Everett Herald columnist suspended for plagiarism

EVERETT — The Herald of Everett has suspended a sports writer for a column that included material taken from Sports Illustrated.

The paper, which is owned by The Washington Post Co. and has a circulation of about 50,000, printed an apology to readers in Thursday's edition.

The Herald said parts of the June 3 column by John Sleeper, "Trust me, coaching girls is a whole new ballgame," describing the travails of a girls' basketball coach, were taken from a 2002 piece in the magazine.

The Sports Illustrated column, "Out of Touch with My Feminine Side," was written by Rick Reilly and was printed in a book of Reilly's columns, "Hate Mail from Cheerleaders," which was published in 2007.

The paper said Sleeper has been suspended for an in-depth review of the matter. It said the deception violated journalistic standards and The Herald's commitment to maintaining community trust.

"The Herald has apologized to Reilly for the unauthorized use of his work," the newspaper said in its Thursday statement. "We also apologize to our readers and promise to do everything possible to prevent this kind of failure in the future."