The Failure of Journalism

[hockeymistress]

The last 24 hours have demonstrated a real lack of journalistic responsibility. It seems that in an effort to beat one another to "breaking news," outlets relied way too much on unnamed sources.

If one outlet picks up a report from "an unnamed source," then another, then the third one (moving up the food chain to TSN and ESPN), everyone starts reporting on it.

Who is checking on the original "solid source"? I won't point fingers at bloggers alone, but they present a great problem when they base their legitimacy on web site hits. How do they verify their "sources?" My guess is they probably don't. Any schmoe can email then and claim they are someone "in the know" and spew anything.

The problem is when traditional journalists stop checking *their* sources and it snowballs.

The last 24 hours should have been reported as straight fact: they got together to talk and nothing came of it.

All those "news stories" were just rumors based on hearsay.

Shame on TSN, ESPN and THN.

H.

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Love]

You have no idea who their sources were, what they said, and what exactly happened today. For all you know, the rumors floating around yesterday/earlier today could have been accurate. Things break down, things change, people that give out info don't know every side of the story.

 

[Silver]

EJ Hradek on ESPN was blaming this on Bettman, saying that he's made this an "even bigger mess."

It's suddenly Bettman's fault that "A deal in principle has been reached!" got screamed out from every sports news outlet yesterday? Only if Gary leaked it...otherwise it's a cover your ass move by the journalism community.

 

[HockeyNightInDaBurg]

The last 24 hours have demonstrated a real lack of journalistic responsibility. It seems that in an effort to beat one another to "breaking news," outlets relied way too much on unnamed sources.

If one outlet picks up a report from "an unnamed source," then another, then the third one (moving up the food chain to TSN and ESPN), everyone starts reporting on it.

Who is checking on the original "solid source"? I won't point fingers at bloggers alone, but they present a great problem when they base their legitimacy on web site hits. How do they verify their "sources?" My guess is they probably don't. Any schmoe can email then and claim they are someone "in the know" and spew anything.

The problem is when traditional journalists stop checking *their* sources and it snowballs.

The last 24 hours should have been reported as straight fact: they got together to talk and nothing came of it.

All those "news stories" were just rumors based on hearsay.

Shame on TSN, ESPN and THN.

H.

Well said...and right on target.

 

[DETROIT SKABOY]

i demand a recount!!

o wait thats right the media was wrong again maybe?

 

[WhalerBoy]

I think the Hockey News owes an apology to its readers, to hockey fans. At the very least, they HAVE TO give up the name of the player who said a deal was done and that the two sides would announce on Saturday. This is someone who lied and more than that, allowed THN to decieve for his own gain. I understand the need to protect sources, but this isnt war coverage, it wont endanger anyone's lives, and this person out and out lied. Dont tell me there was a deal on Friday night and then "things changed". Bull.

And with all due respect to those that visit this board, who I have always respected immensely, I think it is shameful for outlets like TSN and SportsNet to sit here now and tell me that it was a fools gold yesterday, that the sides were never that close and that yesterday was greatly exaggerated. THE ONLY REASON why I thought a deal was done was because of what I heard from people like Kypreos, McKenzie, Healy and Watters. All 4 of these guys sat there and played the game of it appears we have a deal, sources tell us a cap of 45million, BLA BLA BLA. I dont give a rats ass if sources are confidential, you cant just go on tv and stake your credibilty on people who then turn out to be nothing but liers. You have an obligation to us to ensure your sources are credible, what will you do now about all the people who lied right to your face last night? If it wasnt that many people, why the optimism at 6:30pm? Was it a case of other outlets reporting good news that seemed credible and in your hurry to compete, some less than credible reporting was done?

I would love to have the video of TSN at 6:30pm yesterday and then today's and compare the two. For shame, pitiful reporting.

McKenzie today "they cant make a deal because they have significant differences, they were never that close"

WHERE WERE THESE DIFFERENCES YESTERDAY? I know this sounds like sour grapes from a fan who wanted a season, but honestly, as much as the players and owners are to blame for this ridiculous mess, the media needs to take responsibilty for the way they reported this lockout and the way they constantly threw out garbage as "near fact". Not to mention the ridiculous way in which guys like Healy/Kypreos/Watters pushed their own agenda. Disgusting.

