Axe has been axed

[LeMoyneCuse]

That’s silly. It’s a commercial entertainment station, it’s not a journalistic enterprise.

Call it what you will, but the platform helps shape public opinion. Syracuse University Athletics feels this is problematic enough to complain about it.

 

[Qbobby]

another one from the n

Boomer and Gio on WFAN this morning spent 20 min on this story and blasted Boeheim and Levine. Destroyed them both. Not sure this story is going away in a day or two like many think.

It's also a dead time. NFL free agency hadn't started yet, spring training just started, and it's the NBA nobody cares time. In two days when the tournament starts, no one will give this story a second thought. The dance sucks all the oxygen out of the room.

 

[NJneer12]

The b-ball team to be in the top 25 and NCAA tournament pretty much every year, and the football team to go to more bowl games than they miss.

Most of the stuff you named is meaningless.

Yep...

Football - Be in bowl more than not; be in big time game every once in a while and maybe win that game once in awhile; not be embarrassing, in general. To me, this season hit the bare minimum where we are at, so COOL

Basketball - BE IN THE TOURNEY. 1 time in 4 years is bad despite the sugar coating. "Be happy we have a team" isn't good enough for me.

Then say FB and Men's BB. These comments are that it translate to the entire athletic department as going downhill. Or Wildhack is losing it. He was always going to face the Boeheim transition. FB has been a struggle since..2004? It's looking better than I can think since 2011? Like c'mon.

I think he's done a good job trying to bring some damn stability after Coyles bail and Dr. Gross. Lots of turnover with coaches. Coach Q transition/women's BB is looking bright again. Etc..

And that sucks how Axe was fired. Optics are Jim became an invester and had a condition. But that's Axes problem that he only covered those programs and hasn't seen the bright side.

I guess I'll look forward to a homer being the new voice. Lol

 

[money3189]

Never really been a fan- I thought he breathed a lot of hysteria and negative energy around Cuse athletics. I felt like he tried to influence people towards his personal opinions- it gives him more clicks. I think his style would be great in Philly, NY, ATL, etc

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

In case anyone missed it in the other thread, I put together my thoughts in a new article here

Syracuse Orange: Brent Axe was fired for objectivity, not negativity

This week we saw the end of an era in the Syracuse Orange sports community. A fixture in the SU sports community was suddenly and according to many, uncere...

insidetheloudhouse.com

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Axe did NOT want any SU program to do poorly. He correctly pointed out when we stunk in the sports we stunk in(a lot right now). He went after JB harder than anyone locally and it didn't happen until the last year.. Late in my opinion.

Levine has a box and courtside tickets for SU basketball while his company broadcasts the big 3 sports on his radio stations.

It was personal. That’s unprofessional.

 

[baggerbob]

It was personal. That’s unprofessional.

Watched him went he first went on the air, and after 4 shows, decided had better things to do with my time.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

It really wasn't personal unless you think anyone who refuses to toe the party line is "personal".

In any major sports town in this country you will find sports media types 10x as critical on their teams as Brent was on Syracuse. I don't understand why this is so foreign a concept to some in the Syracuse market. Sports radio would literally not exist without people arguing both sides. Without that it would just be PR.

 

[GoSU96]

Call it what you will, but the platform helps shape public opinion. Syracuse University Athletics feels this is problematic enough to complain about it.

The station is the rights holder to the sports broadcasts. Therefore a business investment in an entertainment enterprise. The goal of business is to profit from that investment. If the investor believes an aspect of his business is decreasing the value of his investment the right thing to do is eliminate what is causing the problem.

The local talk shows are there to promote, support and increase the value of the investment, not degrade it. It’s in HIS interest to positively shape public opinion.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

The station is the rights holder to the sports broadcasts. Therefore a business investment in an entertainment enterprise. The goal of business is to profit from that investment. If the investor believes an aspect of his business is decreasing the value of his investment the right thing to do is eliminate what is causing the problem.

The local talk shows are there to promote, support and increase the value of the investment, not degrade it. It’s in HIS interest to positively shape public opinion.

There are two distinct mechanisms at play here

1- Ed Levine is a business owner. He absolutely has the right to do what he feels he needs to do to ensure as much profit as possible for his station.

But.

2- In nearly every single credible media organization in America, there is either a clear separation or at least a tacit understanding that journalists can be objective and can call things out as they are.

For station ownership to force the narrative in a direction most favorable to their financial gain is within their right, but absolutely destroys any semblance of credibility as anything more than extension of SU's PR arm moving forward.

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

The station is the rights holder to the sports broadcasts. Therefore a business investment in an entertainment enterprise. The goal of business is to profit from that investment. If the investor believes an aspect of his business is decreasing the value of his investment the right thing to do is eliminate what is causing the problem.

The local talk shows are there to promote, support and increase the value of the investment, not degrade it. It’s in HIS interest to positively shape public opinion.

Your second paragraph is why this is all so problematic - media is more than just an instrument of profitability because of the power it has and the number of people it can reach. The fact that you and many others don’t understand or don’t want to understand that is frankly unsettling.

 

[SuFTW]

There are two distinct mechanisms at play here

1- Ed Levine is a business owner. He absolutely has the right to do what he feels he needs to do to ensure as much profit as possible for his station.

But.

2- In nearly every single credible media organization in America, there is either a clear separation or at least a tacit understanding that journalists can be objective and can call things out as they are.

