Media Critic: Thoughts on T.O.
As the media frenzy continues to circle the chum a source inside the Dallas P.D. fired into the proverbial waters early this morning in regards to Terrell Owens, let's take a look at what we actually know:
-Someone called 911 from Terrell Owens' house at 7:51pm
-T.O. was taken to the hospital
-In response to the question regarding his intention of self-harm, Owens said "Yes."
-There were between 30 and 35 pills missing from his painkillers prescription
-The D.P.D. is not very media-friendly
Somewhere in between all of these facts you have the spin coming from both Owens' publicist Kim Etheridge and agent Drew Rosenhaus (and soon the Cowboys) together with an amount of speculation that could only be accurately described as "insane." But check out any major sports news outlet and it's more or less wall-to-wall T.O. suicide watch.
As mentioned on the show this morning, this predictable media melee brings this journalism grad back to the age-old ethical question that every journalist REALLY ought to weigh when handed a rumor that could turn into the NEXT BIG STORY: is it more important to be first or to be right? Well, thanks to the instant-gratification always-on media presence this country currently experiences, we know how journalists of all walks of life end up behaving; that shouldn't make the question posed above any less relevant. Or more simply put: what if T.O. really did not try and commit suicide?
One of the more thought provoking interviews I've seen on this subject, journalistic ethics, was conducted by an entertainer (Jon Stewart) and the subject was a high-profile journalist (Ted Koppel). In said interview, Koppel reminded Stewart of the importance in determining the difference between the facts and the truth. To paraphrase Koppel's explanation, let's say I wrote a blog entry today that said "Jim Kushlan keeps a framed photo of Frank Beamer next to his bed at night." The fact that I said that would spur many emails and provoke quite the discussion and therefore make my job as a sports talk host very easy while simultaneously flummoxing Jim as he tried to dispel these rumors. Of course, the truth about any contents of Jim's bedroom would be left by the wayside because of the focus and discussion of the fact that I mentioned the Frank Beamer picture.
And that's where we stand so far, people going crazy over the facts that I posted above with minimal regard for the truth as to what happened in the 3800 block of Commerce, erring more to the side of speculation.
"Pfft, it's pretty easy for you to ride such a high horse, Teeple," I'm sure you're saying, "but if you were handed info that could lead to the NEXT BIG STORY you would be all over it because you could make a name for your show."
Not true. Allow me to impart a recent experience I had at STC involving a former producer for a couple shows on our station. I will tell you now, though, that in regards to this story that all you will get out of me is vagueries--not the name of the producer, the shows they worked on, who the athlete in question was, whether it was good or bad, anything--you can try, but, short of employing Jamie Pressly to interrogate me via less conventional usages of whip cream, vagueries is what you shall get! Anyway...
Last week, an hour before our show was going to air I recieve an instant message from this producer telling me that there is a somewhat surprising and unexpected update on a fairly prominent Cleveland sports injury that noone else knows about. I ask the producer their sources and I'm told that this comes from a friend of the player's father. So to me, this story is a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-father-of-a-player... which is a few too many hyphens for me to trust its credibility outright. The producer tells me I could easily interview the source on the air for the full extent of this big story... but I pass. The producer says I'm crazy and that it could be a huge ratings coup for our show-- which is true. But I'd simply be reporting the fact that there is a rumor and be trotting out a third-hand source. If it was true, and we'd run it, our show would've had a banner day and picked up more steam than even the day after we were linked off Deadspin's Hugh Johnson Project; if it was not true, well, I don't think I have to tell you how quickly we would've been rapped as the irresponsible internet radio show reporting rumors as if they were facts like some late-night low-budget college radio station, setting us back at least two years. Granted that the story was dealing with an injury I couldn't just call up the hospital where the player recieved treatment and ask them, since HIPAA laws would smite my journalistic enterprise before it really began; I was at a dead end. In the end I had to go with my gut and ignore the fact out of respect for the truth.
For the record, since I was told about this 'update,' not a peep out of anyone regarding the player in question and believe me, this update was surprising enough that if anyone had been able to confirm it you'd have heard about it within the hour. Now if I flip open the Plain Dealer tomorrow and see this story I'll feel like a total ass, knowing that I could've scooped the P.D. by a week, but that's a small price for journalistic self-respect. And that's what I hope that the likes of Ed Werder strive for in their coverage of Terrell Owens this week and beyond: the responsible disemination of facts while focusing their pursuit on the truth... being first is great, but being the first to be right is even better.
I also would like to challenge all of you out there to watch the T.O. coverage the rest of this week and be mindful of the difference between the facts and the truth in every report and try and hold those who discuss the story, our show included, to a higher standard of journalism than we are used to in this day and age.
