MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman thinks the WaPo media critic faced “a bum rap” during his recent plagiarism scandal:

What struck me was the glee that some bloggers displayed when they ripped Kurtz and his book.

The biggest flap occurred when Gawker’s Maggie Shnayerson did some terrific fact-checking and revealed that Kurtz’s work contained a passage that had originally appeared in David Blum’s 2004 book on “60 Minutes.” Naturally, Gawker made the most of it, and others jumped in.

But Kurtz, 54, isn’t another example of corrupt journalism. He isn’t Jack Kelley or Jayson Blair, two reporters who fabricated stories and tarnished journalism’s reputation. Kurtz pointed out, “I’m the guy who exposed Jack Kelley and Jayson Blair.”

Addressing the criticism over the Blum debacle, Kurtz said, “It’s a complete and total bum rap.” He said he is a “fanatic” about giving other journalists credit and would’ve given Blum a nod if he had known. I believe him. Considering Kurtz’s status at The Washington Post, his television notoriety and future book contracts, I think he’d have too much to lose.

Still, if Shnayerson could find the mistake, you have to wonder how Kurtz, his Free Press editor and the fact-checkers missed it. Kurtz told me: “I have to take responsibility for what’s in the book.”

Kurtz told Big Head DC the same thing weeks ago. Largely, people are taking his words at face value. And we bet he’s happy about that.