The sad state of the mass media today

[zibby]

I want to say I'm shocked that the PS reported the rumors, but I'm not. It just epitomizes the sad state the mass media is in today. Mike Waters is old enough to remember when reporters didn't report rumors. I've been out of the game for almost nine years. Maybe the rules have changed. If so, it's really, really sad.

When I was working in Pennsylvania, there was a rumor that a prominent member of the Pittsburgh Steelers was arrested for soliciting a prostitute...a homosexual prostitute. Big story or something people wanted to believe about a player who wasn't very popular at the time? The Steelers wouldn't comment, the police wouldn't comment and the player's agent didn't even return phone calls. That's where it used to end. Nowadays, @Yinzer420 saying it on StillerFan.com is apparently good enough to go on the air with it.

I could go on and on. Remember the fire in Pompey that killed two Manlius firefighters? I was working in Syracuse at the time. A couple days after the fire some guy called and said fire investigators determined the fire was caused by a meth lab and the owner of the house had been arrested and charged with two counts of murder. It was 10:30 at night, but I called the Manlius FD, the Sheriff's department, the jail and I even called the town justice at his home and woke up he and his wife. No one would confirm it. Silly old me just left the info for the guys who worked during the day to follow up. I guess what I should have done is fire up the BREAKING NEWS sirens for the 11PM newscast.

Local mass media is at its absolute nadir right now. I can't even watch local TV news anymore. It's all garbage. I only read the paper for the sports page and the coupons. I don't feel like I'm missing a thing by not paying attention to it.

 

[JoeCollege]

Great post. Thank you. Local TV news inthe Binghamton market has devolved into reciting verbatim press releases, puff pieces, "you news" pictures of some idiot's cat, and Facebook responses to such "news" as "what's your favorite holiday tradition?" It's sad.

 

[DNABB5]

internet killed the newspaper star

internet killed the newspaper star

 

[bballbeadle]

I actually think Mike Water's story put the rumor to rest. He did what any responsible reporter would do. Made calls, tried to verify. Came up with nothing. Knew the story was out there and that people were anxious. So he wrote something factual. I felt better after I read his story.

 

[zibby]

I actually think Mike Water's story put the rumor to rest.

He didn't put the rumor to rest; he added legitimacy to it. Nunes Magician didn't post about it on his site until after the PS did. You think he didn't know about it before then? He probably had 100 people an hour tweeting at him about it. The Big Lead also didn't post about it until after the PS report.

Bloggers showing more restraint than the mainstream media. If we're not in the Bizarro World, I don't know what this is.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

He didn't put the rumor to rest; he added legitimacy to it. Nunes Magician didn't post about it on his site until after the PS did. You think he didn't know about it before then? He probably had 100 people an hour tweeting at him about it. The Big Lead also didn't post about it until after the PS report.

Bloggers showing more restraint than the mainstream media. If we're not in the Bizarro World, I don't know what this is.

I agree about the PS. They, along with Lindsey, never should have mentioned this story unless they had some "real" facts.

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

SU message board fans 5 steps during a potential crisis:

Step 1. As the news initially breaks, deny and make fun of the folks who report the accusations. Ummm, hello...it's an SU player...SU players do not do ANYTHING wrong."I know his mother's friend...he would NEVER do something like this"
Step 2. As more potential facts and stories come to light, start to playfully poke fun at the situation, like it's not a big deal at all. "Ha ha, pick me up some socks MCW!"
Step 3. As another day passes, bring up stories of even worse things that happened to players at other schools. "You know...remember when __________ beat up that ________ while he was matriculating at ____________ University?"
Step 4. Get angry at media and other message boarders for posting speculation, as no new significant news has yet to come out.
Step 5. Post JLH pics to forget and move forward.

 

[stuckinbig11]

This all started with OJ Simpson and the follow-up with Princess Diana. If the news media can get millions of readers/viewers by reporting on ANYTHING potentially controversial, they run with it--right or wrong, important or not.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

I want to say I'm shocked that the PS reported the rumors, but I'm not. It just epitomizes the sad state the mass media is in today. Mike Waters is old enough to remember when reporters didn't report rumors. I've been out of the game for almost nine years. Maybe the rules have changed. If so, it's really, really sad.

When I was working in Pennsylvania, there was a rumor that a prominent member of the Pittsburgh Steelers was arrested for soliciting a prostitute...a homosexual prostitute. Big story or something people wanted to believe about a player who wasn't very popular at the time? The Steelers wouldn't comment, the police wouldn't comment and the player's agent didn't even return phone calls. That's where it used to end. Nowadays, @Yinzer420 saying it on StillerFan.com is apparently good enough to go on the air with it.

