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Bissinger blasts blogs' 'journalistic dishonesty'

WILLIAM HOUSTON

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 8:04 PM EDT 02/05/08

A fistfight on the pros and cons of sports blogs ...Read the full article

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  1. Matt O from Canada writes: Oh, COME ON...so loutish sports fans didn't exist before the Internet? Right...

    The press is so snobbish about the Internet, but the ironic thing is that print media is thriving because of it. Pre-internet, more and more people were turning to TV to get their news...newspapers were dying anyway, but at least people are reading again.

    I can pour myself a cup of coffee in the morning, head to the computer, and read stories from multiple news sources, many of them on-line versions of print newspapers. I can get right, left, and centre perspectives, as well as the international perspective. And this is supposed to be a bad thing?

    I think folks like Wilbon whine because they're no longer the only game in town wherever they happen to be reporting. Spare me the nostalgic stories of whirring printed presses and smokey newsrooms...from where I stand, things aren't perfect, but the options available to individuals are more varied than ever...so how is that bad?
  2. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Matt O from Canada:

    Well said! Just today, we had a perspective from a sports fan in Moscow on what they thought that the Habs needed to do in Game 5... How cool is that?

    However, some of the sports columnists that I know admit that they hate the internet because it allows sports fans to make their own observations about the games and compare them with other fans... They long for the good old days when what they said or wrote about a team was Gospel.

    I think that this change drives some of these sports writers crazy...

    Cheers.
  3. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: BTW Bissinger might want to have a look at the "real world" that his 16 year old son is exposed to at his high school and non-sports related blogs...

    Recently went to a talk from a teacher from Los Angeles on the blogs that teens are frequenting.... Wow... Most sports blogs seem almost biblical in comparison.

    Let's just say that Ron MacLean's "damn" potty mouth is pretty tame in comparison to what many of these kids could be reading these days...

    Cheers.
  4. Andrew Perry from halifax, Canada writes: NBC's Saturday scheduling conflict seems to have been solved in a pretty decisive manner.

    The point made about abusive behavior in the commentary on online articles is dead on the money: how many of the G&M sports threads do we see, at least among those attracting large numbers of respondents, that do not rapidly devolve into playground style insults and taunting?
    The MSM or Old Style Media (OSM) are not guiltless in their allegedly objective coverage: ESPN shills mercilessly for New England based teams, RDS for the Habs, and HNIC is the main marketing arm of MLSE.
    For a sports journalist to complain about the honesty of the reportage from blogs is not remarkably distinct from a Variety or ET reporter complaining about any of the brazillion celebutainment bloggers out there.
    If you want people to read you, make it worth reading. Write well, have up to date info, opinions informed by thought and above all be honest. If the team you grew up loving has bad ownership, call them on it, if you see the home team's goalie snorting lines from some strippers cleavage the night before game six, call it.
    Because those bloggers will, and it is becoming obvious that a lot of OSM reporters are mining those very blogs looking for the things that really are on the mind of Joe Fan.
  5. Matt O from Canada writes: R Miller, yeah, as a teen, I just missed the Internet age, and I'm kind of glad I did. I think the world of blogs, text messaging, facebook, cell phones, etc. must be kind of crazy for kids. Not to mention that a lot of parents seem to be clueless as to what's going on.

    Getting back to sports, I remember when I was young setting my clock radio a few minutes early so I could catch the late-night sports scores the next morning. If I missed them then, I wouldn't get a chance to see them until the evening news. Now we have live access to scores 24-7. Also, I remember cringing being forced to read the sports section of the Ottawa Citizen, which is still pretty terrible. I'd spend my own money to get the Sun, Hockey News, Baseball Weekly, etc. To think of the bucks I could have saved.

    I always hear sportswriters deride non-newspaper sports sites as "fansites", deliberately trying to diminish them to the level of sites where Hollywood stars are worshipped and the like. It's pretty petty if you ask me.
  6. Matt O from Canada writes: Andrew Perry, your points about abusive commentary are valid, but this stuff goes on whether it's on-line or not. It's no different than drunken louts hurling insults (or fists) at each other at the end of every hockey, football, and baseball game I've ever been to. It's just because it's in print that it stands out so starkly.

