Monday, May 5, 2008
Buzz Saw: The Battle For Sports Media's Soul
As many of you have seen or heard, the conflict between the "mainstream media" and the "blogosphere" came to a climax during a roundtable discussion on HBO's "Costas NOW" program.
The live show, broken into five segments dealing with various influences on the world of sports, featured a heated attack on Deadspin editor Will Leitch by Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and best-selling author Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights, Three Nights in August).
This wasn't just a heated exchange. This was one very angry and abusive individual attacking another with malicious intent. And though moderator Bob Costas did a credible job in attempting to intercede on Leitch's behalf, the entire segment, intended to be a discussion on the influence of the Internet on sports, turned into one man's indignant diatribe.
The fallout has been predictable. Those in the traditional media, Costas included, have been taking shots at online writers for some time now (some valid, some not). Though some traditional media columnists have come down on Bissinger's profane delivery, they haven't repudiated his central point that blogs are a stain on sports coverage. In fact, they seem to quite agree with him.
And of course the blogosphere went nuts with a vitriol surpassing even Bissinger's own. Head off to the Deadspin message boards and you'll see what I mean. Many writers and readers of blogs see themselves as pioneers of sorts. To them, Bissinger is no more than a relic attempting to hold on to a place of influence in a culture that has passed him by.
But, of course, it's not that simple.
Don't Fence Me In
Let's get one thing straight from the get-go: Blogs are a medium. I don't lump Jerry Seinfeld and Andrew Dice Clay together because they both stand on stage and tell jokes. I don't lump Jack Johnson and Pantera together because they sing. And I don't lump Michael Wilbon and Gregg Doyle together because they both write for corporate media outlets. Sharing a medium does not imply a shared membership in a culture. We do what we do out of our own personal needs, the messages we want to convey and the opportunities and talents we have with which to convey them.
As an example, I write about sports on my blog The Left Calf. I put a heavy focus on my favorite teams because that's what interests me most. I also write about national, international and entertainment news. Sometimes I curse. Sometimes I hit below the belt. And sometimes I try to offer an intellectual breakdown of complex issues like racial conflict in America and why there will never be peace in the Middle East. I'm by no means the best writer out there, but I like to think I've carved out a little niche for myself (even if my readership primarily consists of a few friends and my sister).
Other blog writers may focus solely on sports, or on their families, or on a certain television show or band or politics or any particular sub-culture that shares a common viewpoint. The fact we all happen to write online does not connect us in some vast community.
In other words, any attempt to defame or defend "bloggers" as a group is an exercise based on the false premise that we are a group. We're not.
The Argument Over Credentials
The argument against blogs and the writers who write them depends on the same logic as racism, sexism or the belief in any one subset's superiority to another. It is the argument that all of one group is better than all of another group, that even the worst of one is better than the best of another. Having attended more than a few sporting events as a member of the credentialed media, I assure you this is not the case.
Just as there is a great number of horrible bloggers, bad writers out to do nothing but spew negative and inaccurate vile, there is a sizable population within the mainstream media fitting the same description. And just as there are some truly great writers with bylines in traditional media, there are also some truly talented and thoughtful individuals sharing their thoughts through non-traditional online outlets. To argue the "credentialed" mainstream media are the only ones who have earned the right to publish for public consumption is small-minded at best, bigoted at worst.
With that said, there is just as much falsehood in the idea of an impending "death" of mainstream media as there is in the idea new media has nothing to offer. Simply put, mainstream media could still exist without blogs (and would probably prefer to do so). Sports blogs would largely be empty shells of pure observation if not for the work by trained journalists.
I can't get a quote from Tony La Russa on why he decided to hit Ryan Ludwick leadoff against the Reds. I can't get an NFL scout on the phone while I'm working on my NFL mock draft. I depend on the reporters — print and online — to do that for me. And after they do their jobs, I use their work to form my opinion. You can get a lot from simply watching the games and combing over stat tables, but it's the work of the credentialed media covering the sport that gives us the color we use to paint our pictures.
"The Romanticism is Gone"
Al Michaels issued that quote during the Costas show, and it touches on one of my pet peeves with the older generation of America — the over-romanticism of history.
Contrary to what many older Americans would like to think, things were not so golden in the golden age. Roger Maris was tormented by a New York media with a negative agenda during his chase of Babe Ruth's home run record. And though we now recognize Jackie Robinson as a hero, reporters and columnists throughout the South weren't shy about their distaste for the inclusion of black (and Jewish) players in baseball.
Outside of sports, there was plenty of media support for the internment of Japanese during World War II. There were plenty of columnists hailing George Wallace's refusal to integrate Alabama schools. And there were more than a few writers around the nation happy to see the batons crack the heads of protesters in Berkley, Chicago, and Kent State.
Where exactly is the romance in that?
The point is not that the media is bad. The point is that the media has always been a representation of the people. If a community feels a certain way about an issue, chances are their local newspaper will espouse those views. Newspapers have, and always will be, a business. And it only makes good business sense to connect with those whose money you depend on for survival. The traditional media has earned no moral high ground from which to cast their aspersions on the agendas of blog writers.
Where Are the Standards?
Freedom is a tricky thing. It can lead to new revelations, out-of-the-box thinking and progress the status quo can never hope to achieve. But it also allows for the worst in us. Self-control isn't a natural tendency, especially when one has the ability to hide behind a moniker like "Balls Deep" or "Tits McGee."
The freedom to use "obscene" language fought for at great personal cost by guys like Lenny Bruce gave rise to future great comedians like George Carlin, Richard Pryor, and Dave Chappelle. It also opened the door for idiots who stand on stage rambling on about sex with fat women. The freedom to be our best inherently comes with the freedom to be our worst. You can't have one without the other.
Writers working for corporate media trade in their freedom for the access, paycheck and captive audience. St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bernie Miklasz may want to call La Russa an asshole in print, but he can't. He has traded away that right. I, on the other hand, have not. I don't get the access, paycheck, or audience, but I can call whomever whatever I wish. And it is that freedom that has both empowered sports bloggers to raise questions the traditional media may avoid (criticizing the Cardinals' medical staff) and carte blanche to call Cesar Izturis dirty names involving goat genitalia. Again, you can't have the freedom for one without the freedom for the other.
So Now What?
While tearing Leitch a new one, Bissinger actually ended up giving him too much credit. Yes, he and his Deadspin-style of sports coverage are here to stay. But it is not the future. It is only part of the future. The web has permanently and inextricably shouldered its way to the bar, standing as equal part with print, television, and radio coverage as mediums for consumption by fans who want to go beyond the box score. And someday some new thing will come along and we'll argue about that, as well.
But as each new medium comes along, don't make the mistake of thinking we're closing the book on another. We all have our parts to play in this mad world. Bissinger has his. Leitch has his. And I have mine, as small as it may be.
And together, we will use what words we have to share our thoughts with as many people as will listen.
Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For intelligent insight, sophomoric insult, and everything in between, visit The Left Calf.