Or to paraphrase Billy Madison:
I choose... journalistic ethics! (and you should, too)
-Someone called 911 from Terrell Owens' house at 7:51pm
-T.O. was taken to the hospital
-In response to the question regarding his intention of self-harm, Owens said "Yes."
-There were between 30 and 35 pills missing from his painkillers prescription
-The D.P.D. is not very media-friendly
Somewhere in between all of these facts you have the spin coming from both Owens' publicist Kim Etheridge and agent Drew Rosenhaus (and soon the Cowboys) together with an amount of speculation that could only be accurately described as "insane." But check out any major sports news outlet and it's more or less wall-to-wall T.O. suicide watch.
As mentioned on the show this morning, this predictable media melee brings this journalism grad back to the age-old ethical question that every journalist REALLY ought to weigh when handed a rumor that could turn into the NEXT BIG STORY: is it more important to be first or to be right? Well, thanks to the instant-gratification always-on media presence this country currently experiences, we know how journalists of all walks of life end up behaving; that shouldn't make the question posed above any less relevant. Or more simply put: what if T.O. really did not try and commit suicide?
One of the more thought provoking interviews I've seen on this subject, journalistic ethics, was conducted by an entertainer (Jon Stewart) and the subject was a high-profile journalist (Ted Koppel). In said interview, Koppel reminded Stewart of the importance in determining the difference between the facts and the truth. To paraphrase Koppel's explanation, let's say I wrote a blog entry today that said "Jim Kushlan keeps a framed photo of Frank Beamer next to his bed at night." The fact that I said that would spur many emails and provoke quite the discussion and therefore make my job as a sports talk host very easy while simultaneously flummoxing Jim as he tried to dispel these rumors. Of course, the truth about any contents of Jim's bedroom would be left by the wayside because of the focus and discussion of the fact that I mentioned the Frank Beamer picture.
And that's where we stand so far, people going crazy over the facts that I posted above with minimal regard for the truth as to what happened in the 3800 block of Commerce, erring more to the side of speculation.
"Pfft, it's pretty easy for you to ride such a high horse, Teeple," I'm sure you're saying, "but if you were handed info that could lead to the NEXT BIG STORY you would be all over it because you could make a name for your show."
Not true. Allow me to impart a recent experience I had at STC involving a former producer for a couple shows on our station. I will tell you now, though, that in regards to this story that all you will get out of me is vagueries--not the name of the producer, the shows they worked on, who the athlete in question was, whether it was good or bad, anything--you can try, but, short of employing Jamie Pressly to interrogate me via less conventional usages of whip cream, vagueries is what you shall get! Anyway...
Last week, an hour before our show was going to air I recieve an instant message from this producer telling me that there is a somewhat surprising and unexpected update on a fairly prominent Cleveland sports injury that noone else knows about. I ask the producer their sources and I'm told that this comes from a friend of the player's father. So to me, this story is a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-father-of-a-player... which is a few too many hyphens for me to trust its credibility outright. The producer tells me I could easily interview the source on the air for the full extent of this big story... but I pass. The producer says I'm crazy and that it could be a huge ratings coup for our show-- which is true. But I'd simply be reporting the fact that there is a rumor and be trotting out a third-hand source. If it was true, and we'd run it, our show would've had a banner day and picked up more steam than even the day after we were linked off Deadspin's Hugh Johnson Project; if it was not true, well, I don't think I have to tell you how quickly we would've been rapped as the irresponsible internet radio show reporting rumors as if they were facts like some late-night low-budget college radio station, setting us back at least two years. Granted that the story was dealing with an injury I couldn't just call up the hospital where the player recieved treatment and ask them, since HIPAA laws would smite my journalistic enterprise before it really began; I was at a dead end. In the end I had to go with my gut and ignore the fact out of respect for the truth.
For the record, since I was told about this 'update,' not a peep out of anyone regarding the player in question and believe me, this update was surprising enough that if anyone had been able to confirm it you'd have heard about it within the hour. Now if I flip open the Plain Dealer tomorrow and see this story I'll feel like a total ass, knowing that I could've scooped the P.D. by a week, but that's a small price for journalistic self-respect. And that's what I hope that the likes of Ed Werder strive for in their coverage of Terrell Owens this week and beyond: the responsible disemination of facts while focusing their pursuit on the truth... being first is great, but being the first to be right is even better.
I also would like to challenge all of you out there to watch the T.O. coverage the rest of this week and be mindful of the difference between the facts and the truth in every report and try and hold those who discuss the story, our show included, to a higher standard of journalism than we are used to in this day and age.
Or to paraphrase Billy Madison:
I choose... journalistic ethics! (and you should, too)
posted by Paul at 3:58 PM
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