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Ethics: Spirit of the Game

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Highway 101, May 25, 2008.

  1. Chi City 81

    Chi City 81 Guest

     
  2. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    Yes. Michelle Wie was DQ'd from an event a couple of years ago when a magazine writer notified an official of an improper drop she took.
     
  3. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    I forgot about that post, but we are restating here what the atricles say.


    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/18/AR2005101801148.html

    "Len Shapiro, a past president of the Golf Writers Association of America, can be reached at Badgerlen@hotmail.com."

    An interesting take, and the guy has a little "golf cred."
     
  4. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    Yes. And at the time, I knew instantly that Michael Bamberger had violated a tenet of our profession.
     
  5. sportschick

    sportschick Active Member

    Several of us did. There was no excuse for what he did. None whatsoever.
     
  6. trifectarich

    trifectarich Well-Known Member

    Michael's problem was that he said nothing when the incident occurred. Had he spoken up at the time, Michelle could have, within the rules, redropped, suffered no penalty at all and continued on her merry way. By waiting until the next day, however, the only choice rules officials had was to DQ her.
     
  7. captzulu

    captzulu Member

    Right, see something obviously wrong, don't bother doing something about it when it actually makes a difference. Just write about it in the next day's paper, when it's too late for the wrong to be corrected.

    Umm ... what's the point of journalism again? What's the point of informing the public about cheaters and wrongdoers if not to hold them accountable? How is that accomplished if you don't do anything until it's too late to hold them accountable? What can they do a day after a team won a game because it got an extra down?

    I can cite parallels about seeing crime take place and not taking any action and only passively reporting what happened, and someone will retort that it's apples and oranges. But it's not about if it's news or sports, life-threatening or not, etc. It's about our idea of what journalists' role should be: passive transcribers, recording events without having ANY impact on them (no different than a video camera or a tape recorder), or people who practice their craft for a specific goal (serving the public, holding rule-breakers accountable, etc.) and recognize that passive observation is not always the best way to achieve that goal. I think sometimes journalists get too wrapped up in the ACT of journalism and forget the POINT of journalism.

    There is a difference between being fair/objective and being completely passive. You running on the field in a football game to stop play is becoming part of the story. You telling the official in the booth that the other team is about to get an extra down isn't. Not to mention that it's the definition of hypocrisy to go ask the losing team afterward how it feels to get cheated out of a win when all it might've taken to prevent it was a simple word from you. But then again, I guess that's another discussion. Journalism isn't about stopping hypocrisy, it's about writing down what you see.
     
  8. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    I know you believe you've presented an air-tight case there, and you did present it well. It still does not hold water.

    You are changing what happens through your own actions in an event you're there to chronicle. If you want to change the event, turn over coverage of the event to someone else.

    Yes. Yes, it IS becoming part of the story. You cannot involve yourself in the administration of the event. If that's getting too wrapped up in the ACT of journalism ... well, then, getting wrapped up in the ACT of journalism was how I was raised, and apparently most of the rest of us.
     
  9. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    I struggled with this for a long time, even took a hiatus from the biz because I was itching to DO something to change the world instead of chronicling other people doing it. (Quickly found out that the cliche "you can't change the world, you can only change yourself" is closer to the truth.)

    The POINT of journalism is the means, not the end. It's the act itself, just like most creative crafts (and arts) are about the actual crafting, not the resulting product, which ultimately takes care of itself. We are there to shed the light, not to invent the light.

    If you think the point of journalism is to, when necessary, take an active role in changing the events you are charged to report on ... you are missing the point. And if that motivation is so strong in you, and I applaud you if it is, you'd be better served in a line of work that allows you to DO something about it. Because journalism is something different.
     
  10. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    Better put. (Big stunner there.)
     
  11. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    But once the game has ended or the next day, there is nothing wrong with being investigative and trying to uncover facts.
     
  12. buckweaver

    buckweaver Active Member

    Nobody's disputing that.

    And nobody's disputing that a reporter should inquire about any rules violations after the fact. If a golfer improved his lie, by all means report it and ask him about it after his round. Ask a rules official for comment, too. Ask the people involved. But don't, you yourself, get involved in the story. That's a no-no.

    It's your job to report it, to investigate it, to uncover it, write about it ... not to actively be a part of it.
     
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