Ethics Question

[HeinekenMan]

I covered what amounts to a preseason prep football game tonight between two local teams. A guy throws the ball 40 yards, and a linebacker knocks him silly a good three seconds after he releases the ball.

Twenty minutes later, the QB leaves in an ambulance with an apparent broken jaw that is likely to end his season, which was the first for a school just launching its football program this year.

The tackler was called for a late hit. I tried to stay objective. But it wasn't easy. Part of me said that it was my job to include the tackler's name, and part of me said I was just doing it to make him pay a price for being a prick.

Was I in the wrong for doing this?

 

[fishwrapper]

I don't think this is an ethical question at all.
When the linebacker delivered a late hit and broke the jaw of the opposing quarterback, it became a news story. And in news stories, you have to answer the "who" question.
In the end, no one is going to remember the score. They're going to remember the linebacker's late hit on the quarterback.

 

[Precious Roy]

I personlly don't think there is anything wrong with this if you stay objective like

John Holmes of WestBumFuk was carted off on a stretcher with a broken jaw minutes ofter Peter North of EastBumFuk tackled him on what was penalized as a late hit.

I may be wrong, but as long as you don't say anything about how horrible the player from East is, it's just reporting the facts.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Well, I'm relieved. I thought I was doing the right thing. But I did sort of feel bad that this kid was going to have his name in the paper for something that might not have been intentional. But I have a feeling it was intentional. The teams were talking trash throughout the game. In fact, the late hit was the second for the team, which also was called for talking **** after a tackle. The funny part was that the tackler was a senior, and he leveled a freakin' 14-year-old kid in eighth grade. The bad part is that it was a matchup between christian schools.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

Hell yeah you did the right thing.

 

[zeke12]

Roy, you don't even write around it like that.

Johnny Bumble**** was carried off the field on a stretcher following a late hit by East High's Douchenozzle Mc****tard.

Ref called it a late hit, it's a late hit.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

For criminy's sake, you're a reporter. Report what you saw.

I see nothing wrong in calling a spade a spade. If the little thug's parents get their feelings hurt, too bad:

Quarterback Johnny Smith was drilled by linebacker Tommy Bonecrusher well after delivering a pass ... Smith was taken by ambulance to Our Lady Queen of Latehits Hospital with what was reported as a broken jaw. Bonecrusher was penalized 15 yards on the play for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Was he ejected? I reported on an obvious late hit, using those words, when a player was ejected for a hit away from the play. And I pretty much used those words whenever writing updates on how the kid was.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Crippler, you came so close to what I wrote that I almost think you pulled the line from my story and changed the names of the players.

But I did fail to mention that it was a 15-yard penalty.

 

[buckweaver]

Crippler, you came so close to what I wrote that I almost think you pulled the line from my story and changed the names of the players.

But I did fail to mention that it was a 15-yard penalty.

If you wrote that it was called as a late hit, the penalty is inferred.

As far as naming the kid, here's my theory on preps: They are kids, so you have to be sensitive about it. Don't go out of your way to rip on a kid for making a random error or fumble, etc. If there were three errors in an inning, just write that; no need to call them all out by name. You can't cover preps like you cover pros.

This isn't Peyton Manning and A-Rod that you're calling out; it's a 17-year-old kid*.

But if we're going to put your name in when you score a touchdown, we're going to put your name in when you fumble the ball on the goal line (or, in this case, break the QB's jaw with a late hit.)

Write what you see, and keep your opinions out of it. But still, write what you see.



* Mega-star athletes with a lot of media exposure have to get treated with different rules. Especially if they've had experience dealing with the media. But as a general rule, high school kids are still kids.

 

[write then drink]

something that might not have been intentional. But I have a feeling it was intentional.

did you talk to the linebacker? you might have gotten something good from him - "Hell, yeah, i was trying to hurt him, it's a physical sport." or maybe, "I feel so bad about it. I was just trying to play physical and I'm sorry he got hurt."

either way, you have to talk to the guy, teammates, coaches

build your story around that play

 

[HeinekenMan]

something that might not have been intentional. But I have a feeling it was intentional.

did you talk to the linebacker? you might have gotten something good from him - "Hell, yeah, i was trying to hurt him, it's a physical sport." or maybe, "I feel so bad about it. I was just trying to play physical and I'm sorry he got hurt."

either way, you have to talk to the guy, teammates, coaches

build your story around that play

I wanted to interview the kid, but his team held a lengthy post-game meeting. I was on deadline. So i waited three or four minutes and then dashed to a phone jack.

I agree with Buck, too. In many cases, there's no reason to cause unnecessary harm to a person's ego by singling someone out in cases where it's unnecessary. That's a fine line, which is why I brought up the subject.

 

[write then drink]

something that might not have been intentional. But I have a feeling it was intentional.

did you talk to the linebacker? you might have gotten something good from him - "Hell, yeah, i was trying to hurt him, it's a physical sport." or maybe, "I feel so bad about it. I was just trying to play physical and I'm sorry he got hurt."

either way, you have to talk to the guy, teammates, coaches

build your story around that play

I wanted to interview the kid, but his team held a lengthy post-game meeting. I was on deadline. So i waited three or four minutes and then dashed to a phone jack.

maybe call him a day later for a folo or something.

 

[jps]

As far as I'm concerned, if it happens in a game, print it.
Do you go after a kid? No, probably not. But if he/she elects to play high school sports - especially in areas where that is all people care about - they've got to take the good with the bad.
If little Janey drops a fly that allows the game-winning run to come across, run it. Most everyone that cares was there and saw it ... if they didn't, someone told them about it. She was there. She knows she did it. Our running it is not gonna hurt her any worse. Will it annoy her parents? Probably. But, in my experience, the kid never cares much that it's in there.

 

[Gob Bluth]

I know this year in the State Baseball Playoffs, I had a bonehead play by one player that cost them a shot at the State Championship. It was the State Quarerfinals and the kid grounds out driving in a run, but for some dumb reason he lifted his elbow and smacked the 1B. He was trying to knock the ball lose, but caught the kid straight in the face.
He was tossed and was going to start on the mound the next day. Instead he acted like Robert Fick and was out the next day as well. The team fell in the semifinals the next day.

The coach protected him in the story, but it had to be printed. I never got any flack for printing the story. Of course I could have called it like it was being a dirty play, but I decided against it.