As reported in the "Note to Our Readers" on page 9 of this issue, Stranger books editor Christopher Frizzelle committed an unconscionable act of journalistic fraud last week in a feature piece entitled "The Liars' Club." Unfortunately, after the "Note to Our Readers" went to press, Stranger editors realized that the note itself contains fabricated comments, concocted scenes, and material lifted from other newspapers and magazines.

The phrase "a profound betrayal of trust and a low point in the 12-year history of the newspaper" appears to be plagiarized from the New York Times' May 2003 cover story enumerating Times reporter Jayson Blair's deceptions, the only difference being that, for the Times, it was a low point in a "152-year history."

Embarrassingly, almost all of the sentences and phrases in the "Note to Our Readers" are, with minor alterations, plagiarized from that May 2003 New York Times article. The plagiarized passages include: "He fabricated comments"; "He concocted scenes"; "He lifted material from other newspapers and magazines"; "He used these techniques to write falsely about emotionally charged moments"; and "In the final months, the audacity of the deceptions grew by the week, suggesting the work of a troubled young man veering toward professional self-destruction."

The phrases "a young man with a flair for keen observation and colorful anecdotes," "we now know to a moral certainty," and "a blend of fact and fiction" were not plagiarized from the New York Times. They were plagiarized from several notices published in the New Republic in 1998, following Stephen Glass' dismissal there.

Mr. Savage's statement in response to the charge of favoritism ("You have a right to ask if I, a gay guy from Chicago, with those convictions, gave him one chance too many...") sounds suspiciously similar to former New York Times executive editor Howell Raines' response to the charge of favoritism on account of Jayson Blair's race, except that Raines identified himself not as "a gay guy from Chicago" but as "a white man from Alabama."

It was the late Michael Kelly, Stephen Glass' former editor at the New Republic, and not Mr. Savage, who said, "The thought has crossed my mind that I'm a goddamn idiot." But, as it happens, Mr. Savage is a goddamn idiot, too, as he's the genius who asked Mr. Frizzelle to draft the "Note to Our Readers" on page 9. This "Note to Our Readers About the Note to Our Readers" was drafted by Mr. Frizzelle's replacement, Mr. Christopher N. Frizzelle.