It is reprehensible, yes, but it is of way less importance than the actual case. Media being criminally reprehensible is not exactly news, it is simply the way of the world (unfortunately).
But one man's story that shows unequivocally that there is a monster flaw in high education -- that simply destroys the credibility of one of the most recognizable universities in the world, it is something of another level. So, no, I would not say "as reprehensible".
Oh I agree that Cambridge is being put totally under the media microscope, and it should be, it’s an institutional icon/symbol in the UK in a way I’m guessing such US colleges as Harvard or Yale are, probably more so.
“reprehensible” in the sense that the media in general can be relentless with individuals and stories which in some cases are blown out of proportion. This particular story and individual, there are myriad reasons why the story had legs. Was there a right & left bent agenda to some of the stories, DUH of course there was, but again sooo nany threads on this one;
I hate to speak ill of the dead but as a runner, the preposterous 30 marathons in 35 days is fantastical in the worst sense of the world, also what struck me as some incredibly unattractive non academic trait was when fellow professors emailed him regarding alleged plagiarism he literally called the cops on several of them on grounds of harassment, imagine an academic who cannot tolerate a discourse or even disagreements without referring to “victimhood” almost immediately and calling the cops because of an “attack” by concepts/ideas.
Reminded me a bit of the infamous Lance Armstrong who was very heavy handed with his tactics threatening litigation to any person who implied he had banned substances while winning his tour de France’s.