Sportswriter suspended

A sportswriter for ESPN in the USA has been suspended for lifting text from a columnist and using it word for word in his television commentary of the game. New York Times and Mediaite report. The columnist blogged

“Hey, Will Selva of ESPNEWS. Glad you liked my last column so much. Try not to plagiarize it next time.”

Selva has admitted to the plagiarism, is very sorry, and promises not to do it again, but has been suspended indefinitely. The comments on the NYT article are quite good, HS teacher observes

1. People who plagiarize think they have an invincible quality to them - they will never be caught.
2.
Most people who plagiarize (at the high school level) do not take it
for what it is - an egregious act of indignity that speaks to a person's
lack of hard work and diligence.
3. People who plagiarize always have
multiple excuses, such as- I forgot, I didn't realize, I didn't do it,
etc. They can lie their way right to vindication.

Others comment that ESPN is in the entertainment business, not the journalism business, but I don't see that that makes a difference - the entertainment industry gets its knickers in a knot about "intellectual property theft" all the time when speaking about filesharing, why should this be different?