Dan Campbell / Marlowe Alter

This is slightly old news, but no one posted on it. In another thread, I've have griped about newspaper editorial decisions, and their tendencies to report factually accurate but grossly misleading sensational news -- which has turned off untold numbers of former customers.

Here's another ironic example:
Sports Reporter Tries to Expose NFL Coach as Homophobe, Ends Up Exposing Himself
Reporter who criticized Detroit Lions coach's anti-gay past apologizes for homophobic tweets
Reporter who tried to cancel NFL coaching candidate for anti-gay remark in college is outed for his own racist, homophobic tweets

Right before Dan Campbell was hired to be Lions coach, Detroit Free Press sports writer Marlowe Alter published an article on a statement Campbell made 30 years ago, saying that he liked going to a college where boys like girls and girls like boys. Right before the decision to hire Campbell, Alter tried to paint a picture of a homophobe. (Campbell had apologized for his comments long ago, and had moved onto a long and fruitful playing and coaching career which no incidents of any kind of bigotry.)

Ironically, it was exposed that Alter himself made far more homophobic and racist comments in his own Twitter history, and much more recently.

My question is: What is the possible purpose of such an article? As I said earlier, it is factually accurate, but does it portray the accuracy of the situation? Not even close. And now that Campbell is hired, I can't imagine this is going to help the relationship between the organization and the paper.

This is another example of newspapers' inability (or unwillingness) to provide fair and accurate news coverage. Which is, whether you want to admit it or not, ONE OF the major contributors to the rapid death of the industry.

 

Whether Campbell had apologized before or not, his history is still relevant and newsworthy if he's going to be an NFL head coach. If the Lions or the NFL is your beat, looking into the background of candidates for newsworthy information is your job. If you discover something worthy of a story, whether it's positive or negative, it is a story.

Campbell making homophobic remarks is a story. So is his subsequent apology. Both are in the story.

Now, could the story be better? Absolutely. There should be more depth and context to it. Or if you start with that level of depth, there should be a subsequent follow-up with folks with the Lions, Texas A&M, the NFL, and Campbell himself.

But if you don't think this is newsworthy, I question your news judgement.

 

Using a tweet from @DCWaz as indicative of anything is hilarious.