A general comment on media reporting...

[Lee2000]

I want you opinion on the media reporting in sports. The whole Jerry Porter thing with him being reported to have laughed and carried on when Brooks was sacked the other night is what has prompted me to question the media reporting. It is an example of reporting what was seen without doing investigative research in to the context of the situation. And it just happened to be a situation where the report would build on perceived conflict between the player and the organization.
I am not defending Porter, or any other player in all situations, but my message to the media sources. Start getting your facts straight. I am almost as embarassed by the shotty media reporting today as I am the player behavior I hear about. Someone needs to hold the media foot to the fire. They need to get the whole story and stop creating reasons for entertainment (I give Porter the benefit of a doubt regarding the heckling fan). The real issue is that the story should have waited until Porter and his peers got a chance to enter the information they did regarding the fan. But someone decided to run with it without having complete context.

And on this board an entire thread ran with his "classless behavior", and went on to even question his attention span even after the information about the fan was presented later in the thread.

What do you guys think about this, and remember it could happen to any player and any team?

Lee2000

 

[PhinsRock]

The media is only interested in one thing; getting a story that will make them look good and create controversy. They are NOT interested in the facts, never have been, never will be.

We the fans are just as guilty because we read/buy the paper/mag, or watch/listen to the show. As long as we fans keep paying these jerks salaries, they'll keep reporting bullcrap. Because it sells, and we're the ones who buy it.

 

[poppy]

This is what happens when the Dominant values in society are Market Values. "The Bottom Line is the Bottom line". Its all about Sell! Sell! Sell! Who can can get the provocative story first. This leads to rushed journalism. Retractions aren't sexy so they are usually buried toward the back of the paper. If it was only limited to the sports world that would be one thing, however it is also rampant in the political/current event news world and that is a much more dangerous phenomena.

 

[Canadianfishfan]

It almost like the media is compounding Oaklands issues with trying to create new ones. Could you imagine being a player and reading the morning paper before work or hearing it on the radio on the way into work and reading/hearing that? It's almost as if the media in Oakland are trying to sabotage Oaklands fragile chemistry.
The story is completely irresponsible, yet i can understand the necessity for the media to be sensational. Its like being a home run King in baseball. To break 'the story' makes a journalists career.
The offseasons fascination with T.O. has been borderline pandemic. There have been so many players since Rickys quitting the team ans smoking pot. But somehow the media (Theismann) in particular.. paints his kettle black... Hey, he isnt like that guy in S.D. who got liquoured up with his woman and attacked a cop.
media is so influential... yet often quick to kick the fallen while their down.

 

[Dolphan23]

It almost like the media is compounding Oaklands issues with trying to create new ones. Could you imagine being a player and reading the morning paper before work or hearing it on the radio on the way into work and reading/hearing that? It's almost as if the media in Oakland are trying to sabotage Oaklands fragile chemistry.
The story is completely irresponsible, yet i can understand the necessity for the media to be sensational. Its like being a home run King in baseball. To break 'the story' makes a journalists career.
The offseasons fascination with T.O. has been borderline pandemic. There have been so many players since Rickys quitting the team ans smoking pot. But somehow the media (Theismann) in particular.. paints his kettle black... Hey, he isnt like that guy in S.D. who got liquoured up with his woman and attacked a cop.
media is so influential... yet often quick to kick the fallen while their down.

Yeah I'll agree with you in most cases....I believe what you're saying is just a generalization with the media as a whoel....I would have to say the one editor/wrter that I believe has been pretty good is Ethan Slonick (sp?) from the Sun-Sentinel.....he's very honest and doesn't create much controversy. Then there's writers like Armando Salguero who infamously is the catalyst for the nonbelievers. Jason Cole was a pretty honest guy in that sense...didn't seem to create much of a problem when he was with the Herald. At any rate, you do make perfect sense with what you said. Especially the Ricky Williams situation.....he is completely exploited just because he attracts the most attention and besides the fact he is one of the more known players. Nobody really cares about Steve Foley he's just a LB who was drunk and got shot. Media have an insatiable love for T.O. for some reason....I can't figure out what is so great about this guy? He's just a football player and a good one at that...but he's just a troubled player with whatever team he's on...yet he still gets more attention than Dennis Rodman did and he won a few championships! I don't get it.

 

[Prophet]

Nothing new, they exist to sell papers.