The Media's Role in Fracturing Sports (WaPo article)

[BRS24]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/interactive/2024/sports-society-divisiveness-media-journalism/?itid=ap_jerrybrewer

A lot of good things to consider about sports reporting. Please don't digress to politics.

Long before every bouncing ball became politicized, a rage culture had developed within sports, spurred by social media, debate-show television and the financial collapse of the mainstream media. It led to an obsession with engagement, a decrease in curiosity and an abundance of empty communication delivered in the noisiest manner possible.​

​

The pursuit of truth now competes with the desire for attention.​

​

Tired of jockeying for position, women are creating their own media companies. Fed up with being marginalized, the LGBTQ+ community has created its own news platforms. Determined to strengthen their brands, leagues, teams and even individual superstars have turned their house organs into complete orchestras.​

​

Journalism is not a synonym for media. It is a separate category, and most of us consider it our sacred responsibility to collect, distill and distribute information and commentary to the broadest audience. So all of these struggles feel personal.​

 

[azfan]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/interactive/2024/sports-society-divisiveness-media-journalism/?itid=ap_jerrybrewer

A lot of good things to consider about sports reporting. Please don't digress to politics.

Long before every bouncing ball became politicized, a rage culture had developed within sports, spurred by social media, debate-show television and the financial collapse of the mainstream media. It led to an obsession with engagement, a decrease in curiosity and an abundance of empty communication delivered in the noisiest manner possible.​

​

The pursuit of truth now competes with the desire for attention.​

​

Tired of jockeying for position, women are creating their own media companies. Fed up with being marginalized, the LGBTQ+ community has created its own news platforms. Determined to strengthen their brands, leagues, teams and even individual superstars have turned their house organs into complete orchestras.​

​

Journalism is not a synonym for media. It is a separate category, and most of us consider it our sacred responsibility to collect, distill and distribute information and commentary to the broadest audience. So all of these struggles feel personal.​

An important distinction here. There are two institutions at play and often in conflict.

There's a reason why journalism is known as the fourth estate. An extraordinarily important institution to a free and liberal society.

PR, the media, internet companies, all fall under the large umbrella of either advertising or the quaint notion of standing on a crate loudly articulating.

Over the past 100 years there's been a great deal of change and fluidity both within these two institutions and in the interaction between the two. I think as Jonathan Haidt has said the rewiring of our brains due to social media has led to diminished attention spans and an almost desperate desire for dopamine release. Therefore based upon generation I think young eyeballs and minds focus on PR rather than journalism.

I think it's also very important not to over romanticize those who practice in either of these institutions. Historically members of the fourth estate or journalism have been complacent in any number of reprehensible action and cover-ups ranging from the now well known exploits of past presidents to national security issues. In the Pete Rose biography that I'm completing there's an antidote where Johnny Bench goes to Curt Gowdy in a desperate attempt to help Pete. He hopes Gowdy will speak to Charlie Hustle indicating he's hanging out with some really bad people.

Like reporters covering FDR or Kennedy those in the sports writing community were well aware of Rose's activities. But it was never reported.

I guess ultimately there's the Greek golden mean between over reporting and under reporting or as the kids say over sharing.

 

[visitingcock]

An important distinction here. There are two institutions at play and often in conflict.

There's a reason why journalism is known as the fourth estate. An extraordinarily important institution to a free and liberal society.

PR, the media, internet companies, all fall under the large umbrella of either advertising or the quaint notion of standing on a crate loudly articulating.

Over the past 100 years there's been a great deal of change and fluidity both within these two institutions and in the interaction between the two. I think as Jonathan Haidt has said the rewiring of our brains due to social media has led to diminished attention spans and an almost desperate desire for dopamine release. Therefore based upon generation I think young eyeballs and minds focus on PR rather than journalism.

I think it's also very important not to over romanticize those who practice in either of these institutions. Historically members of the fourth estate or journalism have been complacent in any number of reprehensible action and cover-ups ranging from the now well known exploits of past presidents to national security issues. In the Pete Rose biography that I'm completing there's an antidote where Johnny Bench goes to Curt Gowdy in a desperate attempt to help Pete. He hopes Gowdy will speak to Charlie Hustle indicating he's hanging out with some really bad people.

Like reporters covering FDR or Kennedy those in the sports writing community were well aware of Rose's activities. But it was never reported.

I guess ultimately there's the Greek golden mean between over reporting and under reporting or as the kids say over sharing.

I realize that spell check / autocorrect sometimes jumps the gun and am familiar enough with your writing style to believe it was not your "slip.' Nevertheless, I had to laugh at "antidote" instead of "anecdote."

I am a huge lover of malapropisms! This is worthy of Mrs. Marple, Slip Mahoney and Yogi Berra. (My alltime favorite is "Pre-Madonna" used for "prima donna.")

 

[cancontent]

I realize that spell check / autocorrect sometimes jumps the gun and am familiar enough with your writing style to believe it was not your "slip.' Nevertheless, I had to laugh at "antidote" instead of "anecdote."

I am a huge lover of malapropisms! This is worthy of Mrs. Marple, Slip Mahoney and Yogi Berra. (My alltime favorite is "Pre-Madonna" used for "prima donna.")

I just heard the Pre-Madonna mix up this weekend while at the mall. Hilarious timing of this post.

 

[Dogdude]

Interesting points, and it recalls for me Marshall McLuhan's statement, "The medium is the message." In that respect, things have never changed. Social media (and most sports reporting/commentary has become nothing more than that) is what it is, a stream of quickly-forgotten, by all but the most ardent fans, conversation. Some off it makes sense, some not so much. In this kind of environment, where does one put the relationship of Howard Cosell and Muhammad Ali? It wasn't real journalism in the sense of hard-hitting interviews, it was more media circus, where he gave free rein to let Ali steal the show. Looking back, those interviews taken as a singular whole, were exceptional journalism, but at the time, were just media hype.

 

[GoUconn7961]

I minored in Journalism in college and I'll never forget taking a few classes on news and feature writing. It is/was so different to how the news/sports, or anything, is reported now. Now it's pundits spouting off opinions vs. facts. No interviewer has the guts to call anyone out in a lie. There's no research, and very little fact checking. True journalism and sports reporting, and science and every other newsworthy subject died with the advent of 24 hour news channels.