Me-first journalism: Jameis Winston style

If this were the sum total of Baker's coverage, then sure, it would have been annoying. But this is one piece of a much larger puzzle, and to me it provides context to the larger complexities to reporting this story. Fan baeses like Penn State and FSU like to pretend "It's just a minority of our fanbase acting this way!" but these kind of pieces show that, no, it's not. It's a mob of losers who find pics of your wife and put them online.

Baker, like it or not, became a character in this drama with FSU fans threatening to kill him and obsessing over what family connection he may have had to the victim. I think it's always better to shine a flashlight on these slug people than it is to let them pretend they're the righteous ones. He did t write it in a whiny way. He wrote about the scary reality of taking on the mob. And I bet this was one of the most read stories on the TB Times website yesterday. So I'd argue people do care, even if they're hate reading.

 

One of the first things that made The Big Lead (and to a lesser extent Deadspin) popular was discussions with or about sportswriters. People definitely care. There might be an argument about whether they should care ... but whether they do is a settled matter.

 

Wouldn't you think every FSU writer would have a similar story to tell? I would think it would be far worse for the Tallahassee Democrat writers.

He didn't break this story. He compares it to what happened to Sara Ganim while covering the Penn State scandal, but the Penn State story was a 10 and the Winston story, while big, was nothing close to Penn State (to be fair, what is?) and also, without Ganim, the Penn State scandal likely would have unfolded in a very different manner. The same cannot be said about Winston's situation.

He writes it like it's one writer's struggle to find truth, when in reality, every paper in the state was covering it and most of the substantial aspects of the case were broken by the national media.

My opinion is that he does not come across well in this story, but people are free to disagree.

 

To your first point, I am not sure why one person shouldn't write about their experiences because there are other people who could have possibly had similar experiences.

Clearly you don't think articles like these have a place. That's fine, it's certainly the traditional outlook that most or all of us grew up in journalism with. But it isn't how the world is anymore.

 

I just can't stand the melodrama. Like he's on some crusade. Give me a fucking break.

 

Thought I'd chime in here, just to add context. It's running in our monthly Floridian magazine, a Sunday publication that frequently runs first-person essays like this. This month's cover story is about another writer trying to find his best friend from childhood, for example.

That publication also means the audience is different - a broader scope than the usual sports section. I hoped the piece would shed some insight into sports fandom, and the case as a whole for people who didn't study every word.

I know, as you all have said, that my story isn't unique. The piece indicates that. But I thought, with the case ongoing but quiet for now, it was a good time to take a step back and share my perspective, as one of the many stories I've written about the case and many more I will write. Hopefully some readers enjoy it and learn something from a peek behind the curtain of our jobs.

I'll hang up and let y'all continue discussing, if you so choose.

 

I know Matt and I can say this much -- the idea that he wrote this as some kind of Me-First journalism couldn't be farther from the truth. He's one of the best journalists I've ever worked with. I guarantee you that he put a lot of thought into doing this before he wrote it. If he didn't think it was a story worth getting out there as part of the bigger story of the Winston case, he wouldn't have written it. This wasn't about self-aggrandizement; this was about adding a small piece to the larger puzzle. If he wanted to glorify himself, he could have written this months ago when the threats were coming daily. I think this was done as more of a peek-behind-the-curtain story as well as a look at the reactions of a rabid fan base and why people act that way, and despite the feelings of some on this board, there is a portion of our audience that enjoys those kind of stories.

 

I think there are some situations where a story like this has a place. It would have to be a very rare situation and I don't think covering a top player who gets in a lot of trouble qualifies. Especially when we're a good year removed from the worst aspects of that trouble.

I would be the first in line to buy a book if Sara Ganim wrote about what it was like to break the Penn State story. People inviting her over for tea to tell her everything she wrote is wrong is very interesting to me... Reading on a message board that you're going to have ugly kids is not.

You are right, in that I had it hammered into my head at a very young age that "we are not the story" and it's hard to move past that.

 

I don't know Matt's background, but it's clearly written by someone who doesn't understand what covering football in the south is like. That's not a shot at him. I was the same way during my first year covering the SEC. Death threats are common. Being shredded on a message board happens daily. Your home and cell phone numbers being given out is nothing new.

 

Someone just told me he asked off the beat after the 2013 season? Is that true? If so, how was that not mentioned in the story?

 

Just because it happens that doesn't make it right and it doesn't mean that it isn't worth a story.

As already noted people try to blame these things on some fringe when the reality is it is the majority of the fan base.

Shining a light on them isn't the worst thing.

 

That's false.