For station ownership to force the narrative in a direction most favorable to their financial gain is within their right, but absolutely destroys any semblance of credibility as anything more than extension of SU's PR arm moving forward.

I don’t think Axe was acting as a journalist on his radio show. You could make a case that his newspaper column is, but his radio show is more about voicing his opinions, interacting with callers and creating entertainment value for listeners based mainly on Axe pontificating on opinions and conjecture. The line is blurred here of course because he does have two jobs.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

I don’t think Axe was acting as a journalist on his radio show. You could make a case that his newspaper column is, but his radio show is more about voicing his opinions, interacting with callers and creating entertainment value for listeners based mainly on Axe pontificating on opinions and conjecture. The line is blurred here of course because he does have two jobs.

But a big thing I have heard is that the questions he asked at the last PC when Autry were introduced were the "last straw". But was he asking those Q's as a newspaper reporter? Or in his radio capacity?

What was he then? Point being, you have to assume he is a journalist/media member at all times because you cant really parse it.

 

[GoSU96]

There are two distinct mechanisms at play here

1- Ed Levine is a business owner. He absolutely has the right to do what he feels he needs to do to ensure as much profit as possible for his station.

But.

2- In nearly every single credible media organization in America, there is either a clear separation or at least a tacit understanding that journalists can be objective and can call things out as they are.

For station ownership to force the narrative in a direction most favorable to their financial gain is within their right, but absolutely destroys any semblance of credibility as anything more than extension of SU's PR arm moving forward.

So you can only have credibility if you focus on the negative. Levine didn’t say negative, he said too negative.

 

[FreakTalksAboutSU]

So you can only have credibility if you focus on the negative. Levine didn’t say negative, he said too negative.

No, you can only have credibility if you let your journalists and personalities say what they really believe as opposed to what the company line is.

Once Levine makes it his judgement call to be "too anything" its all over.

 

[GoSU96]

Your second paragraph is why this is all so problematic - media is more than just an instrument of profitability because of the power it has and the number of people it can reach. The fact that you and many others don’t understand or don’t want to understand that is frankly unsettling.

It’s a sports talk show, not journalism.

Even if it could be deemed journalism, the profession itself would have to have some integrity and credibility for me to even begin to care.

 

[Fanalways]

Axe did NOT want any SU program to do poorly. He correctly pointed out when we stunk in the sports we stunk in(a lot right now). He went after JB harder than anyone locally and it didn't happen until the last year.. Late in my opinion.

Levine has a box and courtside tickets for SU basketball while his company broadcasts the big 3 sports on his radio stations.

Couldn't agree with you more. Axe was always positive back when he moderated the syracuse.com message board during the games and continued after that ended with his sports articles. He finally spoke the truth this year. I applaud him for that!

 

[LeMoyneCuse]

It’s a sports talk show, not journalism.

Even if it could be deemed journalism, the profession itself would have to have some integrity and credibility for me to even begin to care.

Where in my posts have I called Axe a journalist?

The role itself is not the point. The point is centered on expressing a point of view that power holders do not like. You say "it's good for business avoid that", I say "this is alarming not because its sports talk or Axe, but it's a ping in a trend of bodies trying to use influence to protect their images instead of actually trying to correct what is wrong."

 

[jonibob]

That’s silly. It’s a commercial entertainment station, it’s not a journalistic enterprise.

And beyond that he can dictate any tone/slant he wants and expect his employees execute that.

 

[Qbobby]

It's multiple levels to me. Primarily, Levine is a moron for actually saying that he was too negative. Just let him go and no one needs to know the real reason. That being said, he was fired from his job in sports talk. He still has his job as a journalist. Sports talk hosts come and go, and a lot of that is how they connect with their audience. If the management of the station feels his "overly negative" vibe on air hurts ratings then that's a valid reason to fire someone.

Sports talk ≠ journalism. He is an entertainer and facilitator in that role.

 

[SuFTW]

But a big thing I have heard is that the questions he asked at the last PC when Autry were introduced were the "last straw". But was he asking those Q's as a newspaper reporter? Or in his radio capacity?

What was he then? Point being, you have to assume he is a journalist/media member at all times because you cant really parse it.

Sure you can parse it. He doesn’t get carte blanche at one job because of his other job. They are different jobs. Last straw regardless, the previous straws were set by his radio show. This is not a defense of his firing, just arguing circumstances.

 

[SmilinBob]

I don't listen to sports talk anything and haven't for a very long time. I never found it interesting and very rarely informative.

I honestly find this site way more interesting and informative.

 

[Stern]

Adam Schein destroyed Ed Levine and the Syracuse Athletic Department over Brent being fired on his podcast. He also called on the Newhouse School to step in on this and do something.

Bill Simmons put up a nasty tweet attacking John Wildhack over this.

Barstool is preparing some content around this situation as well.

Story still has legs and isn't going away.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Adam Schein destroyed Ed Levine and the Syracuse Athletic Department over Brent being fired on his podcast. He also called on the Newhouse School to step in on this and do something.

Bill Simmons put up a nasty tweet attacking John Wildhack over this.

Barstool is preparing some content around this situation as well.

Story still has legs and isn't going away.

Where is it going from here?

 

[Eric15]

Barstool is preparing some content around this situation as well.

I'm assuming that will consist of the groundbreaking content of Dave Portnoy walking out of Varsity holding a pizza and declaring it an 8/10.