1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Do you report "rumors say?"

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by DemoChristian, Apr 24, 2008.

  1. Yes, but it's different to try to confirm or dispell a rumor than to simply report the rumor.
    That's what I'm asking about, and I've seen this done a few times in a metro in the past few months and saw another example in a smaller paper today.
     
  2. You don't report rumors. You investigate them, find out if they are true.. Then (maybe) write a story.
    A rumor is not a story. It could be lead - albeit a false one - but it should never be a story.
    Most rumors have a granule of truth, but are often spun out of control. It's like playing phone operator in first grade (the game where everyone sits in a circle and the teacher whispers something in the first student's ear. They whisper it to the next person, they whisper it to the next person and so on). At the end, the original phrase is usually so bent and twisted it seldom ever resembles the original phrase. ...
    I've had lot of people tell me rumors are going around about this and that. If it could be true, I'll talk either the person involved in the rumor or someone who should have first-hand knowledge about the rumor to see if it merits further investigation.

    Part of being reporter is checking things out to see if they are true.

    As has already been posted... do NOT pass them along!
     
  3. EE94

    EE94 Guest

    http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0522/1385446.html
     
  4. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    I agree with everyone here that rumors, if they are dealt with at all, should be thoroughly investigated and either confirmed or disspelled.

    That view, shared by so many of us, still doesn't stop some bosses in our business from hearing the latest rumor on sports talk radio on his drive home from work and picking up the phone to tell the beat writer, "We need something on this!"

    Best approach I've heard to dealing with this: Sit down with the boss, when no pressing rumor is in play, to ask if the beat writer is expected to chase every last freaking rumor and report/comment/blog on it. If answer is no, we trust our beat writers to know what to chase and what not to chase, that is swell. If the answer is yes, heaven help the beat writer.
     
  5. zebracoy

    zebracoy Guest

    Right. And I'm saying don't pass the rumor on - investigate its validity. That's what a good reporter would do.

    Seems rather simple to me.
     
  6. Dale Cooper

    Dale Cooper Member


    Shhhh ... if we let this get too loud, it might sound like Mike Gundy wasn't all wrong.
     
  7. For the record, Gundy was wrong because those "rumors" were actually unnamed sources within Oklahoma State's program. That much I know. Gundy might even be one of them.

    I seem be to in the vast majority here on not reporting rumors. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Apparently some others I've been reading are.
     
  8. Moland Spring

    Moland Spring Member

    This is pretty much a textbook example of reporting rumors. In this blog (or whatever it is), the writer also comes off like a supreme fan boy telling everyone why Tom Izzo is doing all the right things by not being definitive. Ugh.

    http://www.mlive.com/spartans/index.ssf/2008/04/the_izzo_rumor_mill.html
     
  9. beardpuller

    beardpuller Active Member

    I work a beat where if I tried to "investigate" every rumor, I would never have time to eat, sleep, or bloviate on this board.
    Some rumors are just ridiculous, and I hope they die a natural death.
    Some I make calls on, and end up writing something along the lines of "though apparently some fans think Team X ought to do such and such, sources close to the situation indicate there is little chance of that happening, for salary cap reasons, or whatever."
    My rule of thumb used to be that I never wrote a word about something unless I thought there was a real chance of it happening, no matter how much chatter there was about it. I threw away that rule a while ago. We ARE in a different age regarding this stuff than we were 20 years ago. I don't think we can just shake our heads at the fans and go "tut-tut, WE'LL tell you when to get excited about a potential trade."
    That doesn't mean we gleefully join the poo-flinging throng and start splattering the walls with both hands ... but it does mean when we know our fans/readers are excited about something, we try to get them honest answers.
     
  10. armageddon

    armageddon Active Member

    Joe:

    I'll share this story from a few years ago...

    I had reported HS stud had given a commitment to State U. No big deal, just a few graphs with the essentials.

    One of my bosses gets an email from a fan with a cute nickname (no legal name included) noting my reporting was full of shit.

    I, in turn, get a call from this editor asking me about the contradiction and suggesting I clear up the issue.

    I repeat to my boss that I stand by the reporting of the commitment and there is nothing to clear up.

    He asks: Well why is "State U fan" telling us you're wrong?

    At this point I count to 10 and calmly say: Look, I don't know who this person is. Why would you give credence to this and not believe what I'm telling you? I know the kid gave a commitment and plans to sign.

    In the end, our reporting was accurate but the editor was more willing to believe an anonymous emailer than the beat person.

    Pissed me off.

    Of course, when the kid did sign I never heard a peep from the editor or the idiot who sent the email.
     
  11. spinning27

    spinning27 New Member

    That blog was absolutely gross.

    The point he's missing, however, is that the Izzo thing wasn't a rumor. In the Yahoo story, Wetzel and Woj were quoting sources that Izzo was being talked about by the Bulls. That's not a rumor, that's a legit story. Izzo's response was sufficiently vague to further the story. Sorry, but Izzo talked himself into that one.

    I am with the above poster, by the way. If I had to investigate every rumor on my beat, I wouldn't have time for anything else. If you really cover your beat well, you should have a feel for what's what and what's worth investigating. I would not address "a rumor" in print if I didn't feel it had a legitimate chance of happening. There is a fine line between rumor and informed speculation, however. It's a tricky business.
     
  12. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page