Malte Lehming, der einen NYT-Artikel für den Tagesspiegel übersetzte, hat es nun - samt Rückübersetzung - auch in die Washington Post gebracht:

A New York Times reporter has gotten the Jayson Blair treatment, German style. Malte Lehming, Washington correspondent for the Berlin newspaper Der Tagesspiegel, has written a piece on "metrosexuals," a new moniker for heterosexual men who act feminine. It's little more than a German-language translation of a story last month by the Times' Warren St. John. The transatlantic heist was disclosed by another German paper, Taz, which noted that Der Tagesspiegel had criticized Blair's plagiarism and fabrications. St. John's lead: "By his own admission, 30-year-old Karru Martinson is not what you'd call a manly man. He uses a $40 face cream, wears Bruno Magli shoes and custom-tailored shirts. His hair is always just so, thanks to three brands of shampoo and the precise application of three hair grooming products." Lehming's story: "He does not look like a macho. Karru Martinson is 30 years old, uses expensive face cream and wears Bruno Magli shoes. He has his shirts tailored. His hair looks tip-top. No wonder: He washes it with 3 different shampoos and cares for it with special treatments." Lehming, who mentioned the Times twice in passing, also describes a woman from the story (named Marian) as if she were a man. "You caught me -- I made a big mistake," Lehming says. "There is no excuse for this mistake. I quoted my source twice, but not in an appropriate manner. I left readers with the impression that I experienced a lot of things that I did not. I feel very sorry for that." Stephan-Andreas Casdorff, the paper's vice chief editor, says that although the article was not an exact copy, Der Tagesspiegel "deeply regrets this mistake" and plans a formal apology to the Times. Says St. John: "Translation is the sincerest form of flattery. Even so, I think Mr. Lehming owes me one." Noting that columnists around the world have seized on the "metrosexual" idea, he says: "It seems like it would be more work to translate from English to German than to just write it up yourself."

Der Gawker dazu: Aside from the obvious ethical transgressions, you have to wonder how stupid one has to be to plagiarize a front-of-the-section article in one of the most widely read newspapers in the world.

Den letzten Satz des Gawkers kann man unterschreiben. Wenn ich die NYT gewesen wäre, hätte ich Lehmings Artikel, seine Statements und die Verteidigung des Chefredakteurs ganz einfach mit einem Suchmaschinen-Übersetz-O-Bot behandelt und so ins Blatt gestellt.

plans a formal apology - ach, jetzt doch? Was für ein peinliches Rumgezicke. Bis jetzt stand, wenn ich nix überlesen hab, im Tagesspiegel selbst kein Wort darüber.

Cooler St. John!