Jim Irsay arrested, charged with DUI & drug possession

True,

But the paper printed after his arrest that he had long been encouraged to go into rehab. That makes it sound like the Star had those sources before the arrest. Why can't you use those sources to develop a story?

 

One thing I would say in Kravitz's defense is that you had hard evidence -- like an arrest, or it having been mentioned in his divorce papers, or people will to go on the record about it -- accusing someone of being a drug addict would be really, really risky to put into print. Someone could have written a while ago about DeSean Jackson's "gang ties," but there wasn't really a solid opening until the Eagles themselves cited it.

The other question in breaking this story goes along the same lines as the reporter who held back that Michael Sam was gay. If it's something in someone's personal life that isn't front and center in affecting what's happening on the field, what purpose is served, other than prurient interest, in reporting on it?

I say this not knowing what evidence Kravitz had. I'm merely playing devil's advocate here. But it happens often that there is something everyone "knows," but doesn't get reported not because of fear of losing access or other issues involving not having enough solid evidence to go forward. Who knows -- maybe the Star's lawyers or editors said there wasn't enough.

But now that it's out there, the Star is doing that right thing by investigating this further and connecting the dots, particularly if Irsay was not only threatening his own safety but that of others.

 

This is spot-on. Also, I've worked with Kravitz from afar in the past, and I never got the impression he would sit on something just to avoid pissing off a source. Take that for what it's worth.

Another theory: It's entirely possible that a sports columnist would have a big enough ego to lie and say "I knew it all along" after news breaks, just to make himself appear to be on top of things, when in fact he had no clue.

 

Being a drug addict is a very different thing from being gay.

We're really debating whether the billionaire owner of the city's NFL franchise -- who was famously "sober" and had proclaimed this fact on a number of times, including on his twitter feed -- being on drugs is newsworthy?

Not to mention, he was arrested for DUI. Unless it was the very first time he had driven while under the influence, the guy was an accident waiting to happen.

 

Mike Francesa does that to an art form on talk radio.

 

It may not be newsworthy enough to do the legwork needed to get it all irrefutably documented before you publish. ESPECIALLY if he'd never been arrested for it before.

 

All bets are off when it comes to philandering politicians.
The media was happy to expose John Edwards.

 

I guess that's the difference between news and sports. Irsay is Rob Ford.

 

Rob Ford holds the keys to a major North American city and can directly and drastically affect the lives of everyone in that city. Jim Irsay owns a sports team.

What was the pressing public crisis brought on by Irsay's drug abuse prior to this revelation?

 

Drunk driving for one.

 

He hadn't been arrested, but he had admitted drug use when he testified in the 2002 trial of his Dr. Feelgood.

Regardless, you still need something firm before you go and accuse someone of falling off the wagon. Even with Rob Ford, no one ran with anything until there was video evidence.

 

Go ahead and report that he was driving drunk but was never arrested for it. Report back to us how well that works out for you.