    And a point I meant to make earlier, which you allude to, is that OSM reporting has just been getting worse and worse and media companies merge and cut back their staffs in the name of "efficiency". There are fewer full-time sports reporters out there than ever, and they all ask the same, dull questions. The bloggers, message boards, et al. seem to be the only outlet to get varied opinions and inside stories.

    Btw, when you mentioned a "home team's goalie snorting lines from some strippers cleavage the night before game six", you didn't have a certain Sens netminder in mind, did you? Hmm?
  7. Andrew Perry from halifax, Canada writes: No another netminder from a few years ago, I had a witness.
  8. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Andrew Perry from Halifax:

    Also, well said! When the sports writers reach a level of interest that many of these bloggers do, the public will start to pay more attention to their opinions.

    You see that this is why that I frequent sports blogs... For example, I never knew that so many hockey fans across Canada felt the same way that you and I did on the issue of the national Maple Leafs broadcasts on HNIC this season...

    The Canadian sportsmedia wouldn't seem to touch the issue until so many posters made it an issue in these threads...

    Cheers.
  9. Matt O from Canada writes: Andrew, you have me curious, but then again, "the dust" has so permeated the sport that I guess it doesn't really matter who you're referring to. The problem is when the habit divides a team in two, as it did in Ottawa.

    Seriously, though, the Senators coke problem is like the worst-kept secret in town. Yet the old-style reporters are too cozy with the players and too worried about lawsuits and keeping themselves in their plum jobs that they ignore the issue entirely.
  10. R Miller from Halifax, Canada writes: Herein lies the real problem for a lot of sports media (or any media for that media) and why the blogosphere are likely the future that the Bissingers of this world are worried about ...

    Look at the example of Mr. Watters in TO... He got a little too honest and condemning for some people's comfort.... Instant access denied to both Watters and his station... No problemo, right?

    However, the blogosphere is less controllable...

    Cheers.
  11. Andrew Perry from halifax, Canada writes: Matt O
    In the case I referenced, the "journalist" supplied the refreshments.
  12. Andrew Perry from halifax, Canada writes: A Ha!... one of my comments was disappeared: was because I accused Cassie Campbell of melting into a s'more when she pitches lob ball questions to players or was it how I described ( with a perfectly accurate sexual metaphor) Sideshow Ron's interview with Bettman at the No Stars Game.
  13. P McLean from Canada writes: Funny how he went from 'H.B. Bissinger' to "Buzz" after his book(whihc was a great book, btw) becomes a movie.... The issue with MSM is the arrogance involved. Take the steroids issue in baseball. They won't admit, but the reason they are going after it is because it is their version of Watergate. I watch EPSN Sports Reporters, and hear many times how stories they cover are covered because "that's what the public wants." BUt when it was brought up about overkill, apathy or whatnot, Mike Lupica said "People don't get to vote on what we cover". Oh, I see. So it's what the people want, except when what you want is not what the peple want. The worst problem, and the blogger had it spot on, is the supposed objectivity. I will say here that this applies to all areas of media, not just the sports people. There is a clear bias in most everything written, or aired for that matter. Bloggers, etc. are simply adult enough to admit the bias, and assume the reader smart enough to decide for themselves whetehr they agree or not agree. Like someone else said, the old school media want to "control the message." Seriously, why should anyone care if Barry Bonds is a jerk or not? Is he hitting or not? BUt by lambasting him every chance they get, the media can "get back at him" for not paying them the hommage they believe they deserve. They are a bunch of school kids frankly. Although I suppose a fistfight would have been interesting to see. BTW, how come no one else has asked how come Houston gets to watch HBO and the rest of us don't?
  14. S A from Toronto, Canada writes: First of all, labelling all blogs with one brush is as asinine and pointless as labelling all newspaper columnists with the same brush. There are some crude, mean-spirited blogs but there are others, which include Deadspin and The Big Lead, that ask the media to be accountable to the standards to which they hold their subjects. When a G&M columnist can criticize the Leafs management for being inconsistent, why can't a blog criticize a columnist like Jay Mariotti or Marty York for taking a position one day and then the exact opposite position a week later? The fact that hard working journalists like Mike Grange and Jeff Blair are creating more frequent contact with their audience, sharing the insights that come from professional journalists with access to the team, and sharing personal anecdotes and opinions are what differentiate them from blogs. The Globe, the Star and others are slowly trying to get this - staying relevant means providing your value through a new medium - expertise, opinion, access are competitive advantages. The blog is just a channel, not the competition. Bissinger is simply threatened and I think Bill Houston sounds like he is too. Get over it and accept the consumer's demand for information has changed and adapt or go extinct.
  15. Chris B from Ottawa, Canada writes: Go to firejoemorgan.com (a - gasp - blog) and see their absolute dismantling of a Buzz Bissinger article. In it, Buzz makes teh claim that pitchers today are coming up and having much less minor league experience than in earlier eras, causing bad pitching and injuries. A whole host of blogs went over this claim, and found it irrefutably wrong. What does Bissinger respond with (on a radio program)? That it was told to him by La Russa and other "respected baseball people" so he feels justified in using the info EVEN THOUGH IT IS IRREFUTABLY WRONG...

