Identifying Jenn Sterger

I'd be curious what percentage of the public thinks the story is true. I'm guessing mid-90s.

 

I do believe that she never intended the story to be public. But since it is indeed now public, she can either exploit the publicity, or stay in the background. Either way, though, she's getting publicity whether she wants it or not.

So from a professional standpoint, she's being smart and saying nothing. I think that's what I said above.

 

I believe that too. But if she reported it to the Jets, it was bound to come out at some point.

Am I the only one who thinks the Jets (directly or indirectly) are responsible for Deadspin getting the photos and voice mail?

 

Actually, what you said above makes it sound as if she wants the publicity.

Does she?

 

I don't think that's what 21 is saying at all.

Whether it's true or not, Sterger looks like she wants no part of all of this. Either that or she's waiting for the right amount to shut up or sell her story.

 

Are we judges or journalists?

 

The journalistic ethics breach by DeLauerio is staggering, and probably deserves more discussion on a board for journalists.

I mean, she tells him something, as a friend, over a coffee or whatever. He defies her off-the-record plea, even publishes her private emails asking her not to publish. Why? Because it's just too big to sit on.

Staggering.

I hope somebody with a big audience writes a, "He's not one of us" column. Because the public needs to know that.

 

Well, obviously Daulerio plays by different rules than the rest of us. That's life in the Internet world. But when newspapers run stories about a story on his site, how can you say he's not one of us?

If you truly believe that AJ isn't one of us, you shouldn't link to his work or write a story based on something he wrote.

 

If Sterger opens her mouth, she will be demonized by the great majority of the Favre-adoring public. Already, she gets burned on a private story, and has been accused of being in it for the money. As for her clothes, she got hired for T&A by the Jets, she's hardly going to show up on game day in a three-piece suit.

This is no win for her. She is apparently attempting a legitimate media career, but it will be more difficult for her to cross over if she takes money in exchange for silence. What kind of producer hires a pretty woman who might cry harassment? Where is the fun in that?

And she was totally burned in the way this got out. She never consented to it's being published, which Deadspin so much as admitted.

As for the NFL and the investigation, apparently the league hasn't spoken to Sterger and isn't even attempting to talk to Favre.

Which of the above is the most disappointing?

 

The stories are about the NFL investigation. That's different. To me, it's the classic case of if you see an NFL player snorting coke off a stripper, that's not news. If the police arrest him for it, that's news.

Of course, there is some murky, gray area here, mostly as it relates to observation journalism. I'm thinking, as an example, of Leahy's Michael Jordan book, in which he trailed Jordan (I think) and at times wrote about things that Jordan was saying that were not for the record, but in public at casinos and such. Or, as another example, reporting snippets of a conversation overhears in the locker room.

Obviously, there is always some discretion involved. But it is my opinion that DeLaurio burned Sterger to a degree that was unacceptable. I'm talking about the first story. On the second one, obtained through a third party, that's fine. We do that all the time - get independent verification of something that was told to us "off the record."

 

The story was in the mainstream media long before the NFL was investigating it.

 

When I saw Jenn's picture the first thing I thought is that she resembles Favre's wife Deanna ... when Deanna was 20 years younger.