Not wanting to jump in with both feet in the middle of another thread on this board, I'd still like to tiptoe gracefully around the core of the discussion if I can without causing too many cases of roid rage.
First, I was a reporter/editor for 41 years and during that time I gained a reputation for asking tough questions when they needed to be asked. I did not always do it, but then tough questions do not always need to be asked. I can count on one hand the number of times I was in your face confrontational. And in nearly every case that was in response to the guy I was questioning acting like a dirtball first.
Norm, Reggie Jackson, Amos Otis, Mike Anderson.
There were probably other cases, but they do not stand out in my memory.
Normally, when I was asking about sensitive issues about a team's non performance, or a questionable move or action, or something of that ilk, I would resort to something like the time I asked Larry Smith, "Larry, do you like roller coasters?" His teams, you might recall, were kind of up and down.
All that said, I'm not trying to make this about me but about reporters in general. And, in general, I think the better reporters ask the better questions and in a manner which does not challenge the manhood (or womanhood) of the person they are addressing.
The exception would be when I grew tired of Quin Snyder saying one of his Missouri teams was still searching for its identify. My followup question was, "Well, whose fault is that?" The MU SID objected, but after that objection Quin answered the question by saying, "It's my fault. I know." Now, a steady diet of that and I would have gotten nothing but the kind of bullshit that Mike Anderson gave out on most occasions.
What I find interesting is that some on this message board contend they would ask the tough questions in a confrontational manner come hell or high water. Sorry, I seriously doubt that. It is easy to be confrontational on a message board. The only consequences are that another poster will call you names.
But beyond that, use some common sense. If you disagree with a coworker, your boss or a total stranger on the street and your opening gambit is "Hey fella, why are you such a loser?" you can assume the type of response you will receive.
Do some members of the media ask softball questions? Sure. And they get softball responses. The bad part about that is that sometimes the softball stuff - when time is of the essence - gets in the way of the more important stuff.
Finally, I've been accused of being defensive about media criticism. I'm offended, actually, only by broad-brush criticism that paints honest, hard-working media with the same stench of disdain as the relative few who actually deserve it.
Members of the media tend to be just like message board posters. Some are good, some are bad and we all are free to apply those labels according to our own needs and bias.
Thanks, or not, for listening.
Mike DeArmond
AKA Sptwri
First, I was a reporter/editor for 41 years and during that time I gained a reputation for asking tough questions when they needed to be asked. I did not always do it, but then tough questions do not always need to be asked. I can count on one hand the number of times I was in your face confrontational. And in nearly every case that was in response to the guy I was questioning acting like a dirtball first.
Norm, Reggie Jackson, Amos Otis, Mike Anderson.
There were probably other cases, but they do not stand out in my memory.
Normally, when I was asking about sensitive issues about a team's non performance, or a questionable move or action, or something of that ilk, I would resort to something like the time I asked Larry Smith, "Larry, do you like roller coasters?" His teams, you might recall, were kind of up and down.
All that said, I'm not trying to make this about me but about reporters in general. And, in general, I think the better reporters ask the better questions and in a manner which does not challenge the manhood (or womanhood) of the person they are addressing.
The exception would be when I grew tired of Quin Snyder saying one of his Missouri teams was still searching for its identify. My followup question was, "Well, whose fault is that?" The MU SID objected, but after that objection Quin answered the question by saying, "It's my fault. I know." Now, a steady diet of that and I would have gotten nothing but the kind of bullshit that Mike Anderson gave out on most occasions.
What I find interesting is that some on this message board contend they would ask the tough questions in a confrontational manner come hell or high water. Sorry, I seriously doubt that. It is easy to be confrontational on a message board. The only consequences are that another poster will call you names.
But beyond that, use some common sense. If you disagree with a coworker, your boss or a total stranger on the street and your opening gambit is "Hey fella, why are you such a loser?" you can assume the type of response you will receive.
Do some members of the media ask softball questions? Sure. And they get softball responses. The bad part about that is that sometimes the softball stuff - when time is of the essence - gets in the way of the more important stuff.
Finally, I've been accused of being defensive about media criticism. I'm offended, actually, only by broad-brush criticism that paints honest, hard-working media with the same stench of disdain as the relative few who actually deserve it.
Members of the media tend to be just like message board posters. Some are good, some are bad and we all are free to apply those labels according to our own needs and bias.
Thanks, or not, for listening.
Mike DeArmond
AKA Sptwri
