MLB.com removes Buehrle quotes from story

Chronology of events:

* Dog lover Mark Buehrle says he hopes Michael Vick gets hurt.
* MLB.com White Sox beat writer writes it up.
* MLB.com White Sox beat writer or editor removes quotes from the story.

I'm guessing that Buehrle or White Sox media relations called him and asked him to take those quotes out, or perhaps the MLB.com editor made a unilateral decision to do so, knowing they might generate some controversy.

Question is (obviously without knowing more facts - like maybe Buehrle was thinking he was off the record): Obviously you can't do this in print. Was this the right thing to do as a reporter or editor? Or is this another exhibit of evidence that MLB.com is media relations and not journalism?

http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/news/story?id=6108605

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

If you work for MLB.com you just do it. I don't blame him either. A job is a job.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

Yeah, once you've taken a job covering MLB for MLB, you've surrendered a certain level of ethics. Disappointing but not surprising. Can't question the writer's ethics -- he wrote story in the first place -- but can certainly question the site's.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

The writer doesn't take out the quotes, guys. It's not his blog. Editors make those kind of decisions. Such is life, I suppose.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

MLB.com ... as fair and balanced as Radio Moscow back in the Cold War.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

Maybe I'm missing some of the details, but wondering why this thread assumes the writer was responsible for removing the quotes, or why DietCoke is 'guessing' Buehrle or the Sox made him do it.

Seems like a fairly broad assumption, which if incorrect is really unfair to the writer.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

Are MLB.com writers part of the BBWAA? I remember that was a hot issue a few years back, whether to let them in, but I lost track and don't know how it was resolved. This would be a tremendous example of why not to have them as part of the organization.

 

Re: MLB.com writer removes Buehrle quotes from story

The only way it seems as if this is on the writer is if the writer can actually upload his own stories. If he can, then he has the power to go back and change the quotes. If he can't, it's on any editor that may see the piece and grumble.

 

Excellent points, 21. And now that I go back and read the original piece again, I am struck more than the first time at the fact that the quotes appeared on the writer's Twitter feed, which makes me wonder if the writer himself had anything at all to do with removing the quotes or if it was done for him.

 

Definitely not worth standing on your desk and screaming. If you work for MLB.com, that's what you signed up for.

 

Yeah, I agree...that is what he signed up for. Its very transparent that MLB.com can't possibly be a 100% PR-free organ...even if they try and posture themselves as one. They are what they are. Can't blame dude for taking the job. If you want good journalism, editor-wise, much better odds to go with the editors that have no direct vested interest.

 

Are we presuming the reporter didn't complain? The good news is, at least one TV station in Chicago reported Buehrle's remarks on Wednesday night, so the story has legs.