Media mistakes, Tim Tebow, Sarah Burke and movies I'll never see

The opening for today’s blog was going to focus on media and to discuss how much better off we would all be if  we could trust that our major media outlets were providing us with unbiased coverage of events, specifically when it comes to politics.  However, that subject will have to wait until another blog.  What I really want to focus on today, is how the importance of “breaking” stories in a competitive 24 hour news cycle combined with the ease of reaching a large audience through social media has made it much easier for inaccurate stories to be spread.

Let me step back for a second and make the point that even in the “Golden Age” of broadcast news when there were no cable channels and when the Internet did not yet exit, mistakes were made.  In 1948,  Americans awoke to newspaper headlines that read “Dewey beats Truman” in the 1948 U.S. elections when in fact Harry Truman had won the election.  As a child, I remember coming home from school one day and hearing that Jim Brady, then press secretary for then U.S. President Ronald Reagan, had been killed in an assassination attempt on his boss.  Mr. Brady is alive to this day and the press room at the White House is named in his honour.

However, in those days, making 100% sure that a story was accurate and double checking reliable sources seemed to outweigh “breaking” the story much more than it does today.  Last night www.cbssports.com, a website owned and operated by one of the most recognized media outlets in North America, published a story on the death of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.  The problem was, Joe Paterno was not dead, albeit he was close to death, and would be pronounced dead the following morning.  Just as bad, the source for the story was a website owned and operated by Penn State students.  In short, CBS Sports went forward with a story that could have conceivably been published by two drunk Frat Boys wanting to see if they could get a rumour started. 

I can understand that there is a bunch of pressure on different media outlets to break stories and to provide insight on issues that is different from what is being offered by other media outlets.  However, whatever happened to getting the story right?

Random thoughts:

·        Last week, the City of Timmins gave the contract for a major industrial project in Timmins to a company from Sudbury.  The uproar in Timmins was immediate and focused on why a Sudbury company over several Timmins bids.  The problem is that adopting a policy where local companies are favoured in the bidding process would open a legal can of worms that no one on Council likely wants to deal with.  The other point that comes up is that shopping local is terrific but at what cost?  Should we be willing to pay 5% more to a local company, 10% more? Yet again, a can of worms! I'm not saying it should not happen, I'm just saying that it likely will not happen for the foreseeable future.

·        Even those of you that do not follow football have likely heard of Tim Tebow, quarterback for the Denver Broncos, who is now famous for turning a lousy throwing arm, good looks and a very public belief in God into a national phenomenon.  From a pop culture point of view, I think that Tim Tebow is a real interesting story.  The problem is that just about every knowledgeable football analyst will tell you that once NFL defenses adapt to his style as they did with Michael Vick, he will be left to depend on an arm he does not have.  The good news for Tebow is that he should have a long career in broadcasting or politics once his football career takes a nosedive.

·        The movie award season is officially under way and, yet again, the nominees and winners are mostly from movies that no one has ever heard of and that most people will never bother watching.

·        Earlier this week Canada lost one of its sporting innovators when Sarah Burke succumbed to injuries she suffered during a practice session.  Sarah was one of the most respected freestyle skiers in the world and would have been a favourite for a gold medal in the 2014 Olympics.  Her passing also brought to the forefront the fact that her family would be left with a huge medical bill from her stay at a hospital in Utah.  We can complain about high taxes all we want but in similar circumstances OHIP would cover the bulk of the over $200K…yup, you read right, $200K…costs for her treatment and stay at the hospital in Utah.  The good news is that a website was created to raise money to help the family and at the moment that I write this, $278K had been raised, with the additional cash being put into a Foundation created in Sarah’s name.  There is much more to say on this story but it will have to wait until my next blog.

On that note, have a great week...look for a social media related blog later this week!

Changing the "Code", being "Google spooked", the soundtrack to my life and Elvis

I’ve spent the last several months listening to hockey experts on just about every channel provide their opinion about why there are so many concussions and major injuries occurring in the National Hockey League and what could be done to “fix the problem”.  The biggest problem facing hockey is not equipment, not officiating, not the size of the players, not the speed of the game.  I firmly believe that the biggest problem in professional hockey is the “Code”.   

