Everett Herald says sports columnist lifted passages from SI

Yes, the guy wrote that as his way of protesting the Iraq War. Whatever. This is a ridiculous argument. Perhaps he was temporarily insane. But this isn't a court of law.

Have I lied? Sure. But we're not talking about a little white lie. We're talking the integrity of the entire industry. When he lies to readers, he puts into question my own integrity. People might begin to think the same of every reporter. I don't appreciate that. His paper should can his ass pronto. Anything less is a sign that the paper suffers from the same integrity issue that this guy faces.

Now, do I condemn this guy to eternal life in hell? No. I understand that it was a momentary lapse of reason. I hope he can work out whatever issues he's facing. I hope he lives a long and glorious life. But don't expect that life to involve journalism. Probably, he'll lie his way into a new job or find someone with lower standards. That's fine. But he won't be working for me.

And, again, I'll point out that I can't even understand what sort of desperate situation might make a guy wish to swipe another person's material. I can type almost 100 words per minute. I can write a column in less than 30 minutes. It might be horrible, but we've all mailed one in a time or two. I can deal with that shame, but I can't deal with stealing someone's work. And he had to know he was borrowing another person's stuff. I mean, he had to know that it didn't happen to him. I don't get it. I really don't get it, and I wish I did. This is unexplainable.

 

All I know is that Barnacle should never work in this business again.

 

We have that problem at my current shop. But I've discouraged my co-workers for calling them out on it. Why encourage them to be better reporters? Also, people get the teaser from TV, but they know they have to come to us for the full story.

 

It's so cool when you say "draconian." Reminds me of the bad guys from "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century."



Ambiguously good/evil Princess Ardala, how I loved you in my youth. But Tiger Man's overzealous bodyguarding kept us apart.

Sigh.

Oh, and henryhenry: Sleeper committed the worst crime a journalist can. He pissed on another journalist by lifting his work wholesale, and pissed on his readers by passing it off as his own. He should be fired immediately. This was not a mistake. This was a complete betrayal of the craft itself.

And if my feeling that way leads to a new generation of hippies and weird but enjoyable music that does nothing to "change the WORLD!!!" then I'm good with that.

 

Henry ... I said it would be easier for me to rob a bank than to do this. And it would be. I did not say what he did was worse in a societal, "big picture" kind of way, just that after years in this business there are things you do not do, period.

You dodged the question before, so I will ask again: you in the business? I cannot imagine a person who does this for a living arguing this as you are.

 

yes lester, i'm in the business.

but not proud of the unyielding and arrogant moralists it seems to attract.


what goes around comes around - someday you'll need compassion - and it won't be there. you've got destructive karma.

 

HH: I'm a compassion guy. I've defended a lot of people on these threads who others said should be fired immediately, using the same kind of arguments you're making.

Sorry, can't here. Straight lifting, from a national columnist, by a guy who's experienced enough he should know better, whether this is his first time or his 100th.

I'm sorry for whatever personal ramifications this has for him and his family. But to me, this one is black and white.

He was either devious or extremely dumb or both, and it's most likely No. 3, and that's a firing offense.

 

Counterculture, karma . . . nice to have a genuine stoner here at SportsJournalists.com.

If what goes around comes around . . . . then I guess someone is gonna steal from Sleeper at some point?

You base your entire defense of this bozo around how we should be nice to each other. That includes respecting other people's work enough to not lift it and put your name on it.

 

I have nothing but compassion for John Sleeper. He has harmed nobody but himself and (to a lesser degree) our profession, but that last part is already so bedraggled that this offense is nothing more than throwing a twig on a blazing fire. I hope he gets to stay in the profession and remake his reputation. There's just no way it can be as the face guy for a (fairly) large paper.

You and I also appear to be reading different threads because I've read very little fire and brimstone here. But I suppose if believing the guy should lose his job is being an "unyielding and arrogant moralist" (who's overwrought, BTW?) then, yeah, I'm guilty. You don't get to do this and still be a columnist and if you are in this business you should know that.

One last thing ... scanning your back posts you were pretty harsh on Jamele Hill following the Celtics/Hitler thing. Talked about how you'd struggle to trust anything she wrote for a long time. Interesting dichotomy, don't you think?

 

HH's posts on this are so ridiculous that I prefer to think he's just yanking everybody's chain. To think that anyone with any experience in this business seriously takes this position would make me too sad.

 

Interesting theory: the general public doesn't trust the media because members of the media think it's wrong to pass off someone else's work as your own.

So is copying and pasting the key to saving the industry?

 

I have a dream that one day sports columnists won't be judged by the color of their ledes but by the content of their character.

—Italian_Stallion, 2008