    But, no blogs are bad. They are bad journalism. They don't have the ethics of the MSM. Obviously there are a lot of bad blogs. but there are a lot of great blogs too (check out USSMariner.com or the aforementioned firejoemorgan.com). It is silly to look at them, and how they have empowered fans to demand more from their sports teams, as "bad journalism". How about.. different journalism? or complementary journalism. Bottom line? I think Bissinger behaved like a boor.
  16. Fat Head from Canada writes: All I can say is thank goodness for the hard-hitting journalists of the traditional media...just like William Houston.

    I mean without them, where would I glean critical insight into the world of sports? For example, something like today's gem:

    "There is talk, but no confirmation, that Sportsnet personalities will return wearing shirts and ties in September."

    Wow. Hope you will follow-up with your readers just as soon as you have confirmation on that hot piece of news!

    Oh, and if you hear anything about their pants (cuffs, pleats, hi- or low-rise...c'mon Willy, we want all the details!) PLEASE don't waste a scoop like that in a blog!
  17. Slander Us from Toronto, Canada writes: It's hard to tell where Houston stands on this issue, but seems as though he supprost Bissinger. My big problem with Bissinger's argument - I agree that there are good and bad blogs out there - is that there are good and bad newspapers out there too. Someone as informed as him should understand the biggest problem facing newspapers today (and the reason I don't read news from The National Post, The Ottawa Citizen, various Sun publications): specifically the concentrated media ownership that has created Editorial Boards that decide the stance a newspaper's 'journalists' must take. That's not journalism either, it's just propaganda masked as a newspaper. Look at CanWest Media, for example. A number of Editors and Journalists have been fired for taking a different view than their corporate offices dictated them to take. CanWest has been fined repeatedly for adding words like "terrorist" to AP stories that weren't there to help push their views. This is dangerous, and anyone in the media business that thinks this is somehow more legit than a blog is deluded or just folling themselves. A year ago, The National Post wrote a story about an explosion in the West Bank where they reported it was done by Hamas terrorists. Days later, it was revealed to have been a strike by the Isreali army. I'm not trying to get political here, but my point is that you can no longer trust anything in the media as being objective and 'the whole story'. Corporations own the media, corporations are owned by rich individuals, individuals have their own opinions and when they own mulitiple newspapers and TV stations, they can distort their 'reporting' to appear as fact. Like all media, it's up to us to decide what we agree with and enjoy - not intellectuals clinging to outdated ideals that don't exist (and probably never did). The people I feel for most is newspaper boys ...
  18. Andrew Stoeten from Toronto, Canada writes: If anybody is interested, the Tao of Stieb has written as good a piece on this topic as I've seen. Take what they say with a grain of salt, though, they're a blog. Actually, I'd suggest that you only check out the link if your will is strong. Otherwise you may fall prey to these nasty blogs for good.

    http://taoofstieb.blogspot.com/2008/05/middle-aged-white-dudes-have-had-enough.html
  19. aniphylactic shock troops from Victoria, Canada writes: Is anyone else in my boat?

