Pitchfork Journalism

So, three now.

 

I was using the man-woman, non-violent definition of "poke," sorry for any confusion, although to be honest, I thought it was clear in context.

 

Why is it a "throwaway?" Because it gave you pause?

The comment didn't strike me because of Doyel's position on Paterno. 98 percent of the country had that position. Several ESPN analysts - Mark May comes to mind - uncorked on Paterno worse than Doyel did.

What struck me is Doyel's willingness to acknowledge a key criticism of the media during the last week - emotional, activist, unfair - and say "maybe so." Then rationalize the critique by saying it doesn't matter because of the moral imperative. That'd give me tremendous pause, because Doyel, like anyone, isn't going to bat 1.000 with his moral antennae.

 

Crystal clear, SF. To me, anyway.

Poke 'em if you got 'em!

 

It's an interesting discussion, isn't it?

Certainly nobody is going to bat 1.000 on something like this. Then the question is: How "detached" (is that the right word?) must a columnist remain from the subject when, at the same time, commenting on it, given the plus/minus factor of whether he's actually "right" when all is said and done.

This story affected a lot of people in ways we rarely see on our side of the business. Doyel's a parent, as are many who wrote on it. And, like many, he had to balance his moral outrage with what was fair and also, yes, subjects worth putting out in front of readers.

If the beat guy writing the news story referenced carrying a pitchfork in a blog or whatever, obviously, that would be troublesome. This isn't quite as clear; Doyel is paid to have an opinion, and his outrage was informing that opinion last week. To deny that seems kind of silly as well.

Yes, it fits into the negative view of the media that many have now, but I don't know that Doyel should have approached last week any differently. Whether he says it in a mailbag or not, this was still part of the deal, so I don't know that acknowledging it made it any "worse."