Sports reporters/Food

This question has always lingered on my mind. Why does it seem accepted for sports reporters to indulge in the pregame buffet at sporting events? I always see reporters do it when I'm covering games, and I've always just sorta followed suit cause I saw the pros doing it (I'm in college right now).

Why is this not considered to be unethical? Or is it? I know some of those on the news side at my college paper would frown on it.

 

If you're in college and think free food is unethical, you obviously don't work for the Michigan Daily.

 

Depends how purely you want to play the ethics game.

Its definitely a breach... like driving 75 in a 65 perhaps.

 

There's been a few threads on this, though I could only find this one:

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/31935/

 

It has always been a gray area, the "you can accept what you can eat" rule, within reason, of course ($1000 dinners -- not).

 

I remember this argument in a college ethics class. My feeling has always been: If you're influenced by a free meal at a sporting event, you shouldn't be employed, because you're an idiot. Also, meals cost money at baseball and basketball games (aside from playoff baseball). College and (most) NFL teams offer free, usually terrible food.

 

It's OK to eat free food as long as you complain about how lousy it is.

Seriously, at games and such it is primarily a courtesy. You're something of a captive audience there.

Lots of papers send checks to the teams/schools to cover the cost of what their folks will eat during the season.

 

This has rarely ever been about what we actually are influenced by.

It's about perception.

And the perception among many would be that we can be bought by the slightest of means.

 

Awesome. This cracked me up.

 

It's funny because it's so true [/homersimpson]

 

I'm sure this story is funny, but I can't find it anywhere. Any chance you'll tell it again or link it?

 

I still remember a conversation I had with an assistant news editor at The Diamondback about a ethics. I distinctly remember her saying that we should avoid anything that is or appears to be something that could compromise our objectivity.

I could go from being a screaming fanboi looser at a ballgame to being an objective observer of the same game when I'm on deadline. I've done that before. However, I don't take the risk. It's not worth it.