Sarah Phillips Scandal: Wild Story Shouldn't Negatively Impact Online Journalism

No matter what profession you're in, there are always a couple of bad apples. Whether it's a white-collar or blue-collar job, people like Sarah Phillips exist in every corner of the workforce. It's important not to let those select few impact an entire group.

For those unaware of the story, Deadspin conducted an in-depth investigation into Phillips, who was working for ESPN's Playbook. It covers everything during her amazing rise from message-board member to ESPN writer, and literally everything in between.

The crazy story ultimately raises doubt about Phillips being who she claims she is. Enough doubt, in fact, that ESPN decided to end its relationship with her hours after the story broke on Tuesday, according to an update posted in the lengthy article.

More importantly than Phillips' job status is the impact her story will have on online journalism. Despite the legitimate writers outweighing people like her by a large margin, questions will now be asked constantly about online journalists.

Exactly who are they and where did they come from? Do they have the experience necessary to hold their current position? What proof does a company have that the person they are hiring is who they say they are? And it goes on and on.

In reality, it's not fair. Plenty of people have reached their current positions through years of hard work and dedication to their craft. Now those same individuals will be scrutinized like never before because one person was able to beat the system.

Online journalism has truly changed the world. Information that used to take until tomorrow's newspaper for the general public to find out about can now be passed along in a matter of seconds.

And it's not just sports sites like ESPN, either. There are similar sites for politics, entertainment and just about any other subject you can think of. Social media has made things even quicker by bringing all of these different areas of concern into one platform.

When a beat writer reports that Derrick Rose will miss the rest of the NBA playoffs with an injury or a political reporter tweets that President Barack Obama is making an unscheduled trip to Afghanistan, that's online journalism at work. It makes everybody's lives easier.

One person, who still can't be positively identified with any level of certainty, shouldn't change the way people view journalists who work on an online platform. For every Phillips, there are hundreds or thousands of writers doing things the right way.

Don't question everything you read online because of this bizarre story. Even though that's the gut reaction, just view this entire scandal as one person who slipped through the cracks and not a system-wide failure.

Eventually, Phillips' 15 minutes of fame will come to an end, but online journalism is here to stay, and it's becoming more important on a daily basis.