Perhaps Jenni Carlson, a sports columnist from The Oklahoman, was not paying attention in class when her professor defined libel. In a Sept.22 column she wrote, which was published below the fold on the paper's sports front, she belittled Oklahoma State University quarterback Bobby Reid on many fronts. She first said that his "attitude" was what made him bench the recent game, and that a "minor injury--whatever it was--..." was a poor excuse to sit a game earlier this season. She said injuries are part of the game of football and that Reid should have played through (hmm...risking serious injury perhaps). She then questions his mother feeding him chicken after an OSU loss Sept. 15, calling it embarrassing and that most college kids would rather streak across campus than be seen with their mom giving them food. Proceed to the article for more doses of libel...
Who is Carlson to decide that conclusion? Maybe Reid hadn't seen his mom in awhile and wanted to talk.
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy confronted the reporter at a press conference Sept.22 with passionate anger, in defense of Reid.
"Get your facts straight!" Gundy said.
Look what happens with libel. It may sound like a good story but the good people get mad.
Who is Carlson to decide that conclusion? Maybe Reid hadn't seen his mom in awhile and wanted to talk.
Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy confronted the reporter at a press conference Sept.22 with passionate anger, in defense of Reid.
"Get your facts straight!" Gundy said.
Look what happens with libel. It may sound like a good story but the good people get mad.
1 comment:
No doubt that Jenni Carlson wrote the column poorly.
Here are her phrases that drifted into speculation and cheap shot:
"If you believe the rumors and the rumblings..."
"Word is..."
"Appeared to be minor..."
"Almost see Reid shrugging..."
Even an opinion writer needs better reporting than that.
Believing "rumors and rumblings" doesn't equal reporting facts for a column. And "almost" seeing something is never as authoritative as actually seeing it.
Re the quarterback's recent injury in the Florida Atlantic game, Carlson belittles the injury without know what it was. A careful journalist would have gotten details of the injury before blowing off steam about it.
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