The Failure of Journalism

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Hasbro

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To be fair, the reports last night had all the ear marks of an official leak. You know the NHL and the PA put the leak out to tell people a deal was coming, but couldn't go on record.

It came through ESPN and THN it's not like it was Brooks and Stachan.
 

xtra

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If you read this Mr. Miller maybe you could do alot of us fans a favor and ask one simple question to the Union which could solve this lockout real fast.

Why do they want linkage (if they were so opposed to it earlier) where they take no risks (goes up if revenues go up. stays still if revenues go down) if they are saying they want to be partners with the league?
 

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I was of the mind that canceling the season and the league got a public beatdown after flying under the radar, I was convinced the reality check would work like public outrage over baseball's labor situation making the sides deal. No such luck.
 

WhalerBoy

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Hasbro said:
I was of the mind that canceling the season and the league got a public beatdown after flying under the radar, I was convinced the reality check would work like public outrage over baseball's labor situation making the sides deal. No such luck.

I was thinking the same thing. But if I remember correctly, the last baseball problem was in '02, and that was the first summer of baseball, America's pastime, after 9-11. They just couldn't push a work stoppage either way.

Im thinking the two sides of the hockey agreement are oblivious to everything. If there was a World War, they would still be arguing over every small detail. Greed baby, pure and simple greed.
 

hockeymistress

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Hasbro said:
To be fair, the reports last night had all the ear marks of an official leak. You know the NHL and the PA put the leak out to tell people a deal was coming, but couldn't go on record.

It came through ESPN and THN it's not like it was Brooks and Stachan.


I think we would all like to know who that anonymous, high ranking player or agent (I can't remember who THN cited, but they indicated he was someone high enough up to know what was going on) was insisting this was a done deal. That quote is what started the spiral. Who was the person to feed THN such inaccurate information?

Someone probably can dig up the quote again and how THN cited it. It wasn't just "any source", it was presented as someone REALLY in the loop.

H.
 

Jarqui

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A poster did speculate about how objective THN was since they've had to cut issues in half and appear to be having a tough go of it. A story like this could help an NHL season come about which wouldn't hurt them.

I do feel that there was more to the media participation than just reporting how "we" felt. The media were feeding most of us the info that improved our moods.

The way things unfolded, it would not surprise me one day to find out "someone was feeding someone" to get some momentum going on this deal or set the NHL or NHLPA up through the media.

A journalist's first duty is to report the truth. It seems too darn easy for them these days to merely rely upon an "unamed source" - particularly when it misleads one away from the truth. Too often it winds up as BS. The overall quality of journalism has slipped in sports because of stuff like this in my opinion. It has migrated closer towards the tabloids. They used to have a little bit more class.
 

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hockeymistress said:
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.

Two big points must be made:
1. It's a bit disingenuous to put all the blame on the media when our insatiable appetite fuels these things.
If we weren't so desperate for news at every second of every day, the media wouldn't stretch the rules to give it to us. That's how a clown like Eklund got big. Now the newsmedia is competing with rumor mongers on talk radio and even worse, blogs.
Granted, this doesn't excuse the media for their failings. I just think it needs to be pointed out that it is the consumer that fuels the feeding frenzy.

2. Given the way the media covered the lead up to the Iraq war, repeating falsehood after falsehood, with no apparent will to check facts, even when they flew in the face of common sense.
Given how many lives were lost and the media's culpability in such a fiasco, it's pretty tough to get overly worked up by the media's handling of the lockout fiasco, as frustrating as it is/was.
 

tmangos

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hockeymistress said:
I think we would all like to know who that anonymous, high ranking player or agent (I can't remember who THN cited, but they indicated he was someone high enough up to know what was going on) was insisting this was a done deal. That quote is what started the spiral. Who was the person to feed THN such inaccurate information?

Someone probably can dig up the quote again and how THN cited it. It wasn't just "any source", it was presented as someone REALLY in the loop.

H.
"someone high enough up to know what was going on", "not just any source", "someone REALLY in the loop" ...
Hey, it's obvious! That describes a certain blogger we all know!!
 

tmangos

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Newsguyone said:
1. It's a bit disingenuous to put all the blame on the media when our insatiable appetite fuels these things.
True. But when it came out the way it did, that someone "in the know" said it was all done (see HockeyMistress' posts for more). And then quotes from players in Europe saying it was done (backed up by links). And the topper for me was the scheduled press conference & the story of borrowing CBC's satellite truck.
Whether you had an insatiable appettite or a small one, the buffet table was fully set out - how can you help but engorge??
 

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Reporters & Journalists Silenced

What a world of difference 24 hours makes. Media coverage of the NHL CBA negotiations were at a peak yesterday with rampid speculation and rumors that a deal had been struck. Unfortunately, things didn't transpire as reported, bringing to question the very nature in which stories are validated. In a nutshell, media coverage suffered from a lack of credibility and integrity.

It seems to me that reporting something as fact is no longer the priority. Instead, the priority is on making conclusions from supposedly "reliable" sources so the story can be released first. The people who are left to suffer, as a result, are the fans who have been closely monitoring these negotiations. There's no question that fan interest and desire for a conclusion in this saga helped fuel the circus that we witnessed yesterday. However, as journalists, integrity and competence should have been foremost on their minds.

Fast forward 24 hours and it's no wonder why these very same journalists have been quieted. Perhaps it's a combination of embarrassment, frustration, shock or all of the above. Ironically, it was a reporter early Saturday afternoon on the Fan590 from the Hockey News, that mentioned the importance of having sources confirmed in an effort to maintain the credibility and integrity of journalism in sports. It's unfortunate one of his very own colleagues did not follow those words of wisdom and reported that a deal had been made between the NHL and NHLPA on Saturday afternoon.

We must acknowledge that Hockey journalists are in a unique position. They are responsible for making unbias accounts of events that take place despite being fans of the game themselves. Human nature gets the best of all us at some point or another. However, I believe its in moments like the past 24 hours where emotions are at their extreme where great journalists are separated from the "be-first" journalists. To my surprise, I couldn't find a great journalist in sight.

So what are we to take from the series of events that have led us to virtual silence in the hockey world? I would suggest that journalists and reporters alike should go back to the basics. Isn't it telling that the same reporters who have criticized the NHL and NHLPA for the level of negotiations or, lack thereof, are the same reporters who have been silenced by their own lack of judgment? Perhaps the resulting silence is a fitting end to a week where hockey fans have suffered and endured one of the most emotional periods in NHL history. The shame in all of this is that the NHL, NHLPA, and now the media, have forgotten what makes hockey so great, it's fans!

PJStyles
http://hockeyinsight.blogspot.com (Previous Articles On My Blog)
 

Lady Rhian

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hockeymistress said:
I think we would all like to know who that anonymous, high ranking player or agent (I can't remember who THN cited, but they indicated he was someone high enough up to know what was going on) was insisting this was a done deal. That quote is what started the spiral. Who was the person to feed THN such inaccurate information?

Someone probably can dig up the quote again and how THN cited it. It wasn't just "any source", it was presented as someone REALLY in the loop.

H.

Yeah, I'd like to know, too. Whoever did this, ought to be ashamed of themselves, for telling a tall tale like this. Whatever their motivation was, all it did was kick the fans in the teeth again. :madfire:
 
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