I could go on and on. Remember the fire in Pompey that killed two Manlius firefighters? I was working in Syracuse at the time. A couple days after the fire some guy called and said fire investigators determined the fire was caused by a meth lab and the owner of the house had been arrested and charged with two counts of murder. It was 10:30 at night, but I called the Manlius FD, the Sheriff's department, the jail and I even called the town justice at his home and woke up he and his wife. No one would confirm it. Silly old me just left the info for the guys who worked during the day to follow up. I guess what I should have done is fire up the BREAKING NEWS sirens for the 11PM newscast.

Local mass media is at its absolute nadir right now. I can't even watch local TV news anymore. It's all garbage. I only read the paper for the sports page and the coupons. I don't feel like I'm missing a thing by not paying attention to it.

Good post zibby, and I actually see where you're coming from, but I think when you and I worked in journalism it was a different time (by the way, we definitely overlapped in Syracuse -- good chance we know each other!).

The Kordell Stewart story is a different animal too. He would have been strung up if the media had reported on it. Without the Internet, that story died on the vine. If the twitterverse had its way, that story would have been all over the place in a day, and then you have to weight your obligation as a journalist to your audience. If that had happened, and it was so widespread most people knew the story, isn't it your job as a journalist to verify or quash those rumors?

This is a case that has a lot less of that impact. When it gets out there, and when this board picks it up, and various other quasi-media sites pick it up, in my opinion, it's your duty as a journalist to do some digging (as you did with the two cases you mentioned above). I think Mike posted that to quash the rumors. The SPD and L&T said nothing happened. SU officials (not sure what that means -- not really clear) said "no comment" which is exactly what they would say in a situation with a student where no charges were filed.

Regardless of whether the Post Standard did some research and got some answers, this story became news. The news cycle doesn't need "traditional" journalists to make news anymore. What Mike did was come in, ask the right people what happened, and write a story that illustrated at the very least that whatever happened was not a big deal. If he had fanned the flames with conjecture, I would definitely be on your side -- but he (the only one in this entire mess) did actual reporting and found it to be a non-story, so he posted as such. In my mind, that's what a journalist does.

 

[JohnCuse44]

SU message board fans 5 steps during a potential crisis:

Step 1. As the news initially breaks, deny and make fun of the folks who report the accusations. Ummm, hello...it's an SU player...SU players do not do ANYTHING wrong."I know his mother's friend...he would NEVER do something like this"
Step 2. As more potential facts and stories come to light, start to playfully poke fun at the situation, like it's not a big deal at all. "Ha ha, pick me up some socks MCW!"
Step 3. As another day passes, bring up stories of even worse things that happened to players at other schools. "You know...remember when __________ beat up that ________ while he was matriculating at ____________ University?"
Step 4. Get angry at media and other message boarders for posting speculation, as no new significant news has yet to come out.
Step 5. Post JLH pics to forget and move forward.

Can we move on to step 5 now?

 

[Cusefan95]

But it becomes a self-fulfilling exercise. Once it blows up on social media (regardless of how truthful it is, and especially since he responded via social media), doesn't it become a story to be reported on? And discussed on an internet board devoted to the only reason we know the kid?.

People wonder how the Salem witch trials could have occurred in which random rumors sparked social chaos...anyone paying attention to social and mainstream media have their answers. In 2012 the gasoline is all over the place, we're just one lit match away from going down the same road.

 

[billsin01]

folks have no one to blame but themselves for the downfall of traditional media and media standards. I love that everyone comes here to gripe about it, but most listen to all the craptastic talk radio stuff, and watch/read all the ESPN stuff they claim to despise and -- most of all -- want to know what's going on as fast as humanly possible, even if it's just rumor.

So, as media consumers, what we want is instantaneous information and banter about what "is going" to happen as opposed to what did happen. We're more interested in arguing about whether Aaron Rodgers is better than Warren Moon than we are in learning anything of substance about Rodgers, his success, x's and o's -- it's too boring for people.

So, at the end of the day, traditional newspapers have no chance because they are slower and more involved and, with more overhead, they desperately need those advertising dollars. The best example is how so many newspapers have given up entirely or outsourced any sort of investigative reporting -- something that was truly unique and in many cases their calling cards. Why? Because it's too expensive, too slow developing and, frankly, people don't read series any more. They read 140-word tweets and then scream at each other on message boards and radio, etc.

