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Stefan Weber (media researcher)

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Stefan Weber
Born (1970-06-14) June 14, 1970 (age 54)
Salzburg, Austria
NationalityAustrian
Alma mater
Occupations
  • Media research
  • Plagiarism blogging

Stefan Weber (born 14 June 1970 in Salzburg) is an Austrian media researcher and writer. Weber has been called a "plagiarism hunter" (Plagiatsjäger).[1][2][3] He has uncovered cases of fraud in theses while in other cases his public accusations turned out to be wrong.

Biography

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Weber studied journalism and communication science at the University of Salzburg and subsequently worked in Salzburg as a journalist and university lecturer. In 2005 he completed his Habilitation at the University of Vienna.[4] Weber blames personal conflicts for not being able to pursue a further academic career.[5]

When Weber discovered in 2005 that a Tübingen theologian, in 2004, had copied approximately half of his doctoral thesis more or less verbatim from Weber's own 1996 thesis, he launched a public media campaign to draw attention to the problem of plagiarism in academia. The Tübingen plagiarist had his doctoral degree retracted in July 2005.[6] In addition, he received a criminal court sentence in 2007.[7]

In 2007, Weber co-authored a Google-critical study,[8] and published the book The Google-Copy-Paste-Syndrome.[9]

Weber publishes comments on plagiarism issues on his Blog für wissenschaftliche Redlichkeit and runs a business that offers investigations into scientific theses and resumes as well as related public relations works.[10]

Public plagiarism allegations

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Weber has raised allegations against several high-profile public personalities. While Weber has uncovered a number of plagiarism incident, he has been criticized for his methods and his conclusions with critics accusing him of running campaigns based on misrepresentations due to personal motivations.[11][12] Silvia Ettl-Huber, professor of economics at a University of Applied Sciences criticized Weber for defining plagiarism as a deviation from his own standards which leads to i.e. repeated quotes of a single author being accused of plagiarism.[13]

In 2007, Weber accused the then minister of science Johannes Hahn of having copied "dozens of pages" of his dissertation.[14] An examination conducted on behalf of the University of Vienna found that Hahn had not appropriated works of other authors and concluded that the thesis was likely compliant with the then valid citation style which was also suggested by the supervisor of the thesis Peter Kampits[14] but would not comply with modern rules for citations.[15] In 2020, Weber found that the general manager of a subsidiary company of the Burgtheater had wrongly claimed to hold a doctorate in mathematics.[16] In 2021, Weber discovered sections in the dissertation and diploma thesis of then minister for labour Christine Aschbacher, which consisted of nonsensical rants that lacked grammar and scientific standards. As a consequence, Aschbacher resigned from her office.[17][18] In 2024, Weber claimed that the editor-in-chief of Süddeutsche Zeitung had plagiarized her dissertation and had fraudulently copied journalistic articles. An examination of the dissertation conducted by the University of Salzburg found "no relevant scientific misconduct",[19] a review by Süddeutsche Zeitung found that in about two thirds of the cases, Weber had found texts which other websites had copied from Süddeutsche Zeitung without identifying that Süddeutsche Zeitung was the original publisher. Other parts of texts Weber had accused of plagiarism were commonly quoted facts, official statements or general definitions[20] In the aftermath, Weber was accused of advancing a smear campaign run against Süddeutsche Zeitung and its staff by right-wing internet activists.[21]

In June 2024, Stefan Weber was convicted in the first instance by the Salzburg regional court (Landesgericht) in the case of Oliver Vitouch v. Weber for defamation under section 6 of the Austrian Media Act in conjunction with the Austrian Criminal Code. The judgment is not final.[22]

Publications

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Monographs (in German):

  • Nachrichtenkonstruktion im Boulevardmedium. Die Wirklichkeit der "Kronen Zeitung" (Passagen, Vienna, 1995), ISBN 3-851-65163-4
  • Die Dualisierung des Erkennens. Zu Konstruktivismus, Neurophilosophie und Medientheorie (Passagen, Vienna, 1996), ISBN 3-851-65245-2
  • Wie journalistische Wirklichkeiten entstehen ("Schriftenreihe des Kuratoriums für Journalistenausbildung", Vol. 15, Salzburg, 1999)
  • Was steuert Journalismus? Ein System zwischen Selbstreferenz und Fremdsteuerung (UVK Medien, Konstanz, 2000), ISBN 3-896-69293-3, reviewed by Matthias Kohring[23]
  • Medien - Systeme - Netze. Elemente einer Theorie der Cyber-Netzwerke (Transcript, Bielefeld, 2001), ISBN 3-933-12777-7, reviewed by Alexander Görke[24]
  • Non-dualistische Medientheorie. Eine philosophische Grundlegung (UVK, Konstanz, 2005), ISBN 3-896-69474-X, reviewed by Armin Scholl,[25] reviewed by Roland Graf[26]
  • So arbeiten Österreichs Journalisten für Zeitungen und Zeitschriften ("Schriftenreihe des Kuratoriums für Journalistenausbildung", Vol. 18, Salzburg, 2006)
  • Das Google-Copy-Paste-Syndrom. Wie Netzplagiate Ausbildung und Wissen gefährden (Heise/"Telepolis" at dpunkt, Hannover-Heidelberg, 2007; 2nd revised edition 2009), ISBN 3-936-93137-2, reviewed by Dennis Deicke,[9] reviewed by Steffen Büffel[27]
  • Die Medialisierungsfalle. Kritik des digitalen Zeitgeists (Edition Va Bene/"Eine Analyse", Vienna-Klosterneuburg, 2008), ISBN 3-851-67209-7, the author in talk with Britta Bürger concerning his book[28]

