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Everett Herald says sports columnist lifted passages from SI

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by hwkcrz1, Jul 31, 2008.

  1. henryhenry

    henryhenry Member

    'easier to rob a bank than to do this'
    'reeks of losing their grip on reality'

    overwrought. self-righteous.
    you may be gripping something, and i think i know what it is.
     
  2. Piotr Rasputin

    Piotr Rasputin New Member

    Greetings, Everett Herald columnist who screwed up royally.

    Honestly . . . . his first offense? How old is he? How could he not know this was completely wrong? Maybe the worst crime you can commit in this business, and the easiest to avoid.

    If it is his "first offense", then it counts as about 10 lesser offenses. How about that?

    If he has a family, he should have thought of that before he stole someone else's work. But I guess he never even considered, :Gee, what will my family and friends think of me if I try to pass off someone else's work as my own?" People who still retain quality jobs in today's climate don't get to be lazy, and they don't get to be thieves.
     
  3. henry,

    there are certain no-nos specific to every profession that usually leave the guilty out on their ass. You mention athletes who might screw around with drugs, well, writers get the same leeway. And aren't tested.

    But if an athlete gambles, he's gone. This is our game-fixing. The guy co-opted Reilly's life for his own benefit. I can't stand Reilly's writing, but every time Rick thinks of that time in his life, he's going to have a quick flash of the face of the man who stole his personal anecdotes and made them his own.
     
  4. It's a simple rule, really: you plagiarize, you get fired.

    Not killed. Not sent to Siberia. Not castrated.

    But fired. That's the chance you take.

    IF someone wants to take a chance on you later and give you another gig, that's up to them. Good luck to you.

    But you're done at your current place of employment. Which is as it should be. No mitigating circumstances, no excuses, no rationalizations.

    Draconian? Sure.

    But we are entrusted with something (or we're supposed to be, anyway) and zero tolerance is the only way to try to keep an infection from spreading.
     
  5. Apate

    Apate New Member

    AMEN! Call me a frothing-at-the-mouth bitch, but with all of the jobless out there (latest count is 7,000+) I'm sure tons and tons of journalists would give their left arm to work there.

    Plagiarism is unforgivable. Period. How can you be so stupid as to even try? It probably took this guy more time to rip off the column than it would be to go out there and find something else to write about. Then again maybe not.

    Hell, I'm so paranoid that I might plagiarize by accident to the point where I won't read the competition's story about something before I write about it!

    Don't cry for Mr. Sleeper, by the way. He'll find a job. After all, PR firms are always hiring (especially in the Seattle area) and the way he lies he'll have no problem fitting in.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Has he been fired yet?
     
  7. henryhenry

    henryhenry Member

    Clever:

    "zero tolerance". "infection from spreading".

    florid imagery.

    it's okay to be draconian? one definition of draconian is "pitiless".

    you've drunk the kool-aid. you're unable to draw distinctions. he didn't knowingly libel someone, didn't take money or benefits, wasn't in a conflict of interest, didn't pursue a personal agenda. all of those things are corrupt. plagiarism is a momentary lapse of judgment - because people are human and succumb to stress - and if this was his first violation in 20 years he deserves some slack.

    you know why the general public doesn't trust media? because of the rigid attitudes of people like you - who think it's okay to be "draconian."

    a little compassion goes a long way.
     
  8. broadway joe

    broadway joe Guest

    You want compassion?

    Hey, Sleeper. I really hate to do this, but plagiarism cannot be condoned, as any decent journalist knows. If readers think that we let our people get away with this kind of blatant dishonesty, they'll never trust us, and then we're all screwed. So we have no choice but to fire you. I hope another paper gives you a chance, but it cannot be this one. Godspeed.

    You can show compassion and still fire his ass.
     
  9. BigSleeper

    BigSleeper Active Member

    Some have come on here to defend Sleeper, directly or indirectly, and that's fine. I've never met him, never worked with him, only read his work occasionally. He may be a fine person, good family man, a great friend, gives back to his community and all that. But these are the black-and-white facts: He cheated -- cheated in the absolute worst possible way a journalist can cheat -- and got caught.

    There are some things we just do not do. Never. Ever. Ever. We do not lie. We do not steal. We do not cheat. There is no ambiguity in any of that. Doing so is an insult to those around us who are obligated to play by the rules.

    I'm still dumbfounded why people do this. Saddened even. If there's a logical explanation to all this, please, share it with us. Because, by god, we can all use the get- out-of-jail-free card. Plagiarism is not a momentary act, a crime of literary passion, so to speak. Not even close. It's deliberate. But if there's a blanket defense, we're here and we're all ears. Hell, we'll even name it for you. "Hey, I got caught plagiarizing a story, but got to keep my job." "Really? How?" "I just pulled a Sleeper."

    We all have issues, we all face stress. That's the nature of this profession. How one responds in the face of adversity reveals one's character. If stress is the root cause of all this, I'm sorry, it's been revealed. He failed as a journalist. Clean out the desk. Game over.
     
  10. Colton

    Colton Active Member

    Never met the guy, nor read his work.

    My only experience with this kind of thing was when a guy who now is well respected for a Web site he operates about a professional sport was caught years ago lifting stuff from one of the biggest columnists in the biz (on the news side).

    He got another chance at a daily (my shop), moved on and has since made a name -- and a solid reputation -- for himself with his Web site.

    Always wondered why in the hell he would have done such a thing, but never asked.
     
  11. jlee

    jlee Well-Known Member

    I think writers who lie in their stories create more public distrust.
     
  12. henryhenry

    henryhenry Member

    if you have never lied or cheated you are a special person, indeed.
    also in serious denial.

    let me repeat - sleeper's "crime" was not the ultimate - he did not take money, did not fabricate facts, did not knowingly libel someone, was not in a conflict of interest in which he profited. those are more sinful, by degrees. if you see everything as black and white you are being stubbornly blind. he did not commit the offenses that are most damaging to the profession. he has a solid clean record - he has earned the benefit of the doubt. in our justice system there's a plea called 'temporary insanity' that sometimes exonerates violent acts - it recognizes aberrational behavior under stress. your rigid draconian approach to this guy - utterly without compassion - says more about you than him. you are the sort of stuffed shirt Peyton Place moralist - symbolic of the 1950s - that led to the counterculture rebellion of the 60s.
     
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