It is a sad day, but we've no one to blame but ourselves.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

Regardless of whether the Post Standard did some research and got some answers, this story became news. The news cycle doesn't need "traditional" journalists to make news anymore. What Mike did was come in, ask the right people what happened, and write a story that illustrated at the very least that whatever happened was not a big deal. If he had fanned the flames with conjecture, I would definitely be on your side -- but he (the only one in this entire mess) did actual reporting and found it to be a non-story, so he posted as such. In my mind, that's what a journalist does.

Traditional journalists didn't use to make the news, they used to report on the news. That is part of the problem, Mike decided to report on this. What he was reporting on was internet banter. The idea that internet banter is now newsworthy is a relatively new concept and seems a step in the wrong direction from what traditional journalists used to do (as pointed out by zibby above).

 

[sandman525]

Does this mean that Mike Waters and the PS are now obligated to report every unsubstantiated rumor surrounding a Syracuse basketball player? The man dug around and found nothing concrete. I didn't see any major media outlets reporting on the Jay Wright rumor, and that nonstory died pretty quickly. Funny how the PS sits on the Bernie Fine story for years, but now reports on rumors circulating on twitter.

 

[billsin01]

Good post zibby, ...

Good post. I would add that the last thing people -- at least a lot of people -- are concerned with is legitimacy. Honestly, the line between rumor and truth is so blurred it's hard to even decipher what is legitimate. So people just enjoy whatever info is out there, pick a side and start ranting. What actually happened is often of far less concern.

 

[billsin01]

Traditional journalists didn't use to make the news, they used to report on the news. That is part of the problem, Mike decided to report on this. What he was reporting on was internet banter. The idea that internet banter is now newsworthy is a relatively new concept and seems a step in the wrong direction from what traditional journalists used to do (as pointed out by zibby above).

But who defines news? I mean, you could easily argue that if your job is to cover a team and that team has a once-in-a-decade type player and there is some rumor about that player and it takes on a life of it's own over the internet -- it has become news. So figuring out what, if anything, happened is important. But, since the kids teammates probably aren't commenting and the kid isn't returning your call and the traditional information sources are giving you no comment, you report that and continue to monitor it.

 

[billsin01]

Funny how the PS sits on the Bernie Fine story for years, but now reports on rumors circulating on twitter.

This is a good point -- but let's be clear about these two stories. The Fine story is one that no one was talking about on the Internet -- that I know of -- and would have, if it turned out to be false -- potentially ruined a guy's life.

MCW was the subject of a lot of Internet banter between fans of this program (read: readers of Mike Waters, by and large) and will be making millions in the NBA this time next year unless he murders someone. Plus, if there is a bit of fire at the base of the smoke then there's probably a suspension of some sort in order which, obviously, we'd all be interested in.

Listen, it's a very slippery slope to get into Internet rumors, but I don't really think it was crazy that the PS at least tried to look into it and report what they found.

 

[billsin01]

Traditional journalists didn't use to make the news, they used to report on the news.

I always hear this line and it's patently false. Investigative journalism has always been hotly debated but it is unquestionably "making" news. Obviously you hope in the end that it's not simply reporting innuendo as fact, but the media has always made news b/c, let's face it, it's not like we're falling all over ourselves to make sure everyone knows about any ethical, legal or moral misstep we're making.

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Traditional journalists didn't use to make the news, they used to report on the news. That is part of the problem, Mike decided to report on this. What he was reporting on was internet banter. The idea that internet banter is now newsworthy is a relatively new concept and seems a step in the wrong direction from what traditional journalists used to do (as pointed out by zibby above).

It stopped being Internet banter when local sports radio hosts started reporting on it while not doing any research. As for my use of "make news" that's exactly what traditional journalists did. They had the opportunity to gate keep what was news, and what wasn't news. A famous David Brinkley quote: "What's news? Whatever I say it is." That's simply not the case anymore. Traditional journalists are not the gatekeepers. Sometimes they have to do a story because the millions of people on the online public square are already talking about it.

 

[CusefanATL]

I want to say I'm shocked that the PS reported the rumors, but I'm not. It just epitomizes the sad state the mass media is in today. Mike Waters is old enough to remember when reporters didn't report rumors. I've been out of the game for almost nine years. Maybe the rules have changed. If so, it's really, really sad.

