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ESPN.com writer toasted for block-headed mistakes

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SockPuppet, Jun 25, 2008.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    A young sportswriter should be able to find better things to opine about than an ESPN.com writer making the type of brain-fart errors that we all have and will continue to make.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Agreed, but the higher profile you get the more delight people get in pointing out any mistake you make.
     
  3. Playing devil's advocate here: if sports writers are encouraged to opine about a kicker missing a kick the writer could never make, or a linebacker missing a tackle the writer never make, why should we expect writers not to opine about a high-profile mistake they probably wouldn't have made in a column.

    Shouldn't we hold our own feet to the fire? Maybe we'd take more time to check our copy before we publish it. Everyone's going to make mistakes, but you're going to make fewer if you know you're going to get skewered for it.

    And it seems a bit hypocritcal for reporters who are paid to second-guess everything not to be second-guessed themselves.

    Like I said, devil's advocate.
     
  4. beardpuller

    beardpuller Active Member

    Write: I would reiterate that when you don't know the meanings of the words you're using to point out the mistake, you're not a very credible second-guesser. (Not you, literally, I'm talking about the blogger.) And my other point was that this isn't a kicker missing a kick or a linebacker missing a tackle -- this is a kicker not getting the kickoff quite as deep as he wanted, or a linebacker who was a little slow reacting to the play action, on a play that didn't change the outcome of the game. It's fly specks in the pepper.
     
  5. SportsDude

    SportsDude Active Member

    You think ESPN would understand that. I know it was a blog, but maybe they should try to hire as many editors as they do writers.
     
  6. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    And I suspect it wouldn't take that much. Merely the addition of a couple of experienced hands with fresh eyes could make a considerable difference.

    In relation to this, am curious: How much of a true middle class is there, working out of Bristol? You have the stars, and you have the drones. What percentage
    of full-timers at Bristol take home, say, anywhere from $45-$80K, a year?
     
  7. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    I really think that type of error just shows carelessness by a reporter and even an editor. What happened to fact-checking? In college every fact had to be fact-checked by three different people. And that was at a college paper. Now, obviously the writer knows enough about football to at least know the situation about Jones, and sort of with Duckett, but a quick google search would help clear up the facts. It would take like five seconds. I'm sure many of us have made mistakes like this. But these are the types of mistakes that people at ESPN shouldn't make. You don't get to ESPN by making mistakes like this.

    Lastly, Fire Millen.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Seriously, you think even newspapers -- let alone websites -- have even one person besides the writer fact checking information in stories, let alone three?

    You have editors who might throw up a red flag or check something that doesn't seem right but there is not time to check every fact.
     
  9. Sure. Jamele's Nazi comments slipping through the editors is more of Norwood-ian proportions.

    Still, I just think journalists should hold themselves to the same standard they hold everyone else. So many young writers nowadays don't even blink when you tell them they screwed up, and while "everyone makes mistakes" is true, if you're telling yourself that everyday then you have a problem.

    And when you work for a national publication, expect to be taken to the woodshed when you f up. It's part of the territory.
     
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