I know I shouldn’t get mad about this because I’m a part of the group of people that feeds the hype of any sports situation, good or bad. But I’ve just about had enough of the reports, opinions and rumours about where Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh are going to land in free agency and what team is going to get them, whether it be New Jersey, New York, Chicago, Miami, Cleveland, etc.
For the last 2-3 weeks, we’ve heard just about every single scenario being thrown out. We’ve heard Lebron going to any of the five teams mentioned, or Lebron and D-Wade, or Lebron and Bosh, or Bosh and D-Wade. Let’s not forget that there are several other big-name free agents in the NBA that need a home this summer, but for the sake of making things easier, I just decided to stick with the big three.
As a media member, I’m starting to feel a little sense of embarrassment and shame about how out of control the “reporting” has become when it comes to free agents. Hell, the reporting over the last couple of days involving Ilya Kovalchuk has been a little frustrating as well. The shift has happened already where the onus is to get the information out first, then worry about whether it’s right or wrong afterwards. For some, they hide behind a veil of “a new age of journalism” or “new-school journalism.” Call me old-fashioned, I guess...
I understand that everyone who is out there covering sports for a living is looking for that one big scoop in order to get the big prize at the end. Being able to say that you were the one to break where Lebron James has signed can be the ticket to securing your position for life. It could be a life-altering scoop and I get that. But how much of the media’s credibility is taking a hit for every single false alarm that is being put out there?
In just thinking aloud through the blog, maybe I’m making too much of this and anyone who is not involved with the media just doesn’t care about this kind of stuff. But I’ve always thought that people should be held accountable for not only their actions, but for their words as well. Yet, in this age of technology, untrue rumours and unspecified reports can be put across a screen for people to see and can evaporate just as easily because of a “delete” button or people have just moved on to reading something else.
That’s not right. People should not be forced into having to differentiate between what is fact and what is rumour. Our job as media is to inform people of what is fact and to express our feelings through opinion, but somewhere along the line, the two have melded together. Now, it’s just OK for media to express opinions/theories as fact, and if proven wrong, backtrack and point to the article as “pure speculation”.
God, I hope Lebron signs today.