And We Thought The Ombudsperson Was On Our Side

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Shakedown Sports points us to another fine example of how Mainstream Media has no idea what is going on in this Blogosphere, ESPN Ombudsman LeAnne Schreiber somehow blames blogs for ESPN mistakes.....

Since undertaking this job I have become familiar with the world of the sports blog. Ninety percent of them have no compunction about putting out any kind of rumor. Doesn’t matter the source or how reliable it is. They just toss it out there because they are not journalists. They are not responsible and don’t claim to be. They are just tossing out what might be of interest to the water cooler group.”

“People will return to ESPN dot com to see what they have to say about those rumors,” she said. “That is what pressures ESPN to make sometimes premature claims. The idea that you do not trade in rumors has virtually gone by the wayside in this form of journalism.”
Really? Blogs really "pressure" ESPN to make premature claims? Or is it the fact that Chris Mortensen is just guessing and no one has called him out on it until now??? I also don't understand this whole rumors thing. That's just what they are....rumors. Someone has a source, they report it, and it's either proven wrong or right.

For example, I had a source a few months back that said Dick Stockton was being dropped from the second team on FOX's Football Broadcasts. I used the term "reliable source" because the person didn't want to be identified because of their position in the industry. The rumor turned out to be true. How is that different than what Ed Werder or Chris Mortensen, or what ESPN.com does in their "Rumor Mill" on a daily basis?

After a collection of great articles I think the leader finally got to Mrs. Schreiber. The fact that Sports Blogs like this one and others are responsible for ESPN errors is laughable. I could understand if her point was that since blogs have the some viable sources that ESPN is nervous and in turn has knee-jerk reactions to sports blog's faster reporting. But this is just a misinformed viewpoint that MSMers continue to spread throughout their "credible" journalistic world.

Blogs Are Ruining ESPN (Shakedown Sports)
Ombudsman: Schreiber Keeps an Eye on ESPN 'Monolith' (The Pilot)

Posted by Awful Announcing- at 11:58 AM

15 Comments:

Sounds a lot like what Wilbon was spontaneously (cough, cough) talking about with Ven Pelt the other day.

PFT is getting to them, because I know for a fact, that ESPN never has any rumor mongering, nor do they have any gossip columnists.

Just hard news unaffected by corporate influence.

E Buzz said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:15:00 PM  

INTEGRITY

See, Paul Anka knew about integrity. I think of him when ESPN pods and corporate whores start talking about integrity, cuz he slices like a fuckin HAMMER!

Warning: Foul language, and yelling, so headphones.

I don't necessarily disagree with Anka...he's got bills to pay.

E Buzz said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:17:00 PM  

there's a kernel of truth to what she claims.

ask any sportswriter. if there is a rumor on a popular blog or sports radio, they get a call from their editor telling them to check it out.

not saying ALL blogs are irresponsible nor that blogs are the root of espn's evil. but she's not far off base in saying blogs generate a lot of news.

i took that example as a back-handed compliment.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:21:00 PM  

'The idea that you do not trade in rumors has virtually gone by the wayside in this form of journalism'

good thing espn doesnt have a service you can pay for to see rumors for each sport. oops.

BackBergtt said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:25:00 PM  

If they aren't responsible for their mistakes, then how did a column get put up this morning that had two references to team mascots from the wrong schools?

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/insider/columns/story?columnist=mcshay_todd&id=3044688&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab2pos2

He referred to Kansas State as the Tigers, and a Cal player as being a Duck. It's really getting pathetic.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:31:00 PM  

Anon- I can understand the fact that Blogs help editors make decisions and that they find a lot of items regular media misses.

It all boils down to the fact that there are both good and bad blogs and good and bad "jounalists".

I just think it's unfair to push ESPN's mistakes on Sports Blogs. That logic makes zero sense to me.

P.S.- I've also emailed LeAnne to see if she could explain that to me.

Oct 2, 2007, 1:40:00 PM  

I heard a rumor that the Patriots are a good golf clob.

I don't want to cause ESPN to make any mistakes over it, but they might want to check it out.

E Buzz said...
Oct 2, 2007, 1:46:00 PM  

You know what I did the second I saw this story?

I checked ESPN to see if it was true.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:11:00 PM  

This just in: ESPN says all blogs are bullshit and only deal in bullshit rumors.

Except theirs. That must be the "ten percent" Schreiber alluded to in her text.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:15:00 PM  

I go to blogs instead of ESPN because I want to read things of interest TO ME.

I don't want to read another bullshit piece on A-Rod like they have as their front page story right now. Fuck A-Rod. Fuck the Yankees. Fuck New York teams in general. Talk about something that isn't happening in New York for a change.

Bloggers don't blow Scott Boras so that he will give ESPN permission to interview his clients.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:18:00 PM  

You know how pissed it makes them that they can't "break" stories, or bury stories?

It makes them so pissed, they might not take a biodiesel fueled shuttle to work tomorrow.

They might not have organic mile in their lattes.

They might not pay the Mexican poolboy that extra five a week that they used to.

They might sexually harass more than one intern this week, out of anger.

Was this woman talking about the rumors that Salisbury went around showing his pecker to interns?

In the old days, they could have buried that story, as it should have been, to protect the corporation.

E Buzz said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:39:00 PM  

AA--You get so touchy with any kind of criticism. Relax. She's right. It doesn't mean that I'm going to stop reading your site. But it does mean that I will continue to take the stuff I see on it with a grain of salt until MSM reporters and their editors verify it. Blogs have their place in the pecking order. You should embrace that, rather than fight it.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:41:00 PM  

I can respect that you feel that way Anon, but I don't see why that caution is there. I guess it's just different strokes for different folks.

I'm only touchy when there's falsehoods associated with what I do. It's already tough enough to gain respect in this medium and when people take that away unfairly it just riles me up.

I also got a clarification from our Ombudsperson that she's allowing me to put up. That'll be coming soon in a new post.

Oct 2, 2007, 2:48:00 PM  

I read the article in question after making the comments. Part of it sounds like she was trying to explain things to a crotchety old-school journalist who knows even less about the blogosphere than she does.

Anonymous said...
Oct 2, 2007, 2:55:00 PM  

AA, I don't disagree but why did you have to bring Ed Werder's glorious mustache into the mix??? Give the man some credit for sticking with his awesome lip-hair.

GMoney said...
Oct 2, 2007, 3:59:00 PM  

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