Good and bad reporters exist throughout media

GAZETTE PERSPECTIVE

GAZETTE PERSPECTIVE

GAZETTE PERSPECTIVE

As much as I enjoy The Arizona Republic, including its sports coverage, I don't usually turn to the sports section for great wisdom and insight.  Imagine my delight when I found both this Sunday morning while leisurely perusing the big Sunday paper.

In a column by Paola Boivin on the front page of the sports section headlined "Hysteria will abate with smart coaching pick," the Republic sportswriter talked about how the social media was impacting the search for a new football coach at ASU to replace Dennis Erickson.  About midway through, she explained how the unchecked social media and the Internet in general are distorting reality - and the role good journalists can play in keeping the world honest.

I ask you to please read the following excerpt from Boivin's column.  I promise you, it will be the most important thing you will read all week.

And I ask you to also consider the shoddy journalism being practiced in our own Rim Country in light of what Boivin has to say.  My friends, you are getting Payson Mayor Kenny Evans unfiltered when you read the Roundup, and that's a very scary thing.  If you don't believe me, ask GCC Board Member Tom Loeffler about how things are being skewed in the Roundup.  Ask Gazette Columnist Noble Collins about the opinions and ideas that are not allowed to be expressed on the Roundup's editorial pages.

Here's the excerpt:

"It is getting harder for the public to distinguish among the layers of media: legitimate vs. amateur.  It is further complicated by the truth that both good and bad reporters exist in both arenas.

"We live in an era when everyone has a voice.  Statements on Twitter, on Facebook, on messages boards are said with such authority that they seduce us into thinking they are fact."

In the column, Boivin quotes Kenn Tomasch, an instructor at ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, who teaches a course called Sports & Media:

"Journalists have long been the filter, the buffer between the information and the people who consume it.  Sometimes, rumors and half-truths need to be held up and frisked, even if it's just briefly, before they're allowed to pass through."

To read the entire column, click on sports.azcentral.com 

Jim Keyworth
Gazette Blog Editor