End of Saban/Herald/Radio story

Darlington made a dumb mistake by sending the tape to the radio guy, but unless it contained confidential information intended ONLY for a story to be published in his newspaper, he didn't commit any horrible ethical breach (although he would be tiptoeing in a dangerous direction, by getting in this habit, and a healthy wrist-slap, such as pulling him off SB duties, is probably in order, to convince him 'don't ever do this again').

A coach (or any other source) doesn't get to decide something is off the record just by saying "this is off the record." The coach doesn't decide what is off the record; the REPORTER decides what is off the record. Each and every one.

Therefore, when Saban says, "this is off the record," it ISN'T off the record, unless each and every reporter, individually, agrees that it is. Maybe Joe Schmoe from the Tuscaloosa Toiletflusher and 37 other guys agree that it's off the record, but that doesn't mean Darlington has to, too.

End of argument.

 

Sorry, Elliotte, but Alzugaray wasn't there and agreed to nothing re Saban. True enough the quotes were off the record, but when Alzugaray received the material it was his to use as he chose. If someone had given you the Pentagon Papers, would you have said "No, thanks. These are confidential. I'm not supposed to see these"?

 

Wrong Starman.
If the coach says "this is off the record" and you simply keep quiet and don't say "No, it's either on the record or don't tell me," then you have tacitly agreed to keep it off the record.
When a coach says "off the record" if you don't challenge it immediately, you are agreeing to keep it off the record. You can't not say anything and then decide when you get back to the office that it's on the record.
That is unethical!

 

I would find posting 18,476 times on a message board to be tiresome and tiring, not to mention a terrible waste of time when I could be, well, working. But that's just me.

You are free discuss whatever you want, under your pseudonym cover.

It would just be nice, considering that this is a journalism board, if more posters resisted spreading information unless they were sure they had their facts straight.

Some of this is comical:

I've got one poster, on the other (locked) thread, telling me that he/she knows more about an interview process that involved Jeff, but also directly involved me first, than I do.

And others here are speculating about Orlando's motives, when they've never met him and don't know how he feels about the situation.

As I wrote before, I'm good friends with both guys, so maybe I'm a little sensitive to this. I'm not excusing what Orlando did, and I haven't excused it in discussions with him. But boards like this, with all the reckless speculation, only serve to make the situation worse.

That's all.

-- Ethan

 

Well, Ethan, if we're only making it worse, why did you bother to register just to comment and pass judgment on what people have said on this topic?
I guess you are trying to be the savior of SportsJournalists.com ... or the enabler for Darlington and Alzugaray, both of whom fucked up royally in this instance.

 

I don't have any interest in saving SportsJournalists.com.

And I especially have no interest in posting here anonymously. I've done it six or seven times over the past three years, and only when I felt it was necessary to clear up facts about situations, to contradict what was put out there by outsiders to South Florida. This time, though, I decided it was better to post as myself.

Further, I'm not trying to enable anyone. The guys made mistakes. Each guy knows what he did wrong. Hell, I've made what I view as honest mistakes that could have gotten me in considerable trouble... if the circumstances had been just a little different.

But there's no accountability here. Hidden names. Rampant speculation. Blatant factual mistakes. And plenty of hypocrisy.

One example:

On the locked thread, which is about off-the-record conversations, a poster basically revealed the alleged source for the incorrect information about Jeff's departure from Palm Beach.

 

Way to come on here and try to be the hammer and then come off looking like a tool. So you got interviewed before Jeff. La dee da.

Some info on here, including mine, might have been a little off the mark(although I was just relaying was I was told by others involved in the hiring process and I'm not sure why I should believe everything YOU say either), but the facts are the facts. Darlington fucked up royal as a professional. Orlando fucked up royal as a colleague.

And yet you harp on a factual error I relayed regarding the Herald's hire of Darlington while railing against me for raising the issue to begin with. Keep hammering away at that one error, which I can't even apologize for because of the impeccable source.

 

No, what's comical is you coming in and dictating our policy on your third post...

Can we get you a big steaming mug? ? ?

 

Once again, we have Journalistic Ethics as Taught by Hollywood.

No wonder all these arrogant, egomaniacal, control-freak cockflogger coaches think they can just say, "hey this is off the record," and then go on and talk about niggers and faggots and jewboys and spics and coons and coon-asses, and anything else they want, and nobody can say anything about it.

If Nick Saban doesn't want to be dragged through the streets for using ethnic epithets, then he shouldn't use them in public. Ever.

 

I'm a whiny bitch with the guts to use my name.

Try it.

And, again, your facts are still off, whoever the hell you are.

You spread garbage about Jeff on this board, suggesting that he was unethical in the way he left the Palm Beach Post. I don't care where you got it, or think you got it, but it was dead wrong. And it's enough already.

If you want to say that his writing sucks, or my writing sucks, go ahead. You want to say Jeff made a mistake here, or Orlando made a mistake, and discuss it as a journalistic concern, you're entitled. But I hope, if you're a writer, that you don't use the same reckless approach in your stories as you did on this board.

I'll let the people that I respect in this business, people whose names I know, decide if I'm a tool for trying to clear up lies about my friends, colleagues and competitors. I feel fairly secure about what they would say.

 

Ethan,

I think 99 percent of the people on here realize the situation is what it is and are ready to move on ... I think you could do the same ... any mistake that big involving that beat is going to come with its criticism ... especially from peers ... condemning it isn't the right tact ... my advice is to leave it alone, the story will die and Darlington will be just fine.

 

Ummmmmmmmmm, that issue was never raised on this thread until you brought it up. Looks like you were looking for something to whine about tonight. Hope you got your nut off. And next time those people you keep referncing tell me what's going on in their shop, I'll believe them again. Shit, they're only the SE and the ME ...