When I was working in Pennsylvania, there was a rumor that a prominent member of the Pittsburgh Steelers was arrested for soliciting a prostitute...a homosexual prostitute. Big story or something people wanted to believe about a player who wasn't very popular at the time? The Steelers wouldn't comment, the police wouldn't comment and the player's agent didn't even return phone calls. That's where it used to end. Nowadays, @Yinzer420 saying it on StillerFan.com is apparently good enough to go on the air with it.

I could go on and on. Remember the fire in Pompey that killed two Manlius firefighters? I was working in Syracuse at the time. A couple days after the fire some guy called and said fire investigators determined the fire was caused by a meth lab and the owner of the house had been arrested and charged with two counts of murder. It was 10:30 at night, but I called the Manlius FD, the Sheriff's department, the jail and I even called the town justice at his home and woke up he and his wife. No one would confirm it. Silly old me just left the info for the guys who worked during the day to follow up. I guess what I should have done is fire up the BREAKING NEWS sirens for the 11PM newscast.

Local mass media is at its absolute nadir right now. I can't even watch local TV news anymore. It's all garbage. I only read the paper for the sports page and the coupons. I don't feel like I'm missing a thing by not paying attention to it.

this wasn't an unsubstantiated rumor.

there was a picture along with confirmation from the player that 'something' happened. Waters sat on it for over 24 hrs.

That's what i call good journalism...

 

[A Clockwork Orange]

Does this mean that Mike Waters and the PS are now obligated to report every unsubstantiated rumor surrounding a Syracuse basketball player? The man dug around and found nothing concrete. I didn't see any major media outlets reporting on the Jay Wright rumor, and that nonstory died pretty quickly. Funny how the PS sits on the Bernie Fine story for years, but now reports on rumors circulating on twitter.

So if Mike hadn't written the quick blurb that essentially quashed the rumor, this story would continue to have legs. Is that the right way to go? Just don't pay attention to it? I think the problem here is our perception of the "reach" of the Internet. In less than 24 hours that picture posted on an anonymous twitter feed was already being talked about by local sports radio, and was trending upwards on the Internet. The story had "reach" at that point and needed to be looked into. Some people feel that this forum, and that little space in Twitter and Facebook are small scale.

Truth is, we're all broadcasters now -- what we say and what we post has the chance to reach millions, even if it is false (or not as true as was made out to be). In my mind, when there's that type of scope to a story, it is a reporter's duty to do some actual reporting and let everyone know "not true, I have the sources to back that up" or "there's something to this, and I have the sources to back that up." It sucks, but the crap in Pandora's Box has long been let out, and it is a journalists duty to follow up on these "rumors."

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

 

[Sgt Cuse]

This is a good point -- but let's be clear about these two stories. The Fine story is one that no one was talking about on the Internet -- that I know of -- and would have, if it turned out to be false -- potentially ruined a guy's life.

MCW was the subject of a lot of Internet banter between fans of this program (read: readers of Mike Waters, by and large) and will be making millions in the NBA this time next year unless he murders someone. Plus, if there is a bit of fire at the base of the smoke then there's probably a suspension of some sort in order which, obviously, we'd all be interested in.

Listen, it's a very slippery slope to get into Internet rumors, but I don't really think it was crazy that the PS at least tried to look into it and report what they found.

People were talking about the Fine story. And that stuff about the Coaches wifes was also internet fodder. Hopefully we can keep the thread count down on that so it doesn't get another story.

It used to be journalists didn't report rumors. They checked them out and if they found truth to them they then reported on it (as zibby alludes to with some of the stuff he covered). I consider internet banter to be rumors. So it disheartens me to see what used to be a somewhat respected paper giving internet banter coverage. The "We found no truth to the widespread rumor of" stuff is lazy journalism and should lower the respect given to the PS as a news source.

 

[DoctorBombay]

SU message board fans 5 steps during a potential crisis:

Step 1. As the news initially breaks, deny and make fun of the folks who report the accusations. Ummm, hello...it's an SU player...SU players do not do ANYTHING wrong."I know his mother's friend...he would NEVER do something like this"
Step 2. As more potential facts and stories come to light, start to playfully poke fun at the situation, like it's not a big deal at all. "Ha ha, pick me up some socks MCW!"
Step 3. As another day passes, bring up stories of even worse things that happened to players at other schools. "You know...remember when __________ beat up that ________ while he was matriculating at ____________ University?"
Step 4. Get angry at media and other message boarders for posting speculation, as no new significant news has yet to come out.
Step 5. Post JLH pics to forget and move forward.

Yes...because only SU message board fans do this during a potential crisis. Whoda thunk it?

 

['72 Orange]

Thank God we are on to stage #5!