Sports

ESPN suspends anchor Will Selva indefinitely for plagiarizing from newspaper column

Laura Donovan Contributor
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ESPN has suspended Will Selva for an indefinite period according to AOL’s Fanhouse following Tuesday’s show after Selva used words from a newspaper column without attributing them to the author of the original story.

Selva, an anchor for the overnight “Highlight Express” show on ESPNNEWS, took words directly from Kevin Ding’s column in the Orange Country Register to set up game highlights for Tuesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.

In an initial statement released from ESPN, Selva said he cut and pasted Ding’s words into his script, but forgot to write his own words.

Selva, who has held an anchor position at ESPN for three years, apologized Wednesday for his plagiarism mistake.

“I made a horrible mistake and I’m deeply sorry. I did not live up to my high standards or ESPN’s,” Selva admitted in the statement. “I sincerely apologize for my sloppiness, especially to Kevin Ding, viewers and colleagues. In my 15 years in broadcast journalism, nothing like this has ever happened and I will make every effort to ensure it won’t happen again.”

According to ESPN’s statement, Selva had been researching stories to prepare his script for the broadcast and came across Ding’s column.

Full story: Report: ESPNNews anchor Will Selva gets suspended for plagiarizing Orange County Register column