The below video is taken from the post game press conference of the Oklahoma State vs Texas Tech game. This was one of the best games of the entire weekend but oddly Mike Gundy did not want to discuss his teams’ triumph but rather express his rage in an article written by a local reporter. Jenni Carlson is the reporter who gets absolutely ridiculed in the video. Her column was about the benching of the Cowboys starting quarterback Bobby Reid and can be found here
College athletics and the media have had seemingly more tenuous relationships of late. Recruiting and college specific websites like scout.com and rivals.com have pushed the envelope in many regards on how they choose to cover collegiate athletics. Reporters are using unsubstantiated resources such as myspace, facebook, and website message boards to provide inside “competitive knowledge” for their subscribers. The subscribers seem to have put a lot of importance on sources for inside information which has further put fuel on the fire.
I currently serve in a part time role to the most popular website covering Ohio State athletics, bucknuts.com. I have to say that bucknuts, has gone to great lengths to foster a working relationship with Ohio State and this is something that I am very proud and aware of. Our main competitor who I actually initially started my part time writing career with, has a semi anonymous employee who has been deemed “the chosen one” for all inside information. Often he is able to scoop stories with his large network of contacts and sources, but does it come at a price?
This anonymous employee (won’t identify himself) is somewhat of a hero figure to the website subscribers due to his ability to obtain and share news and inside information of the Ohio State football team. While he is revered by some Ohio State fans, the coaching staff have been seen cussing in anger when his online alias is mentioned in front of them.
Is the posting of his inside information unethical as it divulges information that is known to be sensitive and private? Or is it just resourceful reporting of what subscribers are really paying for? I too find myself pondering this as I want to be in “the know” but am troubled by the fact that the leadership that steers the Ohio State football team views him somewhat as a unethical saboteur/second guesser/gossip queen. While he keeps his inside information in the form of message board discussion and not published articles, this again is a similar case to Carlson in the fact that lines are being blurred in how, what, and when is being reported in respect to collegiate athletic programs and their passionate fan bases.
