Looks like Mitch Albom and I are on the same page.
He wrote today: "Tom Izzo and Michigan State should rise above the media swirl."
I especially agree with this statement:
You can't just use the media when they suit you.
Exactly.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Are there lessons to be learned from the Izzo drama?
Anyone who paid attention to the will-he-stay-or-will-he-go Tom Izzo drama that ended last night with the famed coach's promise to stay at MSU for life knows that the story was, at times, nothing more than a swirling mass of speculation.
Which presented the media in charge of covering MSU sports with a modern-day, Twitter-induced Catch 22.
Cover the story on a daily basis and give fans what they wanted? Or ignore the story until Izzo made a decision?
As an MSU grad and basketball fan, I'm glad Izzo is staying. I think he made the right decision. I wanted to hug him just like his players did.
But as a journalist -- and the wife of a hardworking sports editor who has literally been awake for nights on end because of Izzo's indecision -- I gotta be honest. I was more than a little miffed by the tenor of the comments by MSU officials last night.
I even changed my Facebook status update at one point to say, "Are MSU officials done lecturing us yet?"
The past 10 days haven't exactly been a picnic for the media. It was actually a nightmare. A Twitter-chasing, cancel-plans-with-the-family, get-no-sleep, Blackberry-ringing-in-the-middle-of-the-night, some-idiot-just-claimed-online-to-know-the-answer-and-we-have-to-check-it-out nightmare.
Did the rumors get out of hand? Did the speculation drive you crazy? Yes, and yes.
But let's imagine the alternative, shall we?
One of the most famous and successful college basketball coaches in history is thinking about defecting to the NBA. An entire state is in an uproar over it, waiting on pins and needles. It's the only thing people can talk about at work, over lunch, on Twitter. Signs are cropping up along the freeways asking the coach to stay. People are gathering for candle-light-frickin'-vigils.
And…. The media does nothing. Cuz, you know, no decision has been made yet.
Come on! Want to see how fast readers/viewers burn down their media outlets in that situation? They would REVOLT and accuse the newspaper, radio station, TV station, etc. of ignoring something the community cared about.
Look, sometimes the STORY is simply the fact that everyone is talking about it -- rumor and all. The media had no choice but to cover it. The Izzo story was news. Period.
There are lessons to be learned from this, to be sure. I can't defend the rush to use unnamed sources who may or may not have known what the hell they were talking about. Nor can I defend anything said or done that was hurtful to Izzo's family. They're innocent bystanders who get caught in the crossfire of their husband/father's fame.
But there are lessons to be learned from the other side, too. (And after 15 years in journalism, it never ceases to amaze me that this lesson NEVER seems to be learned.)
It's really simple: In a major brewing story, when there is a lack of "official" information, people will make up their own.
Especially today, when tweeted speculation gets forwarded as fact.
I hope MSU officials will look at everything that happened and come up with a new communications plan that accommodates the new-social-media-world-order demand for public information. Some kind of plan that acknowledges the need for a daily comments on the rumors being tweeted and status-updated.
Trust me. Reporters and editors will be the first to thank them.
Which presented the media in charge of covering MSU sports with a modern-day, Twitter-induced Catch 22.
Cover the story on a daily basis and give fans what they wanted? Or ignore the story until Izzo made a decision?
As an MSU grad and basketball fan, I'm glad Izzo is staying. I think he made the right decision. I wanted to hug him just like his players did.
But as a journalist -- and the wife of a hardworking sports editor who has literally been awake for nights on end because of Izzo's indecision -- I gotta be honest. I was more than a little miffed by the tenor of the comments by MSU officials last night.
I even changed my Facebook status update at one point to say, "Are MSU officials done lecturing us yet?"
The past 10 days haven't exactly been a picnic for the media. It was actually a nightmare. A Twitter-chasing, cancel-plans-with-the-family, get-no-sleep, Blackberry-ringing-in-the-middle-of-the-night, some-idiot-just-claimed-online-to-know-the-answer-and-we-have-to-check-it-out nightmare.
Did the rumors get out of hand? Did the speculation drive you crazy? Yes, and yes.
But let's imagine the alternative, shall we?
One of the most famous and successful college basketball coaches in history is thinking about defecting to the NBA. An entire state is in an uproar over it, waiting on pins and needles. It's the only thing people can talk about at work, over lunch, on Twitter. Signs are cropping up along the freeways asking the coach to stay. People are gathering for candle-light-frickin'-vigils.
And…. The media does nothing. Cuz, you know, no decision has been made yet.
Come on! Want to see how fast readers/viewers burn down their media outlets in that situation? They would REVOLT and accuse the newspaper, radio station, TV station, etc. of ignoring something the community cared about.
Look, sometimes the STORY is simply the fact that everyone is talking about it -- rumor and all. The media had no choice but to cover it. The Izzo story was news. Period.
There are lessons to be learned from this, to be sure. I can't defend the rush to use unnamed sources who may or may not have known what the hell they were talking about. Nor can I defend anything said or done that was hurtful to Izzo's family. They're innocent bystanders who get caught in the crossfire of their husband/father's fame.
But there are lessons to be learned from the other side, too. (And after 15 years in journalism, it never ceases to amaze me that this lesson NEVER seems to be learned.)
It's really simple: In a major brewing story, when there is a lack of "official" information, people will make up their own.
Especially today, when tweeted speculation gets forwarded as fact.
I hope MSU officials will look at everything that happened and come up with a new communications plan that accommodates the new-social-media-world-order demand for public information. Some kind of plan that acknowledges the need for a daily comments on the rumors being tweeted and status-updated.
Trust me. Reporters and editors will be the first to thank them.
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