Deadspin: Teen tricked Rovell on escort service/NBA lockout story

This 1,000 times over. It's possible to get duped, and it has happened to people better than Rovell. To not be professional enough to take your lumps without being a complete red-ass in your "apology" is where the real crime is, IMO.

 

I wanted to tweet a suggestion to Rovell that he check out our discussion, because I think it would be worthwhile if he wanted to come here and share his take on it, but I guess you can only direct message someone if they follow you. I didn't want to send the suggestion via public tweet because I wanted to avoid a flood of yahoos a la Sons of Sam Horn.

What does everyone think? Worth it to send him a public tweet and risk invasion on the off chance he decides to participate in the discussion?

 

I wrote him a polite email, but didn't think to bring him here.

Not sure that's a great idea if he is as big a jerk as he seems.

 

Unlike the SOSH thing, this seems to be a pretty journalism-centric issue. I'd doubt there would be a flood of people flocking over here, with the sole purpose to be the biggest asshole of the group.

 

Rovell currently busy fact-checking cost of new 2-pound bacon cheeseburger sold in obscure minor-league stadium. "No, I need the takeout menu notarized."

 

So I'm not excusing Rovell--he should have been skeptical and good reporters and editors would have been skeptical--but, the truth is, tons and tons of information gets passed along without verification by the media. Most people just don't go running to Deadspin to brag about it after doing it. So, as easy as it is to pick on Rovell, it's worth pointing out this is not an isolated problem or one created by the advent of the Internet--it can easily happen all the time, we usually just don't know about it.

Truth be told, you have to operate on some sort of a sliding scale about verification. If a coach gives you a players stats, you're not going to demand video taped footage so you can check for yourself. If a company tells you their revenues, you're not going to perform an audit to make sure they're not lying. Sure, if not anonymous it's slightly different, because you can attribute it to that person, but I still think that sort of plausible deniability is bullshit. Journalists should still have some responsibility to ensure even named sources don't peddle misinformation.

 

Lost in all of this is the obvious racial bent to the "story". Since when do NBA teams patronize escort services any more than any other league would?

Fail on many levels.

 

Peons like us would get raked over the coals for shit like this. The bigger you get, the more you can get away with. It's not plagiarism for Doris Kearns Goodwin or Stephen Ambrose, it's a sourcing error. Mitch Albom can blame the copy desk for pulling stuff out of thin air.
It's like there's a set of rules for us, and another set once you hit the big time.

 

Claiming Little Jimmy Dicknose hit .333 is a bit different than some guy claiming to be a pimp, no?

 

Of course. Like I said, organizations obviously operate on a sliding scale in verifying information. But, because of that, tons of false informations gets passed along (some intentional, some not). It just so happens in this case the person doing it went to Deadspin to brag.

 

This scale only exists for convenience sake.

Other sections of the paper don't take their information directly from the people they "cover".