I am a blogger.I am not a journalist.
It is I who has "chewed down the standards of journalism the way the pine beetle has decimated B.C. forests." Buuuurp.
Fortunately for all of us, there are very serious men (and, presumably, some women) who still pride themselves on defending and upholding the Principles of Journalism. They are your "mainstream" or "traditional" media members, and, as a result of the ongoing efforts of these courageous truth seekers - who daily must ply their trade in the face of ever degrading information gathering ethics - it has long been firmly established that if an item appears either in print or on a newspaper's website, it is the truth ("in deadtreeus veritas" as they proclaimed back in the days of Caesar). These brave men (and, presumably, some women) would never sink so low as to traffic in rumors. Never. Ever. Ever.
All of which is important background to have when you read something like what Ed Willes wrote in yesterday's Vancouver Province, that "[t]here are also stories making the rounds that... [Vancouver Canucks General Manager Mike] Gillis will make a play for yet another former client in Michael Nylander."
You see, this is not a rumor. It's more than a rumor. It is, of course, truth.
Had the author not prefaced the substance of the above sentence with the disclaimer alerting the reader that the claim he was about to make is currently being bandied about in some undisclosed forum, he'd have nothing more than a rumor on his screen. But report that "there are stories making the rounds" and he has a fact. Are these "stories" making the rounds outside of his head or the Province's smoker's lounge or his dinner table? Who cares? He now ostensibly has a fact, and what do reporters do with facts? They report them (natch). [This "report the rumor" technique has made Matt Drudge rich and famous and is similar to a technique in common usage in one particular corner of the televised world.]
So kudos to Ed Willes for reporting the fact that a certain rumor exists (which, of course, is not a rumor at all) and for protecting us from the blogs that might let the story get ahead of the facts on this one.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have standards of journalism to chew down.
H/t to EMac on the Gillis link.
13 comments:
Oops - comments had accidentally been disabled for this post earlier. Back to normal now.
As for the substance of the rumor (and ignoring for a moment the player's no-trade clause), I wouldn't rush out to buy that #92 'Nucks sweater quite yet, though I know that trading Nyls would be warmly received by some (myself most definitely not among them).
I think that the Penguins will trade Fleury and Gonchar to Toronto for Raycroft and McCabe.
Feel free to report this as "I'm not sure how accurate this is, but some say that the Penguins will trade Fleury and Gonchar to Toronto for Raycroft and McCabe."
Oh, and I don't think the rumors are true, mainly because what does Vancouver have to give up for Nylander? Although I wonder how he fits in the more run-and-gun style BB seems to prefer. (I don't think he'll be centering the Russians next season, but I can easily see him setting up Fehr and Laich on a regular basis.)
We are so saturated with news/information sources, who's to say which source is more "credible" these days? Fact is, I find blogs the best source of objective information now, I think because JP, Puckdaddy, Peerless, OFB, Tom Benjamin go out of their way to substantiate their sources. Writing for a newspaper carried that cachet that in my mind, contributes to complacency and arrogance in a good many reporters.
I grew reading the Post's great Bob Fachet, listening to Ron Webber on the radio (especially loved staying up late when the team went on the annual Western swing), and watching Glenn Brenner's sportscasts. I read the the Hockey News and Sports Illustrated to get more of my hockey fix. That was it. The good old days - I miss them, in a way.
The main thing I don't understand about the Nylander rumors is: who thinks that, coming off a SE Division win and Federov's future very much up in the air, the Capitals want to go into next season with Laich, Gordon and Steckel behind Backstrom at the depth chart at center?
To be fair though, this article didn't say Nylander was likely to be dealt, just that Gillis was going to make an offer and try to get him.
in one ear, out the other
Still laughing at that article re/Ovechkin to Montreal.
I hear a Willes-for-Garrioch swap is in the works.
not sure what Gillis could dangle other than H. Sedin--it seems their entire team are UFA...
1) We would agree with your main point that the difference between bloggers and 'mainstream press' is so blurry as top be impossible to discern.
2) We'd say to the folks like H. G. "Buzz" Bissinger who like to say they have a monopoly on true journalism because they had editors and went to journalism school, etc, bull shit. There are MANY a blogger we'd trust more than quite a few mainstream hockey writers (Brooks, Fischler,Strachan, etc)
3) BTW, Drudge is 'rich and famous' because his was the first to report rumours many which later became known to be true, else no one would know who in hell Matt Drudge was. Disagree or agree with his political leanings, few would have known of the many Clinton overt lies if we had to rely on the good ole folks of CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN,NYTimes, Washingtom Post, etc
JP:
It ain't gonna happen with his no trade clause but unlike you, I wouldn't mind seeing him go, assuming we resign Federov for at least a year if not two; the only gamble would be that Backstrom doesn't have a sophmore slump and I'd take that bet. Backstrom plays like a player very much more mature than his years, and I don't think Nyls fits the new offense schemes as well as Federov. I know this is a minority opinion and someone out there will slam me, probably with statistical justification, but hey it's my nickel.
Also important to note: We don't need him in Vancouver, please keep him. We are doing fine with our cast of under-achievers, chronic under-performers and Swedish genetic mutations (that's right Ohlund). Thank you very much.
You are lucky to have Nylander on your team. It was a sad day for me, when Boston let him walk away!
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