And for all of you who always knock bloggers like Eklund, Id love for you to tell me the difference between him and TSN/Sportsnet the last 24hrs. NOTHING. I have no respect for either anymore.

 

[futurcorerock]

How is this Bettman's fault. he went to the table, he wanted to deal.

I guess the renegade owners said no and guess what, Gary's hands were tied.

Journalism is still failing guys. i dont buy this "game over" talk for a minute. Wasnt this season cancelled wednesday? I mean, seriously.

 

[Gord Miller]

I'm sorry folks, but I will chime in here. The Hockey News has a reputation for good quality reporting, and as such TSN and other outlets reported what was on its' website. You'll note that TSN.ca also posted the denials of both the league and the PA as soon as they were made available.

I can tell you, it was the widespread belief in the hockey community that a deal was close...so much so that a player rep told me he was waiting for a call from the executive so he could inform his teammates. Despite all that, TSN maintained a healthy dose of skepticism.

Last night, Bob was being criticized for "sitting on the fence", for downplaying the possibility of a deal, and if you recall, the website carried a piece which suggested that "reports that a deal has been reached are being called premature or outright wrong."

There were fans who suggested on these boards that Bob and I were being "overly pessmistic" and "waiting for a press release." You folks are entitled to your opinion, but I think the story was handled properly and professionally.

Then again, I'm biased

 

[nyrmessier011]

The last 24 hours have demonstrated a real lack of journalistic responsibility. It seems that in an effort to beat one another to "breaking news," outlets relied way too much on unnamed sources.

If one outlet picks up a report from "an unnamed source," then another, then the third one (moving up the food chain to TSN and ESPN), everyone starts reporting on it.

Who is checking on the original "solid source"? I won't point fingers at bloggers alone, but they present a great problem when they base their legitimacy on web site hits. How do they verify their "sources?" My guess is they probably don't. Any schmoe can email then and claim they are someone "in the know" and spew anything.

The problem is when traditional journalists stop checking *their* sources and it snowballs.

The last 24 hours should have been reported as straight fact: they got together to talk and nothing came of it.

All those "news stories" were just rumors based on hearsay.

Shame on TSN, ESPN and THN.

H.

agreement. was fuming yesterday when espn actually said this, all night, "an nhl deal is done and the commissioner will un-cancel the season saturday"....that was literally the line they played all day...im an american and i have to live with espn's neglect of hockey on sportscenter and on espn.com...wish i had tsn here

 

[ResidentAlien*]

I'm sorry folks, but I will chime in here. The Hockey News has a reputation for good quality reporting, and as such TSN and other outlets reported what was on its' website. You'll note that TSN.ca also posted the denials of both the league and the PA as soon as they were made available.

I can tell you, it was the widespread belief in the hockey community that a deal was close...so much so that a player rep told me he was waiting for a call from the executive so he could inform his teammates. Despite all that, TSN maintained a healthy dose of skepticism.

Last night, Bob was being criticized for "sitting on the fence", for downplaying the possibility of a deal, and if you recall, the website carried a piece which suggested that "reports that a deal has been reached are being called premature or outright wrong."

There were fans who suggested on these boards that Bob and I were being "overly pessmistic" and "waiting for a press release." You folks are entitled to your opinion, but I think the story was handled properly and professionally.

Then again, I'm biased

You are absolutely right. Everyone is just so p!ssed they are blaming anyone and everyone.
One thing on thn's story tonight is this:
The latest deal offered to the players reportedly was worse than the league’s ‘final offer’ last Tuesday before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Wednesday leading some to believe Saturday’s get-together was Bettman’s way of trying to impress upon the players things will only get worse as time goes on without a new deal.
The most perplexing thing to me is, what are the players waiting for? The deal the y could have on Tuesday was better then this one today...tomorrow it will be worst then that, and next month??

Holy mother of pearl,,this aint lookin good

 

[Gord Miller]

For reference purposes, this is the story that was posted on TSN's website at 1030 pm Friday night:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115396

 

[ResidentAlien*]

For reference purposes, this is the story that was posted on TSN's website at 1030 pm Friday night:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115396

lol. no offense Mr. Miller but i am sure everyone here read it..twice!
It actually brought the mood down a tad if I recall
But thank you for your insight.

