other Contacts Ms. Lauren Piiccoli

BBB Member This company is not a member
Type of Business Employment Agencies

The information in this report has either been provided by the company, or has been compiled by the Bureau from other sources.

Nature of Business
The company describes itself as an on-line-news web site that seeks editors and writers.
Customer Experience
The Better Business Bureau is attempting to develop information about this company. The Bureau has received multiple inquiries and is contacting the firm about complaint correspondence, as well. Consumers report being asked for personal information, including Social Security numbers, in order to set up an employment link with the firm. Further contact was not provided, however, and consumers report a fear that their information may be sold and mis-used.
Additional File Information
Consumers are advised to exercise caution when providing on-line information to unknown parties. The suite listed in the company address is that of a shared office space, and not the actual location of the firm, which is unknown at this time.

Additional Information

This Business Operates under the Names USAVoice.Org

Addresses 1425 K St NW, Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005 MAP

Phones (512) 225-3050

By: Missy

Missy — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:31:57 +0000

If you type “scam” into their search field, you get articles about them being a scam by their own reporters. For example, http://www.usavoice.org/NEWS/Article.cfm?ID=2664. How’s that for truth in reporting?

By: The Judge

The Judge — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 13:50:37 +0000

Its a scam:

http://mediamorgue.blogspot.com/2006/10/usavoice-legal-way-to-scam.html

By: Dylan

Dylan — Tue, 12 Sep 2006 18:45:45 +0000

[...] I've decided to address a call-to-arms to the people I've met because of the USA Voice debacle. Couldn't we do this the right way; couldn't we make an independent, free-press publication, using internet technology? Of course we could! I've posted some thoughts about a legitimate example of this kind of publication. What are your thoughts on the subject?[...]

By: W. May

W. May — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 16:34:16 +0000

They got my resume off of careerbuilders.com. I also went through the teleconference that had so much feedback that there was no opportunity for questions. Now, if I sign onto USAVoice, I have a Back Office set up for my stories to be loadede and to set up my profile…what should I do. I am confused….
We were suppose to recieve letters from our editors in 1 to 3 days but that never happened.
Thank you for your input.
Wendi

By: cher79

cher79 — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:04:58 +0000

Wow! Oh my goodness. Thank you for posting this. I received an email fom them stating that they saw my resume and I was wondering if this came from Monster.com or CareerBuilder.com (I never saw an ad for USAVoice on there, though). I was very suspicious because it sounded too good to be true. I also noticed that most of the articles were written by one person (Jameson Reed). When I started checking out the site more, I started seeing other articles written by other people, so I thought maybe it wasn’t a scam. But I still had a feeling something was off. There isn’t any contact info to contact them. I kept wondering if the articles were plagiarized, too (because I was thinking how is this guy getting his info? Is he interviewing the same celebrities that the other reporters interviewed? Is he getting his info from other news sites?). I tried to do a Yahoo search on them, but couldn’t find anything, so I thought they were a new company.

Now I want to smack myself because despite my suspicions, I still applied for their reporter position. I guess I thought, okay, I’ll go on the interview, and if if sounds fishy, I’ll forget about it. And I’m not surprised to find out that the interview would be done over the phone.

This is why it’s important to pay attention to your gut.

Thanks again for posting this. You confirmed my suspicions.

By: Dylan

Dylan — Fri, 25 Aug 2006 05:30:09 +0000

You can read my post about USA Voice and plagiarism, but that post refers to an article on USA voice that has mysteriously vanished.

Instead, you could read this article on USA Voice, and then read identical passages thereof, on BBC News. (note that these are not Associated Press stories, and that USA Voice is not a member of the AP anyway).

If that’s not proof enough, try it yourself. Read an article, take a significant phrase — or even the headline in some cases! — and search for the exact phrase with search engine (using quotes). You might just find, as I have, twice, that the phrase exists, alongside other identical copies, in an article from a respected news source. (To be fair, do the same with an article in a different publication. With the exception of syndicated stories, the degree of similarity you encounter will be less, if any.)