This article appeared in Slate on March 5, 2008.

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How different can four news stories generated by the same assignment be? Compare the opening paragraphs of these pieces about the 2005 mad cow disease conference call: the Bloomberg News version; the New York Times version, which lifts passages from Bloomberg without attribution; and the starkly different pieces run by the globeandmail.com and the Omaha World-Herald.

Opening paragraphs from the July 15, 2005, Bloomberg News story by Daniel Goldstein:

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The U.S. plans to resume imports of Canadian cattle, after an appellate court cleared the way to end a ban imposed two years ago because of mad-cow disease.° Cattle prices fell and shares of beef producer Tyson Foods Inc. surged.

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The first shipments from Canada may arrive at U.S. slaughterhouses in days, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said today in a conference call. “If things go well, it could very well be next week.” USDA and Canadian officials are coordinating how to certify animals for shipment, he said.

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A U.S. appellate court° yesterday ruled in favor of the government, which argued Canadian cattle under 30 months of age don’t pose a risk of mad-cow disease. Tyson’s beef business had a loss of $19 million in the quarter ended April 2, as the lack of available cattle boosted costs and led to plant closings. Canada before the ban supplied about 5 percent of U.S. beef.

Opening paragraphs from the July 16, 2005, New York Times story by Alexei Barrionuevo:

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The United States Agriculture Department said on Friday that it planned to resume imports of Canadian cattle within days, after an appellate court lifted a two-year-old injunction imposed because of mad cow disease.

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The first shipments from Canada could arrive at American slaughterhouses as early as next week, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said in a conference call with reporters. Officials in Canada and the United States are coordinating how to certify the animals for shipment, he said.

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“We want to make sure everything is in place,” he said. “If things go well, it could very well be next week.”

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The news sent shares of the beef producer Tyson Foods and McDonald’s restaurants surging. Cattle prices fell. Shares of Tyson rose 7.5 percent in early trading, and closed at $19.47 a share, a 5 percent increase, while McDonald’s closed at $30.99 a share, up 4.7 percent.

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Tyson’s beef business recorded a loss of $19 million in the quarter ended April 2. The company was hurt by the ban on cattle from Canada, which increased costs and led to temporary plant closings. Before the ban, Canada supplied about 5 percent of the nation’s beef.

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A United States appeals court ruled on Thursday in favor of the government, which had argued that Canadian cows under 30 months of age did not pose a risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.

Opening paragraphs from the July 15 globeandmail.com story by Terry Weber, time stamped 12:28 p.m.:

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The United States is taking immediate steps to reopen the border to Canadian cattle imports, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday.

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During a webcast, Mr. Johanns said that Washington has been in touch with Ottawa and that the two sides are now going through the logistical steps necessary to resume trade of live cattle for the first time since May, 2003.

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“Our hope is we’re talking about days and not weeks,” he said. “If things go well, it could very well be next week, but we have not set a specific date.”

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Late Thursday, a three-member U.S. appeal court panel in Seattle overturned a temporary injunction issued by Montana Judge Richard Cebull halting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s March plan to reopen the border.

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Judge Cebull had sided with U.S. ranchers group R-Calf in its argument that reopening the border exposed U.S. ranchers and consumers to unnecessary risks from mad-cow disease. The USDA had been planning to ease restrictions by allowing cattle younger than 30 months to be imported.

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Mr. Johanns noted that Canadian officials had already anticipated the ruling and taken steps to meet U.S. requirements, should Thursday’s favor reopening the border.

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“It [the reopening] could be as early as next week, but we want to make sure everything is in place,” he said.

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Those requirements, he said, including ensuring that animals being imported into the U.S. meet minimal-risk rule criteria, getting documents to U.S. customs to confirm the shipments are appropriate for entry.

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Opening paragraphs from the July 15 Omaha World-Herald story by Chris Clayton:

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Canadian cattle could start arriving at U.S. feedlots and meatpacking plants as early as next week, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Friday.

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Thursday’s unanimous decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifting a lower court’s injunction gives U.S. and Canadian officials a nearly two-week window to begin shipping live cattle from Canada before another court hearing, scheduled late this month in Montana.

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No date has been set, but Johanns said he will move as “expeditiously as possible” to begin importing Canadian cattle once officials work out the ground rules. Canadian and USDA officials anticipated the requirements would be in place at whatever time the legal issues were resolved.

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“Our hope is we are talking about days, not weeks,” Johanns said. “It could be as early as next week, but we want to make sure everything is in place. . . . If things go well, it could very well be next week, but we haven’t set a specific date” [ellipsis in the original].

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Johanns has lamented the closed border since becoming agriculture secretary in late January, saying that it hurts U.S. cattle feeders and meatpackers because the United States continued to import boxed beef from Canada.

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Higher cattle prices because of tight supplies caused meatpackers to scale back production at U.S. facilities. Industry officials claim to have lost as many as 8,000 meatpacking jobs because of the closed border.

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“I’m just worried that many of those jobs were impacted in a very permanent way,” Johanns said. “My hope is that restructuring now will be abated and this industry can start getting back to a normal flow of commerce here.”

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About 1 million cattle were imported from Canada in the year before the border closed in May 2003 when Canada reported its first case of mad-cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

AT ISSUE: SOURCES FOR UNDERSTANDING PLAGIARISM