Those of us in the blogosphere with our platforms of varying tones and readership took a collective beating last week on HBO's "Costas Now" summit on sports media.
The heated Internet segment on the informative, yet crammed forum was generally a lump dump on sports blogs even with host Bob Costas' attempts to note that not everything on the Web need be tagged as uninformed or malicious.
I'm a fan of Michael Wilbon's. I enjoy his take on sports in general and religiously watch him and Tony Kornheiser on ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption." It seems not a day goes by on "PTI" where Wilbon isn't telling his counterpart how well or how long he's known a particular sports figure. I'm willing to stipulate that's Wilbon's a very plugged-in guy so I just let it pass. But listening to him the other night on "Costas Now" — albeit in an edited sound byte — snub his nose at us unconnected sports bloggers was disconcerting. Here's what he said:
"What are [bloggers'] credentials? Where's the opinion come from — just sitting on the couch?"
I would submit the vast majority of sports bloggers are passionate about what they write, just like those who muse on politics, entertainment or anything else in the mainstream culture. If we are people of reasonable intelligence, can't our positions be sensible and thoughtful even if we don't hang out in the locker room or host a daily cable talk show? Wilbon apparently thinks not. Thank goodness there's still the office water cooler.
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From our vantage point it's difficult to defend, as Costas put it, "the tone of gratuitous potshots and mean-spirited abuse" that's employed in many sports blogs. That's why this blogger doesn't go that route. It's also because as a journalist with more than 20 years in newspapers I can't do it any other way.
The big fish is Deadspin.com, which has carved out quite a niche by taking a decidedly caustic take on sports news "without access, favor or discretion." It can be funny, is often acidic and gets more than 10 million hits a month. It's the "South Park" of sports blogs and like the TV show it's not everyone's flavor of the month.
It thus came as little surprise that Deadspin founder and editor Will Leitch took the hardest blows on "Costas Now." Launching the barrage was longtime journalist Buzz Bissinger, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the book "Friday Night Lights" and apparently another antiblog generalist.
"I really think you're full of shit," Bissinger told Leitch. "I think that blogs are dedicated to cruelty, they're dedicated to journalistic dishonesty, they're dedicated to speed."
Blogs, he continued, "are the dumbing down of society," and the general quality of the writing is "despicable."
Wow! I think I'll take my ball and go home now.
Talk about painting a picture with some mighty broad strokes. To say blogs are the "dumbing down of society" is rather simplistic considering questionable taste and shoddy reporting have permeated all media much longer than blogs have been omnipresent. Is there anything more "despicable" than Bill O'Reilly mocking homeless veterans on national TV? And wasn't the "Headless Body in Topless Bar" from a real human being?
The blanket indictment of bloggers as hacks reeks of sanctimony. There's a lot of earnest effort being put forth by well-meaning folks who are just as rabid about their sports as Bissinger or Wilbon. While we may not have the journalistic chops or inside access, we most definitely have the fervor. And isn't that what makes us all fans in the first place?
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8 months ago
Great take on this debate, Howard.
The things that is lost on the journalists and pundits who regularly dis sports blogs is that blogs, for the most part, are written by fans—their audience. So they're essentially telling their own viewers and readers that their opinions don't count cause they don't have access, and that everything they have to say is filth.
What a way to show respect to your audience!
This is akin to the record companies suing music listeners for illegal downloading and thus alienating their customers. Rather, sports journalists should find a way to engage bloggers and their audience and include them in the conversation, rather than deride them and shut them out.
If they don't, they may find themselves in a similar situation as the major music labels—increasingly irrelevant.
8 months ago
I am an avid fan of both PTI and Deadspin. I am also a blogger (albeit a bad one).
I love Deadspin, but can certainly understand why it makes some people's skin crawl - truth be told, it makes mine crawl sometimes too. They create snarky commentary about everything. Sometimes it flops, often it doesn't.
I love PTI, but Friday's episode pissed me off to no end. Wilbon's attitude towards blogs just stinks - you know it's bad when lebetard (sp?) is playing the voice of reason. 90% of MSM is crap. 90% of blogs are crap. It's up to the readers to understand and sift through all the BS. Do they have to do that more now than they used to? Yes, but aren't we all the better for it? I think blogs push the envelope and challenge everyone to be better at reporting on and knowledgeable of sports.
And Wilbon's call for "credentials" is just weak. Just because he went to NW and writes for the Post doesn't mean his game wrap-ups are nearly as brilliant as Kelly Dwyer's over at ball don't lie.
8 months ago
Great article!
I think the key to understanding their opinion is to look at it from their perspective. Sports blogging is quite literally a threat to sports journalism. The viewing public is generally very educated. Sure, there are alot of idiots out there, but there are also alot of idiot sensationalist journalists who are just as likely to lambast undeserving athletes over trivial matters. And how often have we heard about writers destroying the public image of professional athletes just because of a personal vendetta. Of course, that isn't the side of their profession they want to discuss.
I don't blame any of these journalists for being very outspoken against bloggers. What would we do if someone started doing the work we get paid to do, and they not only did it for free just because of their passion for the work, but many of them (although clearly not all) provide insightful and well thought out opinions. In 10 years the sports journalism profession may be completely revolutionized by the blogging phenomenon, and many of these classic journalists are probably quite skeptical of their role in this new world. They will continue to call us malicious hacks and worse, but it is more out of self-preservation than it is from a meritorious argument. The fact remains that anything you find on virtually any blog, no matter how dumb or mean-spirited, can also be found in a newspaper, sports column, tv or radio show.
I respect Wilbon's opinion, and I understand his line of reasoning. Ultimately, the blogosphere will balance itself out, just like modern day journalism has. People will gravitate to and place more trust in credible writers, and although they may still read the occasional "quack" they likely won't coniser their opinions nearly as meritorious. This evolution mirrors the "yellow journalism" phenomenon that occurred in the early 20th century.
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