By Reggie Baradell
I’ve asked Daddy — I mean “the president” — to buy me this so I can work off my frustration.
And I guess I should look on the bright side; I’ve made a new friend, just in case I ever decide to dump Daddy — I mean “the president” — and trade up for somebody a little more ambitious.
Deadspin has emerged as the most influential sports blog out there — outshining the blogs of mainstream media sites such as, for example, ESPN.
ESPN, apparently, isn’t too happy about it. Reports Deadspin:
Witness this email, sent Friday afternoon to various ESPN radio affiliates from the home office. The subject line: “Policy Against Deadspin and Other Underground Web Sites.”
“Per ESPN editorial policy, the use of “underground” web sites as a source of credible information within any ESPN platform is strongly discouraged. Specifically speaking, the use of the site “Deadspin.com” as a source of credible information is not allowed under any circumstance. As always, any breaking hard news story off of any site must be approved through the proper channels.
“Please see me or another programming manager if you have any questions or seek clarification on the web sites called into question. Thank you.”
Of course, Deadspin’s editor, as Gawker points out, has had bylines in the NY Times, and the blog has also received kudos in the Times, Sports Illustrated, Business Week and many other “credible” news sources.
Give it up, ESPN. If you don’t want to credit Deadspin on your radio stations for competitive reasons, that’s one thing. But this “blog = not credible” thing is just soooo 2005.
Like Hollywood publicists, sports information types basically have the reporters exactly where they want them.
Unfortunately, people who have this kind of power usually end up abusing it:
The University of Tennessee suspended media privileges for Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Dave Hooker on Tuesday citing its concerns involving a story written by Hooker on injured football player Inquoris “Inky” Johnson.
In a letter delivered to the News Sentinel and signed by associate sports information director John Painter, Hooker was informed that his suspension will last until Oct. 23 and will cover “all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday access in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, as well as all practice, post-practice interviews, community service appearances and the UT-Alabama game.”
Johnson received a possibly career-ending injury in the Air Force game on Sept. 16. The Tennessee Sports Information Office received numerous requests for interviews from area media. Media outlets that requested an interview were informed Johnson would be made available when possible. The UT athletic department has published guidelines stating that all player interviews must be set up through the sports information office.
Working through a source within the UT athletic department over a course of several weeks, Hooker was able to arrange an exclusive interview with Johnson. The interview was conducted with Johnson by phone on the night of Oct. 4 and the story was published in the Oct. 5 News Sentinel.
That’s called a scoop, friends.
Here’s how it should work: if the SID doesn’t want Johnson to talk, ask him not to talk. If he still talks, he’s the one in trouble — not the reporter.
Of course, that would be in the real world, not the sports world.
Michael Vick on Tom Joyner: Four Talking Points
By Reggie Baradell
Michael Vick’s PR handlers have picked the Tom Joyner Morning Show for his mea not-so culpa on Tuesday for the same reason that the White House media relations team invariably taps Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh for the much-loathed Dick Cheney’s rare media appearances: The loyal-to-a-fault base is the last refuge of publicists.
If you doubt that Vick will meet an overly friendly audience on Tuesday, check this news article excerpt from Joyner’s BlackAmericaWeb.com site:
Oh, