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ESPN's questionable ethics, or no?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by GBNF, Dec 15, 2009.

  1. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Once you confirm the story for yourself, you don't HAVE to leave the SI.com mention in there, but it's not uncommon to see outlets throw the "This story was first reported by SI.com." sentence in there somewhere.
     
  2. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Halladay + Mariners = 1,558 hits on Google news in the past day.

    Halladay + Mariners + Heyman = 44 hits on Google news in the past day.

    Halladay + Mariners + si.com= 196 hits on Google news in the past day.

    Halladay + Mariners + "sports illustrated" = 50 hits on Google news in the past day.
     
  3. sportsed

    sportsed Member

    In today's world of Internet immediacy, the notion of being "first" to report anything is fleeting. The reality is that all it takes to be a step behind is for the competition to report the next layer of fact.

    For example: News Outlet 1 reports that Team A and Team B are trying to hash out a blockbuster trade with Player A going to Team B and Player B going to Team A. ... News Outlet 2 reports that multiple sources confirm that said blockbuster trade has been agreed to by both teams. ... News Outlet 3 reports that Player A is happy/upset about being traded, Player B wants a long-term deal. ... News Outlet 4 reports that Player C on Team A is excited about the road being cleared for him to start full-time next season. ... And then News Outlet 4 reports that ..., well, you get the point.

    See how quickly the value of that initial scoop is diminished? And the scenario above can unfold in a matter of hours, if not minutes.
     
  4. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    Ken Rosenthal was first.
     
  5. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    See ESPN: NBA ass-kissing for reference. (Rick Reilly's very good at it.)
     
  6. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    See ESPN: No NHL news besides game highlights because the league has a contract with VS.
     
  7. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member


    ESPN has learned that the sky is blue.
     
  8. Den1983

    Den1983 Active Member

    I see no problem with what they did. They credited Heyman and then confirmed it themselves.
     
  9. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Lot of truth in this. But you're not accounting for the Blog Outlets and the No-News Outlets that simply pass along the info gathered by someone else. Most media these days doesn't generate its own scoops or even stories. Them that don't ought to be citing the sources that did up to that point, don't you think?
     
  10. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    The only time ESPN credits someone else with breaking a story is when they doubt the validity of the story (Saban to Alabama), the story is so big and they can't get anywhere with it (Favre trade) or because they're trying to distance itself from it (any negative NBA story).

    The place has zero ethics.
     
  11. steveu

    steveu Well-Known Member

    What you said. Very good point. And why is ESPN suddenly touting the World Cup like it's an Olympic-sized event? Oh, wait...
     
  12. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The New York Times will often mention that a story was first reported in another publication -- including their New York rivals.
     
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