Editorships (in German and English, selection):

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References

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  1. ^ Stefan Weber: Der einsame Plagiatsjäger | Studium | ZEIT ONLINE
  2. ^ Plagiatsjäger Weber kritisiert "Textkultur ohne Hirn" | tagesschau.de
  3. ^ "Johannes Hahn ist ein Viertel Guttenberg" - Plagiatsjäger Stefan Weber: Auf jeder vierten Seite von Hahns Dissertation ist ein Plagiatsfragment zu finden - Wiener Zeitung Onl...
  4. ^ Publizistik – Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung Online[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Plagiatsjäger Stefan Weber: "Ich hasse die Unis"". Die Presse. 16 September 2023.
  6. ^ Abgeschrieben und erwischt: Der Plagiator – SPIEGEL ONLINE
  7. ^ Deutscher wegen Plagiats strafrechtlich verurteilt – ORF ON Science
  8. ^ "ISDS - Home" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 December 2009. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  9. ^ a b Brainless Text Culture and Mickey Mouse Science :: Society of the Query
  10. ^ http://www.plagiatsgutachten.de
  11. ^ "Ein Spürhund auf der Richterbank". Der Standard. 30 August 2007.
  12. ^ "Umstrittener Plagiatsprüfer: Die Rache des Stefan Weber". Der Spiegel. 23 February 2024.
  13. ^ ""Plagiatsjagd": Genug ist genug". Der Standard. 13 February 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Zitierregeln damals noch anders?". ORF Online.
  15. ^ "Hahn-Dissertation ist kein Plagiat, wäre heute aber unzureichend". Die Presse. 11 August 2011.
  16. ^ "Falscher Doktortitel? Art-for-Art-Chef Axel Spörl tritt nach zehn Tagen im Amt zurück". Die Presse. 15 May 2020.
  17. ^ "FH Wiener Neustadt prüft Vorwürfe zur Diplomarbeit von Ministerin Aschbacher". Der Standard. 8 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Arbeitsministerin Aschbacher tritt nach Plagiatsvorwürfen zurück". Der Standard. 10 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Universität Salzburg entlastet SZ-Vizechefredakteurin Föderl-Schmid". Der Spiegel. 4 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Es war doch nur ein angeblicher Plagiatsskandal". Der Falter. 15 May 2024.
  21. ^ "Die Treibjagd rechter Krawallportale auf eine Journalistin". Der Falter. 13 February 2024.
  22. ^ ""Plagiatsjäger" Stefan Weber wegen übler Nachrede verurteilt". Der Standard. 26 June 2024.
  23. ^ Publizistik – Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung Online[permanent dead link‍]
  24. ^ Publizistik – Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung Online[permanent dead link‍]
  25. ^ Scholl, Armin (2007). "Stefan Weber: Non-dualistische Medientheorie. Eine philosophische Grundlegung". Publizistik. 52 (2): 278–279. doi:10.1007/s11616-007-0136-5.
  26. ^ Graf R. (2006) Review of: Stefan Weber (2005) Non-dualistische Medientheorie. Eine philosophische Grundlegung. UVK: Konstanz. Constructivist Foundations 1(3): 132
  27. ^ Publizistik – Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung Online[permanent dead link‍]
  28. ^ Weniger Wissen durch Neue Medien – Medienwissenschaftler Stefan Weber kritisiert | Thema | Deutschlandradio Kultur
  29. ^ "IASLonline.: Dynamic".
  30. ^ Publizistik – Vierteljahreshefte für Kommunikationsforschung Online[permanent dead link‍]
  31. ^ socialnet – Rezensionen – Stefan Weber: Theorien der Medien
  32. ^ Die Ordnungen der Medientheorien - Eine Einführung in die Einführungsliteratur : literaturkritik.de
  33. ^ "F.LM - Texte zum Film | Stefan Höltgen: Theorien der Medien". Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  34. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 December 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  35. ^ Wir beißen nicht in das Wort - DiePresse.com
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