The Big Lead Reveal, Take 2

Man, you guys need to calm down.

TBL is good at what he does. So are the fucking Wiggles. So is Yanni.

Doesn't mean you have to like what he does or respect him for it.

 

So you have no problem with the Leinart fiasco?

 

You know, there are a lot of folks out there who think THIS site is a blight on journalism.

Personally, tbl makes me retch...it's hypocritical and mysogynistic and ignorant. But no more so than a lot of the shit that passes here for 'humor'....there are plenty of really stupid and offensive threads and remarks (yes, like the 'date rapey' comment, and a zillion others), and you can say 'hey, that's just SJ, lighten up'....but it doesn't make the local crap any less stupid and offensive. Plenty of unfounded rumors and accusations and hot babe junk right here at home.

I'm not defending tbl in any way...but this seems like a lot of angst over nothing.

 

This site's a national treasure.

 

He admitted that the Leinart thing wasn't a high point... I'm guessing that Deadspin and any of the other sports blogs out there have made mistakes as well...

The Reilly in the LSU press box incident, which he was trashed relentlessly on this board for was 100 percent fucking true. That gets overlooked a lot...

There are hundreds of thousands of sports blogs out there and there is a good reason why this is probably one of the top five out there. It's a great blog.

 

Amen.

And you know what? A lot of those folks posting on that thread would be screaming the loudest if Moddy tried to clean this place up. Like I said earlier, glass houses.

 

Part of the reason everybody here freaks out is because he does post on this site... Based on this site, you would think Jason Whitlock is the most popular journalist in the country. He's not. But because he posts here, he generates a lot more attention than the TJ Simers of the world...

 

There is a difference. But a blogger who has played by our rules can be expected to set a higher standard. That's why so many journalists like the site. And that's why the FSU and Leinart stuff were such a big deal.

 

What was the Leinart fiasco?

 

Bullshit. When he tries to practice journalism -- that is, when he tries to seek out the truth and report it accurately -- then he is, in fact, a journalist. Or he's trying to be one, anyway.

Forgive us for having some sense of respect for the practice of journalism, whether it's affiliated with a media organization or on an independent blog. Whether it appears in print or on a computer screen. Whether it's done in a press box or written in somebody's basement.

It's still journalism -- if he's trying to seek out news and report it, he's a journalist. And when he has no ethics about how he seeks or reports the truth, then he's going to get called out for it. Just like anybody else.

 

Here's where I have a problem with this situation: I don't know that the public can tell the difference.

You have a guy who used to work for a newspaper, who is a trained journalist, now doing decidedly non-journalistic things. Do you think people can tell the difference?

In this era of Celebritainment, it's really hard to separate rumors from reporting, especially when they are not distinguished as such. The line is further blurred when newspapers have their reporters blog on a regular basis, and bloggers get credentials to cover events. Or when legitimate news outlets bring famous bloggers aboard to provide content. It's fuzzy, like Fozzie.

 

If he works for a newspaper, a magazine or a web site like ESPN.com or SI.com or Sportsline, he has to play by certain rules...

This is a website created by him. He can do what he wants. As long as he generates enough traffic to pay the bills, he's doing something right because 99.99 percent of the people out there haven't figured out how to make a living off the blogosphere.

If you don't like the site, don't go there...