The Chronicle recently became aware that a CD review in the entertainment section of the Feb. 5 issue was plagiarized from a Web site. We would like to extend an apology to our readers for this gross deception and oversight.

The Chronicle has a no tolerance policy for plagiarism. We examined the writer’s past articles and as far as we know, only one had been stolen from another source. Luckily, we were able to stop the problem before it got out of control.

Last spring, as most of you know, The New York Times wrote a 14,000-word article about the fabrications mistakenly printed as a result of the misdeeds of Jayson Blair. Blair fabricated quotes, stole information from other newspapers and lied to his editors. When the situation came to light, the Times and just about every other publication re-examined their editing systems and became more cautious about what gets printed.

In an ideal world, reporters would have an adequate level of integrity to not plagiarize because it is immoral. Barring that, one would think reporters who contemplate plagiarism would remember the journalistic calamity on 43rd Street. Unfortunately, it is not an ideal world, and our editors are forced to be wary of dishonest students, just like editors at larger papers.

Three parties were betrayed in this situation. The writer stole someone else’s intellectual property, lied to us and, most importantly, lied to you. Honesty and credibility are key elements of running a successful newspaper, and although we have been hindered in our efforts, we will not be swayed. We are dedicated to keeping readers informed by trustworthy writers and reliable sources and hope our readers do not take this incident as a reflection of the entire paper. The Chronicle will continue to work hard to provide you with reliable information and ensure this does not happen again in the future.