Pitchfork Journalism

[Alma]

As many know, Gregg Doyel has a vibrant dialogue with readers who don't like him; this week, it's detractors of his coverage of the Sandusky scandal.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/16145281/hate-mail-whatever-follows-here-its-not-about-the-school

<b>From: Kevin

No, Gregg, calling off Paterno's weekly press conference was the right thing to do. In case you missed it, the media's lack of ethics and integrity regarding this issue has been disturbing. One day, entire seminars will be dedicated to the mob-like mentality and misconduct shown by the media during this episode.

<i>Maybe so. But that mob got that coach fired, with me holding a pitchfork. Whatever else anyone says, I can take it.</i></b>

 

[Dick Whitman]

Doyel also joined in the, "The healing has begun!!!111!!!" chorus the day after the Nebraska game. He laid down his pitchfork for a candle.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

It's hard to say which person in that dialogue exhibited the deepest psychological issues and least contact with reality.

 

[As The Crow Flies]

Gregg Doyel has been an embarrassment the past two weeks. The whole episode (not just Doyel) makes me wonder what the Twitter universe would have been like if it had been full force during the Duke lacrosse case.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Again, I'm amazed at people becoming drooling and raging over people holding candlelight vigils. And Doyel is a columnist. His tweet seems unprofessional, but it's not the same as having the Patriot-News reporting star tweet in that way

 

[SF_Express]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

 

[LongTimeListener]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

I have been a strong critic of Doyel in the past, but SF_Express is correct. From where I sit, though -- only by reading the writer, because I do not know him -- it seemed that he himself chose to avoid the immature back-and-forth and uncontrolled rage and instead channel it into dogged reporting and concise writing. Not that he wasn't doing the reporting before, but he had removed the "speak first, think later" from his game.

This tweet is, unfortunately, a reminder of what he had seemingly outgrown. EDIT: OK I guess it wasn't a tweet but a mailbag column.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Egomania and being a good columnist are not necessarily incompatible. There's probably a better argument to be made that the former is close to a job requirement. But it's never pleasant to watch an ego on the loose.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Gregg Doyel has been an embarrassment the past two weeks. The whole episode (not just Doyel) makes me wonder what the Twitter universe would have been like if it had been full force during the Duke lacrosse case.

TeamBud, is that you?

 

[Azrael]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

I have been a strong critic of Doyel in the past, but SF_Express is correct. From where I sit, though -- only by reading the writer, because I do not know him -- it seemed that he himself chose to avoid the immature back-and-forth and uncontrolled rage and instead channel it into dogged reporting and concise writing. Not that he wasn't doing the reporting before, but he had removed the "speak first, think later" from his game.

This tweet is, unfortunately, a reminder of what he had seemingly outgrown. EDIT: OK I guess it wasn't a tweet but a mailbag column.

He channeled all the impulsiveness and back-and-forth and half-baked thinking and half-cocked rumor transmission onto his Twitter feed. Yesterday was the day - he heard - they were going to take down the Paterno statue, for example.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Well, ****, what else is Twitter for?

 

[Azrael]

Makes for an interesting discussion, though. Like the one we were having on the Pos bio thread: how much of a writer's process does a writer want to give away via social media? And how much does the reader want/need to know?

 

[Ace]

This is his best Hate Mail collection ever.

I think it's comical that folks accusing the media of having a mob mentality and rushing to judgment are doing it in defense of folks who allowed a suspected pedophile to troll their locker room for 10-plus years.

 

[Moderator1]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

Why would you regret this?
You are one of the most respected voices here. Even those who may think you are full of it on this point will likely give it some consideration based solely on your views.

 

[LongTimeListener]

This is his best Hate Mail collection ever.

I think it's comical that folks accusing the media of having a mob mentality and rushing to judgment are doing it in defense of folks who allowed a suspected pedophile to troll their locker room for 10-plus years.

True. Those people need a large rope with which to hang themselves, and Doyel gives it to them.

Also somewhat humorous that a highly decorated national columnist would challenge a reader to a fistfight over their disagreement.

From: Tony Browning

I hope someday we meet in hell, so I can spend eternity kicking your white, Denzel Washington, Spock-looking ass! F--- you and everyone who hates Joe Paterno!

I don't hate Joe Paterno. I don't hate anyone, not even that last guy. But I do think you're a moron. And I invite you to come find me while we're both above the dirt. You'd really hate me then.

 

[Ace]

This is his best Hate Mail collection ever.

I think it's comical that folks accusing the media of having a mob mentality and rushing to judgment are doing it in defense of folks who allowed a suspected pedophile to troll their locker room for 10-plus years.

True. Those people need a large rope with which to hang themselves, and Doyel gives it to them.

Also somewhat humorous that a highly decorated national columnist would challenge a reader to a fistfight over their disagreement.

From: Tony Browning

I hope someday we meet in hell, so I can spend eternity kicking your white, Denzel Washington, Spock-looking ass! F--- you and everyone who hates Joe Paterno!

I don't hate Joe Paterno. I don't hate anyone, not even that last guy. But I do think you're a moron. And I invite you to come find me while we're both above the dirt. You'd really hate me then.

Doyyyel has invited everyone to a fist fight.

 

[Versatile]

I prefer to ignore Doyel's Twitter and mailbags because I mostly agree with SF. When you just read his columns, he's brilliant. I loved his take on the rally for Joe Paterno before the firing: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/16040232/want-to-find-joepa-supporters-get-on-his-lawn

 

[Ace]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

Why would you regret this?
You are one of the most respected voices here. Even those who may think you are full of it on this point will likely give it some consideration based solely on your views.

This industry is changing dramatically. Some ways for the better. Many ways for the worse.

Gregg has his niche and he's successful at it. It's way over the top compared with what would be expected of a newspaper columnist 15 years ago, but that bus has sailed.

It think his pugnacious attitude is funny, and if you give him crap as a reader, you should know you're gonna be invited to get a belt in the schnoz.

 

[Azrael]

Still, as he outgrows that demographic, he might want to upgrade from the Fists of the Dragon shtick.

 

[SF_Express]

I never do this, for good reason, and I'll probably regret it in about 30 minutes, but ...

Gregg Doyel has absolutely kicked ass the past 10 days, and frankly in the months before that, is still being judged by some for the old days ("I'll fight you in the press box"), but I would take him in a heartbeat to be my national voice if I ever left this place.

We can debate that throwaway mailbag question and answer all day -- it gave me pause -- but he has been doing great work, and whatever you think of contests, there's a very good reason he was second in the APSE big columns behind Sally Jenkins for 2010. It's because he's damn good, writes the right length for his audience (not tomes, but columns), has strong opinions and lays out good cases to back them up.

I'm extremely prejudiced, but I also think I'm right.

Why would you regret this?
You are one of the most respected voices here. Even those who may think you are full of it on this point will likely give it some consideration based solely on your views.

I try to stay out of things that I'm personally involved with, and since I have a stake in it, my objectivity on the subject is questionable anyway. But I really think this particular person has elevated his game in 2011 and deserves it.