ESPN the Mag does Tony Washington story, Jenna Laine speaks

C'mon dude. Guy projected as a fairly high draft pick. Didn't get drafted because he had sex with his sister. You wonder why that's a story?

If you read the ESPN piece, the player is welcoming publicity, hoping somebody will read the whole saga and have a change of heart about giving him a shot.

 

I'm still not sure why a reporter should hold back a story just because it might negatively affect the subject of the story.

I'm not suggesting you look to destroy people or their careers, but if you have a good story, you run with it.

If you remember, Wally Backman was hired as the manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks on November 1st, 2004. The next day, Jack Curry in the New York Times reported on his past (and somewhat current) legal & financial troubles.

Here's Curry's article: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/02/sports/baseball/02backman.html?ex=1257051600&en=7597bcb505b7b4aa&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

As these two article point out, Backman was fired days later as a result of Curry's article:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1110674/2/index.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/06/sports/baseball/06backman.html

Backman hasn't sniffed a major league job since. He's managed in independent leagues and is now managing the Mets short season A-ball team in Brooklyn.

Should Curry have reported that? Did it need to be written?

Do we blame Curry for Backman's career trajectory since that have cost him millions of dollars?

 

If a big name reporter had written this story first, no one would have questioned its newsworthiness.

The naming of the sister? Sure, that might have been questioned.

I think it's pretty tough to hammer a young freelance journalist who'd trying to make a name for herself for breaking a story that might have made a name for herself.

 

I agree. Quibble over whether a few things could have been done differently,sure, but anybody who doesn't think this is "a story" has been "a sportswriter" in the worst sense of the word, way too long.

 

Had Washington been drafted, the news would have followed. If not, reporters aren't doing their jobs, or they're too concerned with making friends and not committed to reporting the truth.

Every scout I talked to prior to the story coming out knew about it, many of them a YEAR in advance. They were aware of this situation and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to conjure up what sort of "bad pub" this would bring to a football club. Ben Roethlisberger has already caused the Steelers and the NFL enough embarrassment. Unfortunately Roethlisberger's situation was just coming to light as this story came out. No one has mentioned that though?

And to say that I somehow prevented Allison and ESPN from writing their piece is completely bogus. We have a free press, and the two stories are very different from one another. Granted I can't speak for them, but at the time when I talked to Washington's coaches and his agent, from what I was told, they had not spoken to other reporters. If I stand to be corrected on that, by all means, please let me know. I don't want to put false information out there.

I apologized for the 'sister' thing already. As much as my editors and I tried to handle this situation respectfully, it is clear that in your eyes, we came up short. I understand some of you may also question whether in fact, I allowed Mr. Washington to keep his dignity in this situation. It was something, that as a Christian, I prayed about. I was beyond distraught over the possibility of causing that family unnecessary harm.

I was very moved when he reached out to me, told me he respected me and respected that I had a job to do, and thanked me for continuing to cover him in his Arena career.

http://www.sportsfanlive.com/sflreports/entry/shunned_by_nfl_lineman_tony

To me that’s enough. If you want to keep kicking me, okay. I can deal. My only obligation was to report the truth – his truth, and I’m sorry I didn’t measure up to your expectations or standards of what a good reporter should be.

 

Honestly, Jenna, I'm not that concerned with him. He wants to be a pro athlete, so his life is going to be fair game for the public.

Exposing the sister, however, is very troubling. You did come up short on that one.

 

She's absolutely right.

If all of the scouts & GMs were aware of this story -- and it appears they were -- then his draft status was likely unchanged by the article.

But, if there had been no article, folks would wonder why he wasn't drafted. They'd ask questions, and eventually the story would have come out.

So, Jenna deserves credit for getting the story out first.

And you can continue to beat her up about naming the sister, but she's already responded to that a number of times.

And if a bigger name had broken this story, you'd all be lauding him/her instead of attacking.

 

Jenna - I give you a lot of credit for throwing yourself to the SJ wolves. You have provided good insight on a fascinating but heart breaking story.

You may have mentioned somewhere so I apologize in advance if you have but how did you come upon the story? Did someone come to you with it?

 

So nice to have you here to read our minds and explain our motivations. Too bad you do it so badly. I don't give a fuck who wrote it. I still have the same issue with the naming of the sister.

 

My gosh do you love to argue.

Why don't you take a deep breath and go back and read what I wrote.

I said that you could criticize her for naming the sister. I said that she's already addressed that. I'm not sure why anyone feels the need to continue to hammer her for it.

I said that if a bigger name had written the story, that the idea that the story should not have been written would not be an issue.

If the bigger name had also chosen to name the sister (and maybe/probably they wouldn't have), then that writer could have also been criticized for that part of the story.

But I don't think he/she would be asked to defend how it affected Washington's draft status.

Is that clear enough for you?

 

That isn't what you wrote. You wrote that she was being attacked because she wasn't a bigger name. You are assuming that anybody who has an issue with the story feels that way simply because she isn't a big name. And that is very subjective guesswork on your part at best.

And yes, I do love to argue.

 

Now you're reading my mind.

If I wasn't clear, I'm sorry. I thought I was.

The sister issue is fair game. It's just been addressed.

My previous statement, I think, properly reflects my views.