So how do you feel about this mess? Off the record..if you need to vent, we're here for ya.. *L*

 

[greatlakeshab]

"You are absolutely right. Everyone is just so p!ssed they are blaming anyone and everyone.
One thing on thn's story tonight is this:
The latest deal offered to the players reportedly was worse than the league’s ‘final offer’ last Tuesday before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Wednesday leading some to believe Saturday’s get-together was Bettman’s way of trying to impress upon the players things will only get worse as time goes on without a new deal.
The most perplexing thing to me is, what are the players waiting for? The deal the y could have on Tuesday was better then this one today...tomorrow it will be worst then that, and next month??

Holy mother of pearl,,this aint lookin good"

If this is true that Bettman offered a worse deal after saying he really wanted to make a deal the NHL owners are definitely FUBAR when they try to go in front of the NLRB next season. In fact it now looks like they were never trying to negotiate in the first place. Bettman just handed Goodenow the upper hand when he had control.

 

[Gord Miller]

As soon as I get the word that I'm not going back in tonight, I'm going upstairs to my nice deep tub.

And filling it with whisky.

 

[ResidentAlien*]

"You are absolutely right. Everyone is just so p!ssed they are blaming anyone and everyone.
One thing on thn's story tonight is this:
The latest deal offered to the players reportedly was worse than the league’s ‘final offer’ last Tuesday before NHL commissioner Gary Bettman cancelled the season Wednesday leading some to believe Saturday’s get-together was Bettman’s way of trying to impress upon the players things will only get worse as time goes on without a new deal.
The most perplexing thing to me is, what are the players waiting for? The deal the y could have on Tuesday was better then this one today...tomorrow it will be worst then that, and next month??

Holy mother of pearl,,this aint lookin good"

If this is true that Bettman offered a worse deal after saying he really wanted to make a deal the NHL owners are definitely FUBAR when they try to go in front of the NLRB next season. In fact it now looks like they were never trying to negotiate in the first place. Bettman just handed Goodenow the upper hand when he had control.

I would have to think that the fact alone he said something to the effect of " we are speaking the same langauge now.."( at the dooms day conference) would pose a problem also.

 

[ResidentAlien*]

As soon as I get the word that I'm not going back in tonight, I'm going upstairs to my nice deep tub.

And filling it with whisky.

I hear ya -
Cheers

 

[bcrt2000]

I thought maybe all of the smoke from Wednesday night up to Friday night was the true driving force behind the negotiations because it got people talking, but I guess we were fools for believing that these two sides would be able to save the stanley cup for the love of the game... if the owners were a bit creative, and perhaps the top 40-45 had a high tax which would go towards revenue sharing we'd probably have a deal but the top owners don't seem to want to give to the bottom owners, and the bottom owners don't want to go above $40 without revenue sharing.. I think today all of a sudden it went from being solely a PA issue to being an issue on both sides

when its all said and done I think what Burkie said was right, if talks don't resume tomorrow, we are not seeing hockey for a very long time, and the face of the NHL could be changed forever by the time we come back.. for all we know we might be looking at the XFL version of the NHL when it comes back

 

[Leaf Army]

There was no failure of journalism.

The hockey community as a whole was optimistic last night. The media outlets were reporting based on that optimism.

We now know that optimism was pointless, but the media was just reporting the mood at the time. They were justified in doing that.

 

[Kessick]

On McCowan's show yesterday afternoon, there was a discussion about how journalists had failed. Even the journalists agree, there was a lack of integrity when it came to "the big scoop."

As for TSN last night, I thought Healy was fairly realistic. I may completely disagree with the man and his pro-union stance, but he was one of those in the media that were cautiously optimistic. If anyone was flying off the radar of accurate news, it was Bill Watters on Sportsnet. I bet his face is red today.