    I read newspaper from the time I got hooked on phonics. With the advent of the Internet, I bothered less and less with the printed version and began to read only online papers. In both cases the G&M is my favorite.

    Then blogs came along - some funny, some profane, and many informative in ways that MSM journalists have never thought of because they're too busy whining.

    While I still hit the G&M online (sorta the Headline News of my life) at this point it's only because these comment boards are so entertaining. I don't think I've visited the National Pustule, Scum chain, or Can'tWest chain sites in months, maybe years.

    Most of my information and entertainment comes elsewhere on this series of interconnected tubes.
  20. Life Insurance Bribe from Canada writes: I turned to sportsblogs out of an interest in more indepth sports (hockey) statistics than typically found anywhere else. Most mainstream media sports writers have very little math training (it appears, or one would think). I don't get that interested anymore in generalized sports reporting... general opinions in mainstream media about who is having a good/bad season are not that much more valid or accurate than the average water cooler discussion.

    I want to know, in more mathematical detail, WHY certain players are better than others.

    You can't really find that kind of analysis in 'regular' media.

    G&M writers James Mirtle & Alan Ryder have interesting personal sports-sites.

    (By the way, it was interesting how profane & vulgar Buzz was on Costas' show, when he was criticizing how profane & vulgar & insulting blogs are...)
  21. Life Insurance Bribe from Canada writes: Hockey stats... e.g. we know that Malkin seemed to have a very good year, finishing 2nd in points... but how might he have done on a very low-scoring team? What is his evenstrength points per 60 minute rating? [Why is ES pts/60 such an important measure?] How does his team's offense & defense fare when he's on the ice, vs. when he's off the ice? How does this compare to other players in the NHL? etc. etc. etc.

    You probably won't find that analysis in the MSM, at least not for a few years.
  22. J K GALBRAITH from Canada writes: Like anything you have try to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to blogs. However, as a general rule I think the mainstrem media websites and blogs are generally going to have more informed opinion and be closer to what is really happening. Why? Simply because they have the staff people who are following the sport the closest. Therefore, they have the most access to players, coaches, managers, GM's, scouts, and other analysts compared to the independent bloggers. This does not mean they are always going to be right but their comments and opinions are going to be based more on what a current situation is rather than simply opinion or speculation. Sometimes they may be too close to a situation and get taken in by somebody trying to create a story or opinion about something but generally that will not happen. So if you want a more informed opinion based on a closer access and knowledge of the people and situation involved go to a mainstream media blog. If you want to get a feel for different fan's opinions or a someone who is spendig a lot of their free time monitoring a lot of other websites including mainstream media ones, then go to an independent blog. Both types of blogs and websits have their place but the reader should be very aware of who is following a team or situation closely and who is following what other people are saying about a team or situation. I would never say the two are equal in their value or reliability as many independent blogs do not have to apply the traditional rules of journalism.(or worry about libel). I still read the Globe and Mail print edition every day. For me, the process of examining where stories are located and why is part of the joy of reading the actual newspaper which is lost in the print edition. There is also nothing better than sitting on your favourite chair reading an excellently written article or profile feeling the newspaper in your hand that you don't get with a computer.
  23. Chris B from Ottawa, Canada writes: Responding to JK Galbraith, I think that as far as Sports blogs go, Baseball blogs are definitely the highest in quality, simply because baseball lends itself to detached analysis. Someone in North Carolina can see that Richie Sexson hits a lot better against lefties than righties, and the Mariners should be seeking out a platoon partner for him. You don't need to interview him or follow the team around for lots of the statistical analysis. In fact because a lot of the MSM are so close to teams, they tend to ignore some of the more objective analysis (ex look at the NYC media on who is more "clutch" Derek Jeter or ARod - and compare it with the stats)
  24. robert quinn from Japan writes: Some of the most cogent dialogue I've seen on these boards. I agree with everybody.

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