Fla. St. beat writer resigns amid plagiarism charges.

Pretty scathing piece on AL.com by a Birmingham alt-weekly: http://weldbham.com/blog/2014/11/25/bad-news-alabama-media-group-birmingham/. Saw this in my Facebook feed.
It includes some interesting information (which jives with what I had heard from those close to but not employed by AL.com) - that Ms. Pierre was the only person to interview for a job that was created for her, and that she had moved to the Birmingham area before even getting the job after quitting in Tallahassee.
C'mon. Who moves to take a job that isn't even advertised? That should raise some eyebrows in the Alabama Media Group. She was a Roy Johnson hire. I think the whole thing is kind of bizarre.
With Andrew Gribble leaving for Cleveland, I wouldn't be stunned if Ms. Pierre finds her way to the 'Bama beat, at least temporarily. Not that she's particularly qualified for that shark tank, but not that it really matters to those at AL.com, apparently

 

Based on these staff picks, AL.com has a pretty glaring lack of women and munorities on its top sports beats: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/11/who_will_win_the_2014_iron_bow.html

 

That is a damn good piece of reporting. It really outlines extremely well the shit-show that AL.com really is.

 

1. Ding-ding-ding-a-ding ding. Now they can say "they hired one." (One.)

2. She's coming in with a count of 2.999 strikes, and can be chucked overboard the very instant one of the good ole boys wants her gone. (You can bet every single keystroke she lays down and any website she visits on any company device is going to a secret 'evidence log' somewhere to be held in store for the day they want to get outraged about her plagiarizing something else.)

 

Bingo.

A white male in the same position wouldn't be afforded this kind of "second chance."

 

Oh please. I know a person who has been caught plagiarizing three times, fabricating once, and was still hired at a major paper to cover a major, major beat (the paper's biggest in sports) because he had a lot of goddamn Twitter followers. Management absolutely knew about it, ignored multiple warnings from middle management and other writers, and simply didn't care. And he's a white male (although he may be part weasel, now that I think about it). I'm not going to sit here and defend this hire, but pretending poor white dudes don't get these kind of chances is ludicrous.

 

There is nothing new under the sun. You can't copyright an idea.

Quotes are quotes, whether in a media scrum after practice or in a one-on-one interview. If someone said it, they said it. If they DIDN'T say it, that's a different matter altogether.

 

Is someone really complaining about an African-American woman getting a job that wasn't posted anywhere? Really? This happens all of the time with white men and I've seen comments on this board praising those hires. Interesting you guys don't seem to like it when it happens the other way. I applaud Roy and the editors at AL.com for recognizing this young lady's talent and the diversity void it had on its staff.

 

Nothing racist about this post at all ...

 

Don't you think it's possible that there is an African-American woman worthy of the position who isn't a plagiarist?

 

I'm all for diversity, but not at the expense of hiring someone who plagiarized when someone who busted their ass could have had this job.

 

Hey Scoop,
I haven't said one word about her race and I don't care if she's a damn pink elephant or an albino giraffe. The point is she plagiarized someone's work and yet she found a job within weeks of being fired/resigning/forced resignation or whatever you want to call it.

She doesn't deserve a job anywhere right now other than maybe a weekly rag in the middle of Bum Fuck Egypt.

You applaud that hire? I find it horribly insulting to our profession, to AL.com and to anyone who agrees with this hire including your dumb ass.

I'm fine with them hiring a minority and recognizing their shortfall in that aspect. But I'm not fine with this hire and neither should you.

Go hire any African-American female or male in the country for this job. Just not the fucking plagiarist.