RedOctober3829 said:
I take responsibility for bringing Ben on the site last year for a chat. He's as bad as they come in terms of trolling for clicks.
Volin's anecdote about Belichick razzing him the day after he asked a question he should have known Bill wouldn't answer made that all more than worth it.
Super Nomario said:
To be fair, if you're Volin, and an NFL owner comes to you with this, you pretty much have to print it, don't you? I don't really begrudge him, and I suspect that it is an accurate reflection of how many in the game feel about the Patriots. He probably goes a bit farther than he needs to, but I'm more frustrated that this is the perception than that Volin wrote about it. Does any reporter keep that under his hat?
PedroKsBambino said:
No, I think you have to ask what the story is, dig for evidence of it, and do something with the info.
What you suggest above is exactly the approach he is criticizing Rolling Stone for in the exchange with Taibbi. It's simply not the case that 'because someone told you, say it'.
Digging is obviously important. But I think we shouldn't forget that the notion that owners believe this is, in itself, something worth knowing whether it's true or not. As such, disagree with Volin's take, fine, but it is a story and I think it's misguided to say otherwise.
Put it this way: Who of us don't want to know more about wtf the owners think?
Monbo Jumbo said:
We live in the Kurt Vonnegut novels I read as a 12 yr old.
Tony C said:
Of course not. Journalism 101: dig further to either get some substantive support or, if not such substance can be found, to find out why someone would say something so self-evidently contrary to common sense. I have no idea where you get the idea he "has" to print it. If reporters printed everything spin doctors told them....media would be even worse than it is.
That is the irony, and shows that BV actually does know the rules of journalism...is just choosing not to carry them out. And, just to reiterate the point, the Rolling Stone/UVA story shows precisely why this is not good journalistic practice.
This can not be over-emphasized enough.
And that's not even addressing the issue that you read them at age 12 back in the day...
crystalline said:
This makes me angry.
Regardless of what you think of Taibbi's politics he is a serious person, who tries to think hard about issues, has done investigative work, and has authored thoughtful books. Personally I think he has done an impressive job of carving out a journalistic career in today's enivornment, where print media is going extinct, broadcast media glorifies dumb talking heads who can generate clicks over thoughtfulness, and the future is the Internet -- a diverse free for all where profitability is difficult to produce.
Volin is, in contrast to Taibbi, an insipid newt, angling for a well paying job with ESPN where he can entertain with fake outrage. Volin putting down Taibbi is like Joe McCarthy attacking George Marshall or Robert Oppenheimer -- it's fairly presumptuous for a guy like Volin to put down the hard work and experience of a guy like Taibbi.
Tl,dr: God Volin is an idiot.
edit: less-polarizing example
Myt1 said:
Well, he didn't, right? He didn't do that at all.
It's downright silly and unserious for anyone associated with Rolling Stone to call any reporting on the issue of deflated footballs "a new low," when his employer's home office is at the center of the earth. Haven't checked Taibbi's tweets around the time that Rolling Stone was setting itself on fire: anything similar there?
"A new low." Christ, it's closer to an old high than a new low. And I think Volin's an idiot.
RS has not covered itself in glory of late, but Taibbi's relentless work on the financial collapse was pretty fucking awesome at a time when the "real journalists" were playing hookie. As such, I think Taibbi has a real gripe at anyone trying to indict him on the basis of where he's based.
dcmissle said:
It's fascinating journalistically.
Within months of Hitler becoming Chancellor, Germans began turning each other in to the Gestapo. To demonstrate they were right minded Germans to be sure, but also to advance agendas and settle scores. It got so bad, Hitler complained in 1933 of the nation's " mean spirited" temperament.
This episode is the journalistic version of that. Every Boston based reporter, it seems, has to prove his or her bona fides fides by assuming a 15-year reign of corruption under BB.
It's not just Volin. Sadly this extends to many others including Bob Ryan and Jackie Mac, who one would think have no agendas to advance.
It's a testament to the times that people seek to bolster credibility through having a position that makes one look reasonable vis-a-vis latent subjectavity rather than through use, like, work--interviews, leather on concrete, evidence, asking quesitons of smart people, etc. PoMo media.