 

[WhalerBoy]

For reference purposes, this is the story that was posted on TSN's website at 1030 pm Friday night:

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?id=115396

Again, I say all this with a GREAT deal of respect and admiration for all of you for doing a tough job, but I wasnt mad at you guys when the season was cancelled on Wednesday, so this isnt about the cancellation. TSN reported that scenario as it broke down, very accurately, when others kept saying a deal will happen last minute. BUT, last night, my hopes, and many others, were raised by the "sources" you all kept alluding to, both at 6:30 and to some degree at 11pm. I can understand the right to privacy, but this ride we got taken on in the last 24 hours is not right.

Bob McKenzie clearly stated that many sources from "agents and players" were telling him its a done deal. But ownership/management was not. So why not tell us who it was that was telling him a deal was done, and WHY they were lying so blatantly. Hell, I would take just hearing Bob say this is the last time he listens to those snakes.

Also, what about the Goodenow situation? How come last night he was on his way out the door......and today he is as per Gartner "is, was and always will be leader".

I know its easy to dismiss this as the whining of an upset fan, but it is not. TSN has played this lockout nearly as badly as the NHL and NHLPA. But Im not sure what is worse, that you played into the hands of those trying to use the media as a tool, or that you spread rumours around and never backed them up, or that you had on as "analysts" some of the most biased reporting of all time. You had a puppet on the stage who just kept shrieking as one-sidedly as Pat Buchanan talking about abortion. Then, Im guessing to counter that one-sided hot air balloon you had on Burke to spew his mostly one sided viewpoint and you had Bob McKenzie who was the only voice of reason, until yesterday. That was the final straw that broke the camel's back. Im sorry, but this is a black mark for you guys. The Healy thing was bad enough, Burke had his moments of ridiculous bias and now the last 24hours you got deceived or tricked as reporters. Whats left? Mud wrestling between Burke and Healy to decide the "TSN lockout".

If your going to base reports on rumours and hearsay, then at least be more accountable than the local neighborhood tabloid and come clean afterwards. This to me was nothing more than selling something with shock value and style over substance. It was like the National Enquirer of hockey reporting.

again, i apologize if this is too severe, Im probably to some degree frustrated at it all, but I truly believe you guys dropped the ball on this one, BIG TIME.

 

[Gord Miller]

Bob never said it was a done deal. Quite the opposite in fact, he said that while some people were saying it was a done deal, his information indicated that it clearly was not.

As for what Brian Burke and Glenn Healy say, it is important to make the distinction between "news" and "opinion", both of which are valuable.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to disagree. Which I do.

 

[WhalerBoy]

Bob never said it was a done deal. Quite the opposite in fact, he said that while some people were saying it was a done deal, his information indicated that it clearly was not..

Thank you for your reply. I did not say that Bob himself said it was a done deal. What I said was that he did say "many players and player-agents are telling me a deal is done". I understand you want to report what you hear, but to me, its wrong when its out and out lies and then they aren't held accountable later.

anyway, we disagree on how all this should be done, and Im certainly not anyone with any power. Im just a fan, who much like when the NHL feels like playing, will have no choice but to watch TSN for my hockey analysis fix.

Thanks. And thanks for your work, Im sure you guys must be as frustrated as we are.

 

[KOVALEV10*]

Bob never said it was a done deal. Quite the opposite in fact, he said that while some people were saying it was a done deal, his information indicated that it clearly was not.

As for what Brian Burke and Glenn Healy say, it is important to make the distinction between "news" and "opinion", both of which are valuable.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I am entitled to disagree. Which I do.

Hey Mr. Miller... do you think there's still a 0.01 percent chance that the season might be saved?

 

[Gord Miller]

At timesI get frustrated, but it goes with the territory...good chatting with you guys tonight. I just got the word, and that big deep tub is calling.

 

[WhalerBoy]

At timesI get frustrated, but it goes with the territory...good chatting with you guys tonight. I just got the word, and that big deep tub is calling.

enjoy.

but did I hear B.Burke say there is still a chance???? oh no....keep kicking the horse, it isnt really dead!!!!!!

And I just heard that backchannels are back on again. I hear John Ogrodnick and Danny Gare are working behind the scenes. I think Mirko Frycer and Peter Ihnacak may be involved as well, to make sure European players feel represented. Nice to see the superstars giving back to the league to help end the lockout!!!!!