Sports Media - Will the "real" journalist's please stand up

Before I dive head-first into my rant...

First, I want to give a shout out to Scott at Raptorblog who was brought on the radio show hosted by Sports Bloggers Live. He did a great job giving some insight into the upcoming NBA Draft as well as defending Canada in the process. Scott is mentioned as one of the "blog" fathers when it comes to blogging about the NBA and you should definitely check his stuff out.

Secondly, I want to give props to my two favorite NBA bloggers Anthony and Paul at NBASource. They are knowledgeable about the game and have provided very insightful pieces on the NBA as I have followed their writing all season long. I want to take this opportunity to voice my displeasure in some of the backlash they took for an article they wrote recently. The guys took a little step away from the game itself and brought us a humorous piece on NBA Wives. I did not take credibility away from them, I took the article at face value and took in their witty comments. Their site carries a good amount of traffic as they write for a couple of other NBA sites as well but the comments on their previous articles were few and far between. This time around this article, which was meant to be funny not insulting, started getting backlash of racism and even went as low as insulting the way they look or their sexual preferences. One comment asked these guys to stop writing if they were going to write this stuff. My issue began here... Freedom of speech is the biggest weapon "Journalists" have and when used wisely they build on their credibility. These guys have been putting out some great reads and that article achieved exactly what it was trying to be t.. "humourous" !!! I shall leave it at that...and I recommend their site to any NBA fan.

Now on to my scheduled rant...
Jour-na-lism: Journalism is a discipline of collecting, verifying, reporting and analyzing information gathered regarding current events, including trends, issues and people.

My girl Kim recently posted on the subject of journalism and the "celebritism" that some journalists have acquired. She argued that does this cause them to lose their credibility. Quoted below is part of her post... (you can check the entire post here)

We can also ask the question... Are American journalists different from Canadian ones? I would have to argue 'yes'. Put a picture of King and Peter Mansbridge side by side and ask folks around the world to identify both men. They know Larry King. Mansbridge? "Who's that?"

Well-known American journalists are seen as celebrities. If Mansbridge or Robertson were riding the TTC I highly doubt people would be clamoring for an autograph.

Is the fact that many Canadian journalists are not on the level of 'celebritism' a good thing? And for those journalists that are... are they still credible? Are they still "trustworthy"?

Yes... American Journalists are different if you put these two in comparison. Just the fact that CNN is broadcast to a larger audience and is more accessible than CBC. Larry King is not just a Journalist (if we are giving him that title) he is a TV "personality", he is a cultural icon of our century. His exposure on one of the most watched news channels around the world has a lot to do with the "celebrity" status he has achieved. Peter Mansbridge may have the same credibility and a list of accolades but if your are reading the news or writing the news, as long as the amount of exposure you have is limited or controlled it is a lot harder to reach this level of "celebritism". Don Cherry, one of the hosts of Hockey Night in Canada is a closer comparison to Larry King due to the fact that even though he isn't considered a journalist he is a sports "analyst" with a great deal of knowledge on the game and has come to be known over time as a great sports "personality".

Kim's piece sparked up discussions about sports journalists and the differences between broadcasters and journalists which led to the title of my rant and my further analysis of the argument at hand. Paul Benedict from NBASource did 2 articles rating the broadcast talent on the major TV networks covering the NBA. (article 1 - article 2) On Television, the title of "Sports Journalist" is used very freely and its very misleading. Marv Albert who does the play by play for NBA ON TNT is not a journalist, I would categorize him as a sports analyst and a sports announcer, who gives his opinions and insight on the game as it is unfolding. David Aldridge who serves as the courtside reporter for the same broadcast, is a journalist as he is reporting data he has gathered from sources and presents it to the viewers. Now Steve Kerr is not broadcaster he is merely there to give insight to the game, he is an analyst who is trying to build into a announcer. In a similar way Don Cherry and Ron MacLean who co-host Hockey Night in Canada complement each other but one is a sports analyst with first hand knowledge of the game ( as per Steve Kerr) and the other is a Broadcaster who complements Mr. Cherry and provides analysis. Bringing it back to the studios... The hosts of "Sportscenter" are broadcasters simply conveying the news provided to them by journalists!

The print media is a lot more defined in terms of who the journalists are. Sure there is a great deal of fabrication but these people are still journalists. The NBA, NFL and other professional sports are a business and the media is like free advertising for them in a way. Sports is considered entertainment and the journalism is given a lot more leeway v/s other news like world issues. Categorized as entertainment for the masses, just like the Hollywood the rumour mill is always running when it comes to sports journalism. False reporting is taken a lot more lightly in sports due to its entertaining nature. Reading about Terrel Owens drama is like the equivalent about Tom Cruise fit on Oprah, they both provide for entertaining reads even if parts of the articles are fabricated. Sports is like any other business, and it is reported on in ways that create a buzz. When a journalist is writing a piece about a family whose house burnt down they get all the facts and its written with a lot more integrity, where as, writing about Terrel Owens new hissy fit has a great deal of leeway in terms of how far the writer can go in order to "entertain".

I am not trying to take away the integrity of sports journalist but just wanted to point out some issues I have been thinking about. Does the fact that professional sports leagues are part of the entertainment business ruin the credibility of those writing for it? In a strange way.. Yes! For me its more realistic to compare sports journalism to Hollywood reporting rather than with news released by the Reuters. I personally wish to enter the field someday somehow but for now I'll keep blogging....