Dave Pratt and Plagiarism

[Rammer]

Pratt caught for PLAGIARISM in todays Province article, apologizes on air on the TEAM 1040. Strange events here as he apologizes he has Chapman on (who is his editor at the Province), and he basically faces this infraction on air, and Chapman tells him/listeners that the paper takes a hit and for that they have a zero tolerance, so his time with the Province is done. This was all discussed prior to airing, so they must have derived at a mutually acceptable way to bring this out to the listeners, but it was one strange piece of radio to listen to.

More will be given in tomorrows Province, but apparently a reader recognized a portion of Pratt's piece and brought that to the attention of the Province.....got to say that Pratt is going to eat a little crow for awhile on this one.....as Chapman was asked what was going to be in the paper tomorrow, he said not any of (name of the person Pratt plagiarized) that I know of.....pretty funny given the circumstances.

[Lion Guy]

Pratt caught for PLAGIARISM in todays Province article, apologizes on air on the TEAM 1040. Strange events here as he apologizes he has Chapman on (who is his editor at the Province), and he basically faces this infraction on air, and Chapman tells him/listeners that the paper takes a hit and for that they have a zero tolerance, so his time with the Province is done. This was all discussed prior to airing, so they must have derived at a mutually acceptable way to bring this out to the listeners, but it was one strange piece of radio to listen to.

More will be given in tomorrows Province, but apparently a reader recognized a portion of Pratt's piece and brought that to the attention of the Province.....got to say that Pratt is going to eat a little crow for awhile on this one.....as Chapman was asked what was going to be in the paper tomorrow, he said not any of (name of the person Pratt plagiarized) that I know of.....pretty funny given the circumstances.

Pratt knows the business he's in, and he is good at his schtick which is saying things "to get people going".........even when he probably deep down doesn't agree with what he says all the time. His job is to get people to listen and human nature is such that it is easier to listen to someone you "hate" as opposed to someone you always agree with.....that's the fun of talk shows.

The problem with that is when you make an honest mistake, like I believe this was, people who love to hate you will sharpen the knives. Which is why you have to be extra careful. An honest but dumb mistake that he will pay dearly for I'm afraid.

[smphantom]

Pratt is officially out of the newspaper. Now, if we can one day have him off the air as well.........

http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/ ... 2b8b20626d

[Sir Purrcival]

Wow, that is just such a profound piece of journalism to have copied. I bet stuff like that happens everyday and probably goes unnoticed. Don't really think that much about Pratt one way or the other but it certainly wasn't anything important. I'm not thinking all that well of the Province today. Surely there was something a little less extreme that they might have done in the name of punishment.

[firstdown45]

I was surprised to read today about The Province booting out David Pratt's column due to the plagarism incident.

I guess plagarism is a serious issue in the newspaper business. Yet all he did was quote some material. I guess he should have mentioned where he got it from but to lose your column over it, well.....

Pratt is a huge letdown. Did the Province make the right decision?

[TheLionKing]

Pratt is officially out of the newspaper. Now, if we can one day have him off the air as well.........

We can only wish ! He's so full of himself on the air.

[Solar Max]

Threads merged.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

Pratt is officially out of the newspaper. Now, if we can one day have him off the air as well.........

We can only wish ! He's so full of himself on the air.

I thought that was crown royal he was full of........

[TheLionKing]

Pratt is officially out of the newspaper. Now, if we can one day have him off the air as well.........

We can only wish ! He's so full of himself on the air.

I thought that was crown royal he was full of........

That too ! May be a contributing factor.

[Honour Dewalt]

He didn't just quote some material. If he did that he wouldn't be in toruble. Have you actually read his article and compared it to Rick Reilly's? Both articles are about a broadcaster who is hanging it up. (I believe in Reilly's case he died.) So Pratt uses Reilly's article like it is a template. Pratt knows the seriousness of plagiarism and he knew he was flat out copying another writer. He used more than just the phrase mentioned in the Province today. His closing and opening statements were basically taken from Reilly.

If he just said "So pour it like you don't own it bartender." I don't think it would have been noticed, but the fact is, he used that phrase and also the "closing time" bit as well as the Guys and Dolls phrase. That is like copying someone's homework and putting your name on it. For a guy of Pratt's supposed stature in this business, it is pretty bad.

[Bosco]

For a guy of Pratt's supposed stature in this business, it is pretty bad.

You really have to wonder just what the heck Pratt was thinking? As mentioned in the previous post, Pratt not only plagiarised, but plagiarised a piece of prose that was bound to be recognized by somebody in the sports community.

We might never get an insight into Pratt's reasoning for this error, but perhaps he could heed his advice to callers and give his own head a shake.

[sj-roc]

He didn't just quote some material. If he did that he wouldn't be in toruble. Have you actually read his article and compared it to Rick Reilly's? Both articles are about a broadcaster who is hanging it up. (I believe in Reilly's case he died.) So Pratt uses Reilly's article like it is a template. Pratt knows the seriousness of plagiarism and he knew he was flat out copying another writer. He used more than just the phrase mentioned in the Province today. His closing and opening statements were basically taken from Reilly.

If he just said "So pour it like you don't own it bartender." I don't think it would have been noticed, but the fact is, he used that phrase and also the "closing time" bit as well as the Guys and Dolls phrase. That is like copying someone's homework and putting your name on it. For a guy of Pratt's supposed stature in this business, it is pretty bad.

I don't know anything about G&D, so that reference was lost on me. Was that supposed to be funny? It doesn't make sense to me; at least in the original Reilly piece I can imagine a bball coach with ball in hand. But why would Cole as a commentator have "puck in hand"? Microphone in hand, maybe, but puck? Even coaches and players rarely do so. I dunno, maybe it'd make better sense if I understood the reference.

[Honour Dewalt]

Pratt should also take another bit of his own advice..."man, do your homework!!!"

[Lions4ever]

Years ago I had read an (as usual) excellent column by the (now late) great LA Times sports writer Jim Murray. A day or two later I was watching Sports Page, or whatever it was called, on CKVU (?) back when Paul Carson was a regular. He used to deliver a little sports observation piece as part of the broadcast. Much to my surprise his piece that night sounded awfully familiar. It was virtually a word for word regurgitation of the Murray column I had read a day or two earlier. I lost any regard for Carson from that moment on. He was nothing but a common lowlife plagiarist. He gave no attribution to Murray whatsoever for stealing Murray's words and idea.

I didn't report him to the management at CKVU - probably because that didn't occur to me at the time. I was a much younger person then and probably would not have been taken seriously, frankly.