I saw the Bissinger-Leitch session, and I have to say that though I like Deadspin and TBL a lot, there’s a lot of truth to what Biss had to say. Modern media has been overcome with a desire not to report the news correctly so much as to make the biggest splash. In other words, the goal of media is to make headlines about making the news.
If you’re first or if you have an inside story no one else has, then you’re successful. That’s what corporate heads like because competitors have to refer to your site (brand) as they tell the story.
Aww, commerce rears its ugly head.
Trace this back to Congress ridding media outlets of their need to adhere to the Fairness Doctrine, particularly in politics, and now you don’t have journalism anymore, you have opinion. ESPN is the leader in this for sports; Fox, CNN, MSNBC and others follow in the political forums. But take the pre-NFL Draft shows: No one knew anything because no one knew how one athlete going early would require another team to adjust. But for weeks ahead of time, we had talking heads screaming about who was going where.
Bissinger’s point to Leitch is rather worthy: If you’re not in the milieu, you cannot comment on the milieu. Leitch’s point was, I believe, that by staying out of the press box, he was staying out of the entire sports industry. That’s legitimate, to a point. But when you post pictures of Matt Leinert in a hot tub with girls and a beer bong, the question has to be why. What’s the context? Leitch doesn’t have any; his reasoning is, ‘Just because we can (modern electronics like cell phone cameras), we do.’ To which Biss asked again, what’s the point? Leitch didn’t have an answer.
It was embarrassing to Leinert; and Leitch even went so far as to say that it’s what you would expect from a 24-year-old. Exactly Biss’s point, and he asked why did Leitch post it, then. Leitch said it wasn’t out of the ordinary, so it wasn’t news. But he posted it anyway? Why? To draw attention. Ahh. Page views. Advertising revenue. Brand awareness.
Ahh, commerce rears its ugly head again.
Media used to do journalism and make money. Now it’s about making money, and to Bissinger’s point, journalism has suffered. He’s right. We’re in the Age of Snark, and there’s nothing to be learned. It’s all flash commentary, fast opinion and on to the next subject.
Owners of blogs like TBL and Deadspin might in fact want to think about that for a while, because such institutions as newspapers used to take that responsibility seriously. Informing the public was a duty. Too many blogs try to entertain us with outrageous statements and high volume. That great second basemen for the Cambridge Giants, Billy Shakespeare said it best, “sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
Ted Johnson,
San Ramon, CA
