> "in politics and journalism, plagiarism remains a serious, even career-killing charge. So why is it any different when it comes to jokes online"
This is just a bad comparison.
The difference between the two cases is that the people stealing jokes online aren't professional comedians. The correct comparison to the average person stealing a joke online is to a professional politician who ... steals a joke online. Telling jokes isn't in their job description so it's considered something they do in their spare time. And unless your hobby crosses a line and reflects poorly on your profession, no-one cares about your hobby.
However, if you're a comedian stealing jokes (online or off), the charge remains a very serious and career-damaging charge. True, no-one particularly cared about a random twitter parody account stealing jokes but that's because it's also not a professional comedian's work. (Or at least not identifiable as such.) If that account were unmasked as the work of a professional comedian, we'd see a much different reaction.
As to the content mills and people reposting content without attribution -- that's its own problem, larger than jokes.
This is just a bad comparison.
The difference between the two cases is that the people stealing jokes online aren't professional comedians. The correct comparison to the average person stealing a joke online is to a professional politician who ... steals a joke online. Telling jokes isn't in their job description so it's considered something they do in their spare time. And unless your hobby crosses a line and reflects poorly on your profession, no-one cares about your hobby.
However, if you're a comedian stealing jokes (online or off), the charge remains a very serious and career-damaging charge. True, no-one particularly cared about a random twitter parody account stealing jokes but that's because it's also not a professional comedian's work. (Or at least not identifiable as such.) If that account were unmasked as the work of a professional comedian, we'd see a much different reaction.
As to the content mills and people reposting content without attribution -- that's its own problem, larger than jokes.