The “Code” is much more than “unwritten rules” which are typically rooted in superstition or in showing respect for one’s opponent.  The “Code” is much more than that and is rooted deeply in the dressing rooms and clubhouses of every team sport.  It differs from sport to sport, but the bottom line is that every player knows it exists, every player respects it so that they do not appear like they are “…not being a team player”.   

If a player from Team A gets injured as a result of a “dirty hit”, Team A will be crying bloody murder while players and coaches from Team B will be saying things like:  “I did not have a good angle”, “it looked like the guy turned his back at the wrong time”, “I’m sure that he did not intend to hurt the guy”, “it’s all part of the game”.  They say this in order to protect their offending teammate and to respect the “Code” which says you never call out a teammate publicly.  The problem with this is that if the roles are reversed and it is a Team B player that gets injured, they are the ones crying bloody murder for an identical hit to the one they were defending when it was a teammate doing the hitting.

“Hockey insiders” (…most of them former NHL players themselves), will tell you that if a player has an issue with a dirty hit by a teammate, it should be handled internally.  The problem is, NHL players these days are mini individual corporations, and they mostly don’t care what their teammates have to say in the room.  Imagine if several of their teammates were to step in front of the media and say something to the effect of; “…it was a dirty hit, he let down the team, he made our organization look bad, it is something that we are trying to eliminate from the game so he should know better and we think he should be suspended.”  If players were publicly held accountable for dirty hits by their teammates rather than defended by their teammates, it would begin a culture shift in the league that would eventually force players to be more careful with their on-ice actions at the risk of being alienated by their team.  The time has come for NHL players to stop defending hits by teammates that they would find unacceptable if delivered by an opponent.  It is also time for team management and the members of the hockey media (specifically former players and coaches) to be supportive when players call out teammates for dangerous play.  Alas, I do not see it happen any time soon, the “Code” remains strong! 

Random Thoughts:

·        It might be a sign of me getting older, but I always find it interesting when I hear a song that brings me back to a specific time and place in my life.  The memories always seem so vivid and the song brings me right back to that moment in time.  These are the songs that are soundtrack to my life to date.

·        I was really proud of the Canadian team at the recently completed World Junior Hockey Championships.  I was proud for two reasons.  First, I am proud of how most of them did not give up when they fell behind 6-1 to the Russians in the semi-finals.  Their comeback made the last 10 minutes of the game some of the most exciting hockey I’ve seen in a while.  Second.  I am proud of how they came out and played hard during their Bronze medal game.  In Canadian hockey, the only medal that matters is Gold and our teams have a history of having difficulty in bronze medal games.  For our team to play so well in beating Finland for the Bronze was good to see.

·        This week, I experienced how the Internet and all the information in contains can spook you in ways that would have never been possible as recently as 15 years ago.  I was not feeling well mid-week and had a couple of symptoms that I was not used to experiencing.  So, of course, I “Googled” my symptoms and within minutes, I was almost convinced that I was on the verge of death.  Obviously, having so much information, especially if it is from reliable sources, can be extremely helpful whether it is for heath related matters or other issues.  However, that same information certainly makes it possible for individuals to “over-analyze”.

·        I saw an interview with Christy Turlington earlier this week.  For those that do not know her, Christy Turlington was one of the biggest supermodels back in the mid-eighties thru the mid-nineties.  Let’s just say that she makes 42 years old look a lot better than I do.   I bring her up because I was so impressed about the work she is currently doing for “Every Mother Counts”, an organization focused on maternal health.  Listen, maternal health is not an issue that is close to my heart but it was refreshing to see a celebrity that not only supports a cause but is so active in the organization’s work, research and efforts.  It seems to be a growing trend amongst celebrities and one that I hope continues.  Charitable causes need to be more than a photo-op or a trip to a stricken area that will provide good video clips making a celebrity look like a difference maker.

·        Elvis Stojko, former world champion figure skater, was in Timmins for a show on New Year’s Day.  At one point I wondered how often in his life, as he is leaving an event, he has mumbled to himself:  “Elvis has left the building”.  Come on, you know he’s had to have done it at least once!