WaPo story on web "journalists" recruiting

[Bristol Whipped]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/24/AR2009082401795.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2009082401807


Interesting story, methinks.

 

[golfnut8924]

Wow this is pretty nuts. It really begs the question of the media "credential." These days, there are so many sports websites out there and many with such a gray area about whether it's really "media" or not. What is a press credential worth in 2009?

I recently went to an NFL training camp for some freelance stories I had picked up. I was amazed at how easy it was to get credentialed. I could've told them I was from the Taliban and they would've given me a credential.

 

[da man]

Wow this is pretty nuts. It really begs the question of the media "credential." These days, there are so many sports websites out there and many with such a gray area about whether it's really "media" or not. What is a press credential worth in 2009?

I recently went to an NFL training camp for some freelance stories I had picked up. I was amazed at how easy it was to get credentialed. I could've told them I was from the Taliban and they would've given me a credential.

I get to cover Redskins camp?

Excellent, dude!

 

[BillyT]

I love stories that show a lot of work.

Thanks for the link, Bristol.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

Great story...thanks for the link. This quote from Bob Gibbons bugged me, though:

"It really has gotten worse ... How do you legislate these people who claim they are media representatives?"

This sounds like a classic case of someone who's gotten inside and wants to lock the door behind him. Anyone whose search for a solution starts with "how do you legislate?" is probably someone with a terrible idea.

 

[tapintoamerica]

I suspect this story will send chills through the various fanboy sites. They'll be falling all over themselves trying to claim they never seek to influence recruits' minds.

 

[SockPuppet]

A friend of mine who follows all this journalist/media/coverage stuff suggests that journalists have a level of expertise and skill and that we need to separate ourselves from the riff raff by getting licensed. How that would work, I don't know but it seems to me that's becoming a good idea.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

No offense to your friend, but it has to be said: This is a terrible, terrible, terrible idea.

 

[SockPuppet]

Well, maybe so, but I think it would be cool to have a badge and be licensed to report.

 

[golfnut8924]

I think places just need to be more careful about who they grant credentials to. Like I said before, when I went to training camp recently, nobody ever checked out the publication I was there working for, never questioned it, nothing. I could've said anything. They were handing out press passes like candy. And once people like the ones in the article are given access to athletes, there's no telling what kind of stuff could go down.

 

[J-School Blue]

A friend of mine who follows all this journalist/media/coverage stuff suggests that journalists have a level of expertise and skill and that we need to separate ourselves from the riff raff by getting licensed. How that would work, I don't know but it seems to me that's becoming a good idea.

Some countries have done things like this this (Brazil is the first example of a non-authoritarian one that leaps to mind, though I think they may've repealed or altered their policy on this in the last few years).

It strikes me as the first step down the slippery slope toward becoming a mouthpiece for Big Brother, who doles out the licenses. I'd prefer too much Chaos to too much Control.

 

[JayFarrar]

Great story...thanks for the link. This quote from Bob Gibbons bugged me, though:

"It really has gotten worse ... How do you legislate these people who claim they are media representatives?"

This sounds like a classic case of someone who's gotten inside and wants to lock the door behind him. Anyone whose search for a solution starts with "how do you legislate?" is probably someone with a terrible idea.

I don't know.
Gibbons has a point and it is only a matter of time before a school is investigated and put on probation because of a recruiting writer.

 

[SockPuppet]

I don't think my friend is saying Big Brother/government should handle a licensing program. Why not create an organization that vets journalists (checking bylines, references, etc.)?

 

[rpmmutant]

I don't think my friend is saying Big Brother/government should handle a licensing program. Why not create an organization that vets journalists (checking bylines, references, etc.)?

Those organizations already exist. BBWAA, Football writers, basketball writers. Even auto racing writers have at least two organizations that I belong to.

 

[golfnut8924]

I think the people issuing credentials just need to check out the publication that the reporter is representing. Is it a fan site (where there's a good chance of something shady going down once the "reporter" is allowed inside the ropes) or is it a legitimate news site?

