Football Coach Wins Defamation Case Against Gannett

[PCLoadLetter]

Also: It is SO far past time for news orgs to stop with "confidential sources" for shirt that is not a matter of national security. If I can't get someone to put their name on it, I don't have a story. This goes for everything from coaching searches to the gotcha! items like this one.

And beyond that -- the whole "two sources" requirement is for two sources with individual, first-hand knowledge of the situation. Neither source fit that description in this case.

 

[YMCA B-Baller]

'Egregious': In libel lawsuit, man wrongly identified by The Oklahoman seeks damages

Helluva read. The detailed look at how the newsroom handled the story in real time is ridiculous in some parts.

Minutes later, after local reactions she obtained were added to the article, Martinez-Keel asked in the chat, "Can ya girl get a byline now?"

Patterson, The Oklahoman's sports editor, replied affirmatively at 1:59 p.m.

"Get in on this traffic party," Patterson said.

Wow. Gannett boiled down to its essence right there.

And this in the original story posted, "Smith highlighted the self-interested haste displayed by The Oklahoman in their pursuit of breaking the news, neglecting their responsibility to verify the accuracy of a story with life-altering consequences."

 

[FileNotFound]

That's exactly the kind of shirt that will come back to bite you unless you have the unimpeachable defense of being 100 percent provably right. Which they didn't.

 

[wicked]

'Egregious': In libel lawsuit, man wrongly identified by The Oklahoman seeks damages

Helluva read. The detailed look at how the newsroom handled the story in real time is ridiculous in some parts.

Minutes later, after local reactions she obtained were added to the article, Martinez-Keel asked in the chat, "Can ya girl get a byline now?"

Patterson, The Oklahoman's sports editor, replied affirmatively at 1:59 p.m.

"Get in on this traffic party," Patterson said.

Modern journalism in its finest.

Another reason to never, ever put shirt like this in writing.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Way to nail that high school name.

"But, conflicting reports emerged Friday afternoon on social media about his involvement," the update read. "Sapulpa, who couldn't be reached for comment, deleted his Twitter account and a Facebook post showing he was calling games at Sapulpa High School on Thursday."

 

[FileNotFound]

Way to nail that high school name.

nb: Sapulpa is a large suburb of Tulsa.

 

[Twirling Time]

I'm actually a little familiar with Sapulpa HS. One of my friends in college started there as a print reporter before she moved to TV and started moving up the market chain.

It's basically the main high school of the Osage Nation but 2/3 of its students are white. It competes in 5A in Oklahoma but would still be in 4A Division I in Texas, which is how I compare schools these days.

 

[dixiehack]

Avoiding blatant libel shouldn't depend on who owns your newspaper, especially if you are working at a metro and not the Podunk Pennysaver.

 

[DanOregon]

How much hatred must some of those (former?) employees have had to provide so many damning quotes for the behind the scenes - its as if they were taking notes as the whole thing went down.

 

[jr/shotglass]

I'm actually a little familiar with Sapulpa HS. One of my friends in college started there as a print reporter before she moved to TV and started moving up the market chain.

It's basically the main high school of the Osage Nation but 2/3 of its students are white. It competes in 5A in Oklahoma but would still be in 4A Division I in Texas, which is how I compare schools these days.

So Mr. Sapulpa was announcing at Sapulpa High.

Smack my ass and call me Alice.

 

[Twirling Time]

So Mr. Sapulpa was announcing at Sapulpa High.

Smack my ass and call me Alice.

A little weird, but I guess it's not much different than a guy named Allen announcing for Allen High School or a guy named Dover playing baseball for whichever Dover High School.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Unless I missed it, I also noticed that not one of the paper's employees held the title of copy editor.