What New Media Can Do For You, Paul Sullivan
A couple of weeks ago, Beth Harte over at Daily Fix discussed the meaning of journalistic integrity in the world of New Media (or Web 2.0). This has been a popular topic among bloggers and traditional media types alike--how will we make sure that bloggers report the truth in a responsible manner?
Perhaps what traditional media types should have been asking themselves instead is, how will we respond to the New Media that calls us on our own irresponsible reporting?
The 2009 MLB regular season is nearing its end and the NFL regular season is just getting into full swing; now is a prime time for sports reporting. Unfortunately, sportswriting is a microcosm of the very problem I wish to address. In this case I'll stick to what I know--baseball, more specifically the Chicago Cubs. I've mentioned The Cub Reporter before, one of my favorite sports blogs. This time I'd like to hold them up as an example of New Media calling out Old Media. Among recent the recent posts over at The Cub Reporter you will find an article regarding the end of pitcher Rich Harden's season due to injury and Carlos Zambrano's desire to be traded due to the fact that the Cubs don't like him anymore (TCR conversation on Zambrano/Sullivan began here, at comment 95 by Cubster and continued in a post made by Rob G./Tim Souers). Oh, sorry. Rather the articles will be about how Paul Sullivan misreported an injury to pitcher Rich Harden--he's actually just going to miss one start--and how Paul Sullivan started prodded pitcher Carlos Zambrano with information from "sources" that the Cubs were looking into trading him. (Carlos Zambrano appropriately responded, "... are you guys our general manager now?" Although he should've stopped right there.)
The folks over at TCR like to do a great many things--including arguing the validity of new stats, whether the criticism of certain players has been motivated by racism, whether Lou Piniella is really a baseball expert or just a cantakerous old fatman--but one of the best things they do is keep an eye on so-called professional sports writers. Sullivan got the Harden injury wrong, and printed it before he had a chance to check his sources. He also goaded Carlos Zambrano into a fight with questionable information and unidentified sources (some speculate his source was mere speculation by another sports writer). Earlier in the season TCR, particularly Dr. Joseph Hecht, called out beat writers for not asking which bone outfielder Reed Johnson had broken, information that could have made their predictions that he'd only be out 2-4 weeks (he's still on the DL) obsolete.
Maybe this is why New Media has killed the papers; the papers have refused to respond to the new pressures put on them. It seems that sportswriting especially has allowed themselves to be completely overshadowed by blogs and websites.
A couple of weeks ago, Beth Harte over at Daily Fix discussed the meaning of journalistic integrity in the world of New Media (or Web 2.0). This has been a popular topic among bloggers and traditional media types alike--how will we make sure that bloggers report the truth in a responsible manner?
Perhaps what traditional media types should have been asking themselves instead is, how will we respond to the New Media that calls us on our own irresponsible reporting?
The 2009 MLB regular season is nearing its end and the NFL regular season is just getting into full swing; now is a prime time for sports reporting. Unfortunately, sportswriting is a microcosm of the very problem I wish to address. In this case I'll stick to what I know--baseball, more specifically the Chicago Cubs. I've mentioned The Cub Reporter before, one of my favorite sports blogs. This time I'd like to hold them up as an example of New Media calling out Old Media. Among recent the recent posts over at The Cub Reporter you will find an article regarding the end of pitcher Rich Harden's season due to injury and Carlos Zambrano's desire to be traded due to the fact that the Cubs don't like him anymore (TCR conversation on Zambrano/Sullivan began here, at comment 95 by Cubster and continued in a post made by Rob G./Tim Souers). Oh, sorry. Rather the articles will be about how Paul Sullivan misreported an injury to pitcher Rich Harden--he's actually just going to miss one start--and how Paul Sullivan started prodded pitcher Carlos Zambrano with information from "sources" that the Cubs were looking into trading him. (Carlos Zambrano appropriately responded, "... are you guys our general manager now?" Although he should've stopped right there.)
The folks over at TCR like to do a great many things--including arguing the validity of new stats, whether the criticism of certain players has been motivated by racism, whether Lou Piniella is really a baseball expert or just a cantakerous old fatman--but one of the best things they do is keep an eye on so-called professional sports writers. Sullivan got the Harden injury wrong, and printed it before he had a chance to check his sources. He also goaded Carlos Zambrano into a fight with questionable information and unidentified sources (some speculate his source was mere speculation by another sports writer). Earlier in the season TCR, particularly Dr. Joseph Hecht, called out beat writers for not asking which bone outfielder Reed Johnson had broken, information that could have made their predictions that he'd only be out 2-4 weeks (he's still on the DL) obsolete.
Maybe this is why New Media has killed the papers; the papers have refused to respond to the new pressures put on them. It seems that sportswriting especially has allowed themselves to be completely overshadowed by blogs and websites.
Labels: Baseball, Chicago Cubs, Integrity, New Media, Sportswriting, The Cub Reporter
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