There are two kinds of people being granted credentials. One is the actual journalist who is there to report. The other is the kind in this story. The latter simply needs to be weeded out and a background check of their website is one way to do it.

Of course, this won't weed out any real journalist who takes a bribe under the table from a fansite to "recruit" an athlete to said fansite's team or school.

Pretty crazy that the shady deals that have long existed between schools and athletes are now trickling over to journalists as well. Pretty soon, instead of the athlete driving the brand new Hummer around that he "bought", it will be the journalist. ;D

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

I don't know.
Gibbons has a point and it is only a matter of time before a school is investigated and put on probation because of a recruiting writer.

Jay,

Whether that's true or not (I tend to lean toward "not"), that sounds like a problem for the schools and the fans running the sites.

It doesn't strike me as something that I (or you, or Bob Gibbons) should be looking to "legislate" about.

It's especially irksome in the case of Gibbons, because his status as an independent recruiting analyst is exactly the kind of thing some media people probably would have liked to "legislate" about 30 years ago, when he was breaking into the business. It strikes me as..."hypocritical" isn't quite the right word, but it may have to do.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

(Broken up into two separate posts for readability)

Also, I'm also not totally sure that "Gibbons has a point" is, ipso facto, a true statement. The full quote, for context:

"It really has gotten worse," said Bob Gibbons, a national recruiting analyst for 30 years. "We have a whole different set of communications than I am familiar with, and that existed when I first started out, went to a camp, watched the best players and did a report on them. They have taken it to different levels. There are multiple problems that need to be resolved, and I don't think anyone knows the exact solution to it. How do you legislate these people who claim they are media representatives?"

Am I crazy to think that the bolded part is the biggest part of his beef? His complaint seems to break down as:

1) "It" has gotten worse. How so? No one in this story provides evidence beyond the anecdotal. It's hard to believe that boosters and such didn't have access to kids at summer tournaments and the like 30 years ago. If anything, "it" has gotten better, from an enforcement standpoint, since the NCAA started restricting coaches' summertime movements.

2) Bob Gibbons used to go to camps and write reports on "the best" players. Now, lots of people are doing that, and using "a whole different set of communications." It seems indisputable that 1,000 recruiting reporters can do a more thorough (we'll withhold judgment on "better") job of covering camps than one. So what's really the problem?

3) There are "multiple problems" that need to be resolved, and Bob doesn't think anyone knows the exact solution. It's unclear what these "multiple problems" are, or even whether they're really problems. Threats to Bob Gibbons' business model, maybe. But problems? The story doesn't really show how or why, and neither does Gibbons.

4) How do you "legislate" people who dare to claim they breathe the same rarefied air as Bob Gibbons? Why should you? Who would draft and enforce this "legislation?"

 

[SockPuppet]

Those organizations already exist. BBWAA, Football writers, basketball writers. Even auto racing writers have at least two organizations that I belong to.

And some of those organizations you can join simply by paying the entry fee. That's not the same as an umbrella organization that would handle licensing.

Sorry, folks, but there are too many people on this board who are too damned lazy/frightened/stubborn to realize that the intergrity of the profession is being eaten away by parasites who can too easily access the host body. Keep your head in the sand and whenever you come up for air look around to see that the beach you were once on is now a vast wasteland.

 

[Mighty_Wingman]

Really? The integrity of this profession is "being eaten away by parasites?" Any actual evidence?

If anything, it's the opposite...most of those Web writers quoted in the WaPo story seemed to be falling all over themselves to say it's not them, heavens no, it's other people who are being so unprofessional. That seems to indicate the the integrity of the profession is not just in good condition, it remains something for amateur journalists to aspire to.

 

[SockPuppet]

The evidence is that anyone with a laptop can call himself/herself a "journalist" and thereby poison the well for anyone who is a journalist. There is little reporting, less vetting and more posting.

I plan to buy a stethoscope and will call myself a doctor from now on. Medical advice posted daily.