John Skipper Reveals . . .

These ombuds seem to always get sidetracked and never get around to writing what they really want to write about, conflicts of interest, on-air talent being paid shills, the journalism vs. promoting programming stuff...
Funny how that works.

 

If his agent or PR people put out a statement when he resigns, does that also count as a scoop?

 

No.

(Part of the condition I set for my definition of 'scoop' in this case was that it be a story others want, but don't have.)

 

I thought the most telling portion of the Brady piece was this:



The most highly charged issue I wrote about in my two years in this role began when then-SC6 host Jemele Hill called President Donald Trump a “white supremacist” on Twitter. My take -- that it wasn’t a good look for a journalist to use an inflammatory label when facts were available to make her case -- certainly led to the most controversy I faced in this role. Interestingly, that blowback came largely from a constituency I didn’t anticipate: other journalists.

“It’s a sign of changing times -- and, to me, not a good change -- that so many in journalism feel it’s now OK to substitute opinions for what we used to call facts. I’ve been on the digital side of journalism for 22 years now, and while I have taken what is about as far from a traditional path through this industry as possible, I do not believe everything old should be replaced with something new. Opinions are opinions and facts are facts, and I believe any conflating of the two does damage to the credibility of journalism. There are many who think this new type of journalism -- where everyone is open about biases and speaks “the truth” -- is a good thing.

But if you believe the proliferation of more opinionated journalism via social media or 24/7 cable newscasts has been good for the profession, look at this chart.

(There was a chart.)

As far as I can tell, as social media has moved to center stage, cable news ratings have soared and the ratio of fact-based journalism to opinion journalism has moved heavily toward the latter, the public’s trust in journalism has reached an all-time low. Sure, maybe the most recent plummet has more to do with Trump’s incessant carping about the media, but the double-digit-point drop that preceded it would seem to be cause for some concern. So while I have great personal respect for many who disagreed with me on Hill’s comment -- and even more for Hill herself -- I unequivocally stand by my position.

 

Le Anne Schreiber was really good at this.

Mr. Brady less so.

 

Disagree. I thought he was better - and he had to cover a much harder time, too.

 

I was talking about the entirety of their tenures.

Brady has been much the lesser thinker and writer than Schreiber. And with less frequency - but that may not be his fault. I think management has gone cold on the idea of a reader advocate.

That said, in this case specifically he may or may not have a point about journalists expressing their opinions.

But let's not forget that nowhere more than in sports are "facts" used to bolster "opinions." We just call it "analysis."

I'm also not sure that American culture moving left means anything in terms of our politics. Our politics have moved to the right.

 

Thanks, Elliotte.

Hope you're thriving.

 

What Jemele Hill wrote on Twitter was not a good look. That most of the blowback Brady received for saying that came from journalists? Also not a good look.