Journalistic Whitewash?

[Boom_70]

Background: New Canaan HS ( 8-1) playing Darien HS ( 8-0) on Turkey Day. Big rival game.

On Wednesday 5 Darien players vandalize NC stadium with spray paint. Caught on video and players booted off team. Police issue warrants for arrest.

Two of players were key starters. Game on live TV - announcers chose to not even discuss issue - like it never happened.

Newspapers mentioned but chose not to mention missing players who obviously made a difference since NC won 42 - 14.

Here is one of write ups:

"The 81st edition of this rivalry already was replete with story lines before taking a controversial turn just over 24 hours before kickoff, when five members, including two starters, of the Darien team were accused of vandalizing the New Canaan campus, which consisted of spray-painting almost every entrance to the school, and parts of the football stadium. The graffiti had expletives and obscene gestures."

My question since it obviously impacted results - should missing players have been identified?

 

[spnited]

A sticky situation, Boom. But if there is a police report naming the five players then yes, they should be identified and the reason for the suspensions given.
If no police report, you can mention the players names but might have to hedge a bit on the reason for the suspensions, especially if they are under 18.
Of course, if I were in this situation, we have a legal department I'd have to run the whole thing by before we published anything.

 

[Boom_70]

Local Patch listed the names of starters as "conspicuously absent" from lineup. It was pulled .

 

[Gonna Buy me a Dog]

whoever wrote this run-on sentence should have been arrested

"The 81st edition of this rivalry already was replete with story lines before taking a controversial turn just over 24 hours before kickoff, when five members, including two starters, of the Darien team were accused of vandalizing the New Canaan campus, which consisted of spray-painting almost every entrance to the school, and parts of the football stadium."

 

[Ace]

If they are minors, you normally would not list the names of minors accused of a crime.

You likely would not even have access to the names of the minors from any official source.

If you assumed one of the missing starters was one of the vandals and it turns out he was injured, you'd be in big trouble.

 

[HanSenSE]

Ace is right. You're unlikely to get the names if they're juveniles. And not in lineup does not mean they're suspects. Got to step very carefully ...

 

[sgreenwell]

I agree with the others. If they're 18, then I think you have to mention in the game story that they got suspended because they got arrested. If they're under 18 and the coach or someone else won't go on record, I think you just have to note that they're out.

 

[BillyT]

You name the kids who were missing from the game.

It impacted the game.

You ask the coach if that's why the kids were missing.

If a star is missing, I always ask.

Ace: There are parts of the country where papers list arrests of minors.

Once they are arrested, you certainly report it.

Here's where I come from on this, and feel free to disagree, because I know you will anyway.

Kid gets glory, praise and his name in the paper for being a star athlete. That makes him a public figure of sorts, so if negative happens, you report it. It becomes newsworthy.

 

[Ace]

Stars aside, if a team has 50 players, how do you know if someone is missing?

 

[Stitch]

You name the kids who were missing from the game.

It impacted the game.

You ask the coach if that's why the kids were missing.

If a star is missing, I always ask.

Ace: There are parts of the country where papers list arrests of minors.

Once they are arrested, you certainly report it.

Here's where I come from on this, and feel free to disagree, because I know you will anyway.

Kid gets glory, praise and his name in the paper for being a star athlete. That makes him a public figure of sorts, so if negative happens, you report it. It becomes newsworthy.

Some kid playing high school football is not a public figure. If you want to play big-time reporter, get a big-time job. There are many places were they don't release any details regarding juveniles if they are charged with a misdemeanor.

 

[CRR13]

If the kid is a minor, I'd hold back on the name. If he isn't, then I would include his name.

 

[rtse11]

whoever wrote this run-on sentence should have been arrested

"The 81st edition of this rivalry already was replete with story lines before taking a controversial turn just over 24 hours before kickoff, when five members, including two starters, of the Darien team were accused of vandalizing the New Canaan campus, which consisted of spray-painting almost every entrance to the school, and parts of the football stadium."

He should have been water-boarded for "replete".

 

[Shaggy]

I wouldn't name their names. No way in hell. Mention the incident, avoid naming names. It's high school football, not the White House.

Any reader who really wants to know who they were probably already do.

 

[sgreenwell]

Stars aside, if a team has 50 players, how do you know if someone is missing?

This might just be my anal-retentiveness speaking, but if someone 25 or under gets arrested in my town, I check them on FB, on the master spreadsheet of the HS athletes I have, and in the online directory of a local college. Local State U has a huge problem with student renters wrecking the local neighborhoods, so most residents want to know if John Smith, 18, is from there.

 

[Boom_70]

I can understand not mentioning players in context of crime but to not mention they did not play in context of game seems like a glaring omission.

TV folks took it one step further. They did not even mention the incident. Ironically two of the kids both had prominent rolls in game televised the week before. Most likely they did not want to anger part of their subscriber base.

This is the way The Patch handled which I thought was about the best:

"Absent from the Blue Wave's lineup were Clay Barker, Darien's main deep threat, and two-way lineman Zack Sherwood."

 

[zonazonazona]

This is never an easy issue... a few years back, we had a situation where a team's last game of the year (game 10) was it's homecoming game. Night after the game, after playoff brackets for the next weekend were announced, star running back (ran for 2K+ on the season) and others "allegedly" got drunk in their limo to/fro the homecoming dance, and ultimately at the dance. They were suspended for the playoff game (turns out quarterback, top receiver/tight end and the state's best running back were not playing the next week).

Long story short, newsroom had to decide: is this an education issue or a sports issue? I'd be lying if i said I remembered "how" we "knew" that the kids involved were these football players (we were tipped), but we did.

So, education issue, you don't run names, and it's a "kids got drunk at prom" story. Sports issue, you run names, but not playing for breaking team rules. Maybe our news dept. should have done their story too, but somehow, it was decided that it was a sports story.

The next day, our big rival paper ran the "education" version, and i believe cited "student-athletes" as committing the infractions.

Moral: anyone who saw both stories figured it out. They were too similar.


Had another story last year that wasn't exactly the same, but still pretty frustrating. Kids go to a party on weekend; kids decide to drink at party; one kid posts pictures to facebook, forgetting he's "friends" with an assistant football coach. TEN players suspended for next game.

Here's the problem I had with this. Of the 10 suspended, one was the "star" quarterback, another a running back, another a tight end, another a defensive back. The rest? linemen or reserves.

I get a tip about this, get to the stadium early, and sure enough, those four "big names" are out. I have NO idea who the rest of the guys missing are. Even if I would have gone through the roster, jerseys change enough during the year, and they don't have names on the back, couldn't have been 100 percent sure.

After the game. I try to level with the head coach, who I have a very good rapport with...

ME: "Coach, I know you can't say "why". I'm not asking "why" they were suspended. In addition to Players One, Two, Three and Four, can you just tell me who did not play tonight, or who it was that was suspended. I know it was 10 total."
COACH: "I can't tell you that."
ME: "The game was on TV. If I taped it at home and watched a replay, I'd be able to figure it out."
COACH: "Then go watch it and figure it out."
ME: "I didn't tape it, will you provide me with a copy of the game?"
COACH: "You're kidding, right?"

I was kidding, actually, at that point, and I'm not naive. I don't blame him at all for not sharing. But I just felt like it was kind of a joke... I had to name the four kids I "knew" simply because they were QB, RB, WR, CB. Odds are, the lineman was a better "player" but because he was born with big bones and some height, and didn't play a "sexy" position, he didn't get named for "breaking team rules." Doesn't seem right. (full disclosure: we had enough certainty that these players were not hurt, and missed because they broke rules, so we named names with the caveat that "QB, RB, WR, and CB were not on the field, not dressed, and not in the stadium. Paper learned that 10 players were to be suspended for breaking team rules, but it could not be confirmed if those four players were among the 10.")

Maybe it's all my fault, i can live with that. But at the same time, I did my best to figure it out and it just wasn't happening. The other six who missed time were never named...

 

[Boom_70]

Thought this was pretty classy on part of Darien Football team- Letter read at mid field prior to game:

Statement from the Darien High football team
To Coach Marinelli and the New Canaan Rams,

On behalf of the entire Blue Wave football team, we would like to apologize for the thoughtless and immature actions of our ex-teammates on Tuesday night at your high school. We recognize the gravity of what happened and have taken appropriate disciplinary measures to address the problem. We are ashamed by the disrespect that they showed. As a team and school, we do not condone this type of behavior; nor are we proud of it.

In the future, we hope that despite the historic rivalry between our two schools, we can continue to hold the utmost respect for one another. Once again, we are deeply sorry for what happened.

Sincerely,
Blue Wave Football Team

 

[Boom_70]

Pretty strong column by local sports editor denouncing the actions of players also an interesting suggestion that there is more to story:

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/RUDEN-Vandalism-at-New-Canaan-will-be-easier-to-836097.php

"The five Darien players, I'm told, were caught on surveillance cameras, though they were wearing hoodies to conceal their identity. There is other strong evidence regarding other components of what happened that have not yet been confirmed but, if proved true, makes this all the more troubling."

 

[HanSenSE]

Pretty strong column by local sports editor denouncing the actions of players also an interesting suggestion that there is more to story:

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/RUDEN-Vandalism-at-New-Canaan-will-be-easier-to-836097.php

"The five Darien players, I'm told, were caught on surveillance cameras, though they were wearing hoodies to conceal their identity. There is other strong evidence regarding other components of what happened that have not yet been confirmed but, if proved true, makes this all the more troubling."

Just set up blocs in the town square and pelt them with rocks and garbage, already Or, in another fine New England tradition, scarlet letters?

 

[TrooperBari]

Pretty strong column by local sports editor denouncing the actions of players also an interesting suggestion that there is more to story:

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/sports/article/RUDEN-Vandalism-at-New-Canaan-will-be-easier-to-836097.php

"The five Darien players, I'm told, were caught on surveillance cameras, though they were wearing hoodies to conceal their identity. There is other strong evidence regarding other components of what happened that have not yet been confirmed but, if proved true, makes this all the more troubling."

Just set up blocs in the town square and pelt them with rocks and garbage, already Or, in another fine New England tradition, scarlet letters?

V for Vandalism?