University of Michigan scandal brings out public’s mistrust of media.

I cannot stay quiet on this issue.

In light of the recent investigation by the Detroit Free Press into the University of Michigan football program's alleged NCAA rules violations concerning off-season workouts and in-season demands, a lot of people are completely skirting the real issue by chalking this up to lax editorial standards.

Some have promised to never read the Detroit Free Press again; others have decided this is a case of a newspaper throwing something against the wall to see if it sticks.

Essentially, those looking at the world through maize-colored glasses are appalled that a reporter would investigate a potential story, and are quick to dismiss this as another example of shoddy newspaper work.

Breaking news: That is what reporters and newspapers do.  They report.

This is real news.  Six sources that seem to corroborate each other is legit.  There is no escaping that fact. 

Yet, this underscores the main concern: somewhere along the way, we got this thought in our heads that newspapers only exist to out-sensationalize each other in order to sell the most copies; that newspapers are no longer trustworthy and should be taken out to the woodshed.

In the rush to keep up with blogs and wikis, spelling errors and erroneous quotes have muddled our thinking into the impression that we'd be better off without newspapers.

Really?

Without newspapers, Kwame Kilpatrick is still in office.

Without newspapers, Richard Nixon successfully covers up the Watergate scandal.

Without newspapers, Kenneth Lay gets away with millions.

I'm not saying we need to save the newspaper as we know it. It can still evolve and serve a purpose.  And in the grand scheme of things, a football scandal is unimportant.

But the day we stop entrusting these watchdogs to keep watch over our cities and root out corruption is the day we, as a society, give up.

Tags: ,

About The Author

Brad

Other posts by

Author his web site

01

09 2009


by Brad
posted in sports
2 Comments »

←
→
  • Emily

    Hey Brad,
    Nice blog. I think you are right and newspapers are important and often come under unnecessary fire. So, overall I agree with your point.
    However, in this case I think the anger is somewhat justified. On a team of over 100 guys, it’s easy to find six underclassman who think practices were too tough, too long or too often. It’s easy to find six guys who didn’t play as much as they hoped or thought they’d play. It’s easy to find six young guys who don’t know how to talk to the media, so their words don’t get twisted. Without knowing how the questions were asked, it’s hard to say how aligned their stories really were. It’s also easy to trash a coach you may not like if you’re guaranteed anonymity. I understand you don’t have a story without protecting the players’ names, but it does taint things a bit. How many times have we played for coaches we don’t like, so we verbally trash them to others because we don’t think they’ll find out?
    I also think Rosenberg didn’t paint a complete picture in his attempt to out UM as program that’s not as perfect as people may think. He quotes a guy who says the team’s grades were affected, but failed to mention that last year’s team had the highest team GPA in at least 40 years. Maybe that one player’s grades were suffering (for any number of reasons), but as a team grades were up. And, I know this story wasn’t about other programs and just because one team breaks the rules doesn’t mean others should…but some perspective from other teams’ players on how much they practice may have added some weight. Michigan is not the only team that may be overpracticing.
    I do say all of this with slightly maize-tinted glasses, but I also say this as an avid-newspaper reader who does notice some journalists’ tendencies to go for a big story without covering all the bases. I think I speak for many UM fans when I say, it’s not that I necessarily think Rich Rod didn’t do anything wrong, I just think Rosenberg didn’t paint the complete picture and the depth of his information isn’t as complete as I’d like it.
    It’s hard to deny text messages, e-mails, robbed hotel rooms…. it’s very easy to dispute or question six (possibly disgruntled) anonymous guys on a team of over 100.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/bradmarley Brad

    Emily, thanks for reading and commenting.
    I am of the opinion that the freshman’s answers to the questions regarding their grueling schedule is what sparked this investigation.
    But what really amazed me (and is why I felt compelled to write) is how many people claimed this was a “non-story”; as if the Free Press just decided to make up a story and run with it.
    It’s truly mind-boggling.
    As for the content of the story, Rosenberg was not obligated to compare U of M’s practice schedule to other schools. That might add some color to the story, but how likely is it he would find other student athletes at other schools willing to talk? A football player at MSU isn’t going to rat out his coach when U of M is taking all the heat.
    I do agree that he could have fleshed out the story with on-the-record quotes, but sometimes that isn’t possible. He probably figured six sources was enough, and I can’t say that I blame him.