Plagiarism is not only a school crime

News this last week of the year is that plagiarism is something that occurs not only in college classrooms and high-school classes but also in the "Real World" of sports journalism. At Coker College and at colleges around the country there is a good deal of emphasis put on the academic crime of stealing other people's words and ideas and claiming them as your own. Students often wonder about this 'big deal.'


Well, this week there is an ESPN announcer who is much more aware of the Big Deal as he has been suspended from his job for taking paragraphs from another reporter and using them as if he had crafted them himself. The original author took this action to task as a way to get some ownership of his work back in his control.

There is a great solution to how to avoid plagiarism charges -- CITE YOUR SOURCES. This solution is as important to public speaking as it is to public writing.