Yahoo Sports Is Getting Hammered By NFL Coaches
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Jason Cole has been breaking stories about the NFL for a few weeks and apparently a few coaches are not happy with the Yahoo reporter. First it was Bill Parcells who to umbrage with a story that Jason Taylor and the Dolphins were parting ways, and now it's Denver Coach Mike Shanhan who's pissed.....
The story added the security personnel were hired because "Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had been hiring spies to videotape Chargers practices." The story also said the NFL had been aware of the videotaping, that a league official had seen one of the tapes and no action was taken because the NFL had considered the matter "a team issue."I don't know Jason Cole so I don't have any reason to think he's making stuff up, and he seems to be sticking by his sources and stories which is good.
In a letter addressed to Yahoo senior NFL writer Jason Cole and sent to the company's corporate headquarters in Sunnyvale,
Calif., Shanahan's attorney, Harvey Steinberg, of Denver, called the paragraph regarding Shanahan in the original story "completely untrue and without foundation."
Copies of the letter also were sent to Yahoo CEO Jerry Wang, president Susan Decker, co- founder David Filo and executive vice president and general counsel Michael J. Callahan.
The letter goes on to say "Coach Shanahan has never engaged in any such practice, let alone even discussed the possibility of any such activities. As a result, this article is defamatory and libelous."
The ass kissing that reporters have to do at times to break stories amazes me and if Cole is going to disregard that practice to give us the facts, he may have just gained a reader. Plus getting a sued is one of my goals, so I need tips.
Shanahan denies spying allegation (Rocky Mountain News)
Parcells Disputes Yahoo! Claim (Phin Phanatic)
8 Comments:
Libelous? Are they kidding? If you're a public figure or organization, you have absolutely NO libel case. Is a two-time SB winning coach a public figure? Yes. Then STFU, Denver.
Absolutely correct. To even insinuate libel is a factor is laughable. They should be aware of what constitutes libel. I'm a college student who just started studying libel in class this week and I know that already.
Yahoo has taken down the story.
AP:
DENVER — Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday removed a paragraph in a
nearly 6-month-old story that alleged secret videotaping by the
Denver Broncos after coach Mike Shanahan’s attorney sent a letter
to the Internet giant demanding a retraction.
Yahoo! Sports editors also added a note saying the paragraph in
the Sept. 13 article did not meet the site’s editorial standards,
spokeswoman Nicol Addison said.
The story, written when the videotape cheating scandal involving
the New England Patriots dominated the news, had been cited by
various media outlets around Denver in recent weeks.
“We took immediate action to eliminate the content from our
site as soon as we became aware of this matter,” the editor’s note
said.
Without citing sources, the paragraph alleged the San Diego
Chargers added security on a hill next to the team’s practice
complex because Shanahan hired spies to videotape the Chargers’
practice. The paragraph also said the NFL knew about the alleged
taping.
In a letter sent Feb. 26, Shanahan’s attorney Harvey Steinberg
called the paragraph “completely untrue and without foundation”
and the article “defamatory and libelous.”
After the paragraph was removed, Steinberg said: “I appreciate
Yahoo’s acknowledgment of their mistake and I’m glad they took the
first step in righting the wrong.”
Greg Aiello, the NFL’s spokesman, also called the article
inaccurate.
“We are not aware of any such video and no one in our office
has seen the video,” Aiello said in an e-mail.
"Umbrance" isn't a word. Do you mean that Bill Parcells "took umbrage" with the story?
just looking out for you here. If you are going to criticize what other people say correct grammar and actual words should be used in your stories.
Not trying to insult at all, just trying to help out.
Yes...that's what I meant. Spell checker tis broke.
I agree that libel would be difficult to prove here, but I think the fact that Yahoo yanked the offending paragraph shows that they think they've got some exposure there.
I hope that when Shanny's lawyer delivered the news to the Yahoo big man, he yelled, "Hey Wang!"
This is why you need a sports news outlet that isn't a "partner" with the NFL. That's the reason why ESPN jumped off the journalism boat when it comes to the NFL ages ago. Oh, but ESPN can have a 2-hour special about the Combine or the release of the new schedule.