The Sports Media Conscience: Who Makes the Call?

Throughout the sports calendar we are always fortunate enough to have athletes behave badly. Athletes Gone Wild at your local Blockbusters now. Whether it is an inappropriate or insensitive remark, a knuckle headed action or a criminal behavior we can expect to have it reported on. And most fans not only expect it but see it as some kind of responsibility that the media gives us lots of tabloids.

More often than not this can be entertaining reading or at least a source of "I can't believe that guy" fodder to discuss with our sports crazed friends and co-workers. Soon to follow however, we often hear the whisper and sometimes the cries of "what kind of role model is he or she?" Many fans feel it is the "kick in the crotch" kinda of pain at these moments. You know the feeling. When it happens it is like surely death is going to result from this, only to have it pass quicker than we thought possible. And it seems the vast majority of fans want these scintillating gems of so called news. Also most agree by some definition it is newsworthy. Somewhere in the ballpark of the Michael Vick saga and Allen Iverson getting a speeding ticket.

So let's agree that the fan whether interested or not, understands the coverage of graphic detail in the Michael Vick case. And the average athletic supporter like myself, sees the logic in hearing the wide array of tidbits concerning steroid use in sports.

Nonetheless, sometimes the fan is confused with it's buddy the sports media though. For example let's take an interview Kevin Garnett did a couple years back when Minnesota was last in the playoffs. In a small area with maybe 15 reporters he was asked about the Timberwolves and their playoff preparation. He made a passionate but ill advised comparison to soldiers headed into battle with their full arsenal of weaponry. Being that US soldiers were engaged in warfare at the time this comment was deemed in poor taste. I was listening to ESPN radio the next morning and I listened to the hosts rant on about how disrespectful and insensitive these remarks were. Which the average fan would see the lightning rod type response this analogy could have. So the coverage and opinions were not a surprise per say. However was this really a need to be reported topic?

If the remarks are so bad, so inflammatory, and/or offensively disrespectful, why am I hearing them replayed ad nauseum? In a 10 minute span I heard "in case your just tuning in listen to what Kevin Garnett said" followed by the sound bite four to five times. It also got some legs in the print media.

Really most fans have mixed emotion about this. Is this really necessary? Of course there is the "rubber neck" response. People will listen or read. An important question then is what is worse or more reprehensible, 15 people hearing an unacceptable comment or the media making sure that millions of people hear it?

Even if sports journalism defines it as news, we did not need to hear it verbatim did we? We the fan are intelligent enough to connect the dots aren't we? You could have reported that Kevin Garnett used a poor war analogy in a recent interview and we would have gotten the story.

Similarly were the remarks of Don Imus. Which only had a sports connection because of his targeted victims. Really though who even listens to him? Not any where close to as many people as read the local paper or watch sports center. So what was the motive to air or repeat his vulgarity? Isn't it repulsive enough that he used his platform for his careless remarks? So why would the media feel the need to spread his message abroad for him?

Again it could have been reported that Don Imus made racially and gender insensitive cruel remarks. We would have gotten the story without offending the masses more and embarrassing an NCAA women's basketball team and a race over and over again.

Whatever happened to two wrongs don't make a right? Where is the line of responsibility? Look it appears that the fan has spoken if ratings are boosted by lurid reporting. But really we look at accidents if they are there but we don't drive around looking for them. Honestly the ratings spike would probably be the same if the juicy story is reported with the offensive nature left out. The fan is a curious creature but also one who can read between the lines.