Sports Media Rant #14 - "Don't Push Send"

**darvon** · 07-20-2011, 07:36 AM

Remember back before I bored you with my 1,500 posts on the Lockout, I would bore you with my rants against the Media. Well here's another.

I was listening to "Mike and Mike" with guest Herm Edwards about 10 minutes ago and what did I hear. They were criticizing Vikings punter Chris Kluwe who posted the following message on his Twitter page: “Sigh, and once again greed is the operative byword. Congrats Brees, Manning, Mankins, and Jackson for being ‘that guy’. #douchebags.

Kluwe was responding to reports that Brees, Manning, Mankins and Jackson were looking for special concessions as the Named Plaintiffs at the last minute in the Lockout negotiations.

The unanimous opinion was offered, led by Greenie, that if it did happen, Kluwe probably had a legitimate POV. But that since the players, like Brees and their agents, like Tom Condon, were vigorously denying those reports, that Kluwe was an idiot for "hitting SEND" before he knew the truth of the matter.

It was at that point that I started screaming at the radio.

Here they were. Employees of ESPN/ABC. Criticizing a punter for making a public reaction to a report that was ON ESPN/ABC, as well as NBC SPORTS, AP, YAHOO SPORTS, SI, CBS Sports, FOX Sports, NYT, and probably Popular Mechanics. Criticizing Kluwe for "Hitting SEND" before knowing something is a fact.

So now "Punting" has a higher bar of fact checking than "Journalism"?

Geez....

**Pruitt** · 07-20-2011, 07:40 AM

Just walk away from the radio... you are far too intelligent a man to be listening to Mike, Mike and Herm Edwards.

**ScottDCP** · 07-20-2011, 07:47 AM

Originally Posted by Pruitt

Just walk away from the radio... you are far too intelligent a man to be listening to Mike, Mike and Herm Edwards.

Only one of the regular shows seems to be worth much at all, though the Jay Mohr Undercard is actually pretty reasonable.

**darvon** · 07-20-2011, 07:58 AM

Thanks for the advice, but I like National Sports Radio.

However, this is not an issue isolated to M&M. A lot of SportsMedia is built on speculation. I don't have a problem with that, but I also understand the ramifications of putting out 2nd hand knowledge as if it is fact. People TREAT it like fact, not just entertainment. Journalism, including straight news, seems to think that this misunderstanding, or misapplication is somehow the viewers fault.

If you say a leading sentence with an asterisk, it isn't the fault of the audience to be led.

**FrzzerBwler** · 07-20-2011, 08:25 AM

Well my first thought is "It's ESPN, what do you expect"
Sirius/XM is the cure for that.
Yet Darvon's point is quite valid. What passes for journalism today, both news and sports, is sad, and that's putting it mildly.
Which goes back to the first line; It's ESPN what do you expect? Sensationalism? Check. Journalism? Wrong station.

**darvon** · 07-20-2011, 09:32 AM

You guys are too tough on ESPN. I like ESPN. I like SI. I like Florio. I even like Journalism.

I would, however, wish for a bit more self-awareness and asking the obvious Next Question.

**Pruitt** · 07-20-2011, 10:03 AM

My wife used to work at Toronto's cheesy tabloid paper. Apparently, the former Editor In Chief once said "We aren't selling facts; we are selling news."

**Dave Lapham** · 07-20-2011, 10:08 AM

The difference is this is a current player hitting send, not a former player who now has a role in the media world. Kluwe was frustrated for sure, but you may be a teammate of 1 or more of these guys in the future. Let the media look like fools if the information they are putting out there is inaccurate. As a current player you don't need to be part of that fraternity.

**Sander** · 07-20-2011, 10:12 AM

Also note that the fact that Brees &co. are denying it doesn't mean it didn't happen. It would shock me if they hadn't tried to get something out of their pretty significant leverage.