NYT on Jay Glazer's conflict of interest

Well, kind of, one person at Poynter is critical of Glazer reporting on the NFL while also working as a personal trainer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/sports/football/28glazer.html

 

The story of Jay Glazer's conflicts of interest is at least 12 years old.

And as if we needed more proof of Fox' irrelevance in the dotcom world...can you imagine the shitstorm and the outcry if Glazer was working for ESPN and training athletes? Dear God.

 

If Glazer was working at ESPN, he'd be doing the same thing while also convincing the athletes to come to Bristol to get paid to appear in commercials.

 

John Clayton may be the only NFL reporter at ESPN who doesn't have a glaring conflict of interest.

There are guys at ESPN who share agents with the athletes and the coaches they cover. There are guys at ESPN who are very close friends with the athletes, the agents and the coaches they cover.

Do I have a problem with Glazer's side business? Absolutely, but to single him out on this isn't right.

 

Sharing an agent or developing a friendship isn't the same as the athlete or a team actually employing the journalist.

 

I'm having a hard time imagining a newspaper (remember them?) allowing such a cross-over of business interests by a reporter. At my last shop, I had to get written consent to do just about anything and books with active athletes or coaches, especially in the sport I covered (and who else would want me to assist in such a project) were not permitted because of the potential conflict. Do the networks have no ethics policies (or ethics) at all? There's a question that doesn't need an answer.

 

So does his training work help his "insider" work or does his "insider" work help his training work? Would he be as successful with either job with out the other one?

 

Yes, yes and hard to say one way or the other.

 

The last guy who wanted to create a "brand" was Sean Salisbury.

 

One of the reasons Glazer is such a good reporter is because the players love him.

But yeah, this is an awful conflict of interest.

 

it is the sole reason. since jay's days as a peon with a giants newsweekly, he's worked his butt off, cultivating relationships with players like strahan. i give him much credit; he he also worked up great relationships with ex giants g.m.'s george young and ernie accorsi.

but do his relationships, especially with the players, create conflicts of interest with his other endeavors with them? absolutely. but my experience and opinion is that television networks don't give a rat's ass, whereas no newspaper would allow him to get away with this.

tv journalism and print journalism have little in common.

 

David Thorpe trains some of the same athletes he is evaluating for ESPN's NBA coverage. He is known for training incoming rookies, yet his most popular feature at ESPN is his rookie rater -- and yes, he has shown some cases of questionable bias.