Monday, December 03, 2007
A Lesson in Journalism ... from an Athlete
It's been one of those days where it's easy to forget that you're a journalist, and just as easy to be irritated with your industry. No, scratch that, this whole week has been that way.Today was the funeral of Sean Taylor, aired live on several local stations. I watched as his family, his teammates, his longtime girlfriend fought to get through the three-and-a-half hour service without breaking down. Some were successful. But most weren't.
Tears stung my eyes, while some spilled onto the cheeks of a coworker. It was hard. It was heartbreaking. A supervisor said she wasn't watching specifically because she didn't want to end up sobbing at her desk. And I wanted to turn away myself at times.
But what was keeping me glued in? The fact that for once, in this terrible, terrible week, Sean Taylor was being remembered for what he truly was, by people who truly knew him. Not being analyzed by desk-dwelling anchors. Not being examined by columnists who didn't know him personally. And not being dragged into the tired news narrative that implies everytime a young black man dies, it must have been because of the nature of his "thug" lifestyle.
Luckily, for Sean, his family and his memory, I wasn't the only one choked with frustration. With a bit of a swarm of media people at the service, those who had the opportunity took the chance to bite back at everyone who "reported" on Sean's "thug lifestyle" throughout the week.
Otis Wallace, the mayor of Florida City summed up the sentiment -- saying the media should be ashamed for jumping to conclusions merely on speculation. And he added that he hopes "the media gets a small lesson in grace and humility" from it all.
At my desk, I nodded in agreement and said a quiet "thank you." And an arena-full of mourners stood to applaud, loudly.
But I couldn't help but wonder -- how many times will that quote show up in tomorrow's papers? Will journalists be willing to examine themselves, just as critically as they examined Sean?
I did a Google search. The Washington Post's Jason La Canfora is the only one so far to do so, in his Redskins Insider blog.
I hope it won't stay that way.
When Sean was first wounded, journalists found it necessary report legal woes from years ago, stemming from an incident where he allegedly brandished a gun while trying to keep men from stealing his property. Some, in Sean's death, found it necessary to recount the times he got in trouble on the field. Their implication -- that Sean fell to a lifestyle that, as his loved ones say, he actually wasn't involved in.
So will those same journalists feel the need to report on the open criticism of their work (used loosely) at Sean's service? Will they note that Wallace's words, and the same sentiment from other speakers, drew the some loudest, most earnest applause?
I hope so. We're supposed to report the full story, right?
Labels: 24-hour news cycle, broadcasting, diversity, frustration, industry analysis, journalism, prejudice, sports, the industry
continue...Saturday, May 05, 2007
A horse is a horse, of course?
It's Derby Weekend, and as I was reading my paper's preview section on the big race, something dawned on me.How do you tell which horse is Circular Quay and which is Zanjero?
Hard Spun from Stormello?
Cowtown Cat from Scat Daddy?
It is a photo editor's potential e-mail nightmare.
That wasn't Street Sense in that picture! It was Any Given Saturday you idiot! You guys know nothing about horses and I am thinking about canceling my subscription.
Ah, yes. The age-old threat.
I'm trusting that our paper relied on wire services like the AP and Getty Images to get those IDs right. We all know that if a newspaper misidentified a photo Barbaro all hell would break loose.
But is that crime as aggregious as the crime of misidentifying actual people? In an e-mail to Poynter's Jim Romenesko a couple of months back, you'll remember that e-mailer David Mills was annoyed that even well-known African-Americans were misidentified in photo captions. Said Mills, "Ever notice how black people are often misidentified in newspaper and magazine photo captions? I mean famous black people. It’s a weird phenomenon.
"...In last month's James Brown tribute issue of Rolling Stone, there's a photo on page 48 with this caption: "Brown with Sharpton in 1974.” Alas, the man seated next to J.B. isn’t the Rev. Al Sharpton; it’s trombonist Fred Wesley. (Sharpton pointed this out to listeners of his syndicated radio talk show, saying "it ain't me," according to Richard Prince’s blog.) Forget how widely exposed Rev. Al’s face is. Fred Wesley is one of the great musicians, arrangers and bandleaders in funk and soul music going back 35 years. The editors of Rolling Stone should know what he looks like."
Mills didn't say what several non-media types who are black, would: "Yo, we don't all look alike."
But do all horses do look alike, and by virtue of that statement I am equestrice, not prejudice.
Media critics have used the frequent mistakes to push for more people of color to be hired on the copy and photo desks in newspapers and magazines. I mean, you don't want to be the mag that misidentifies Harold Ford Jr. for Obama.
Not a good look.
And in the horse-world, mistaking one horse for another is probably just as bad.
Labels: Kentucky Derby, Mr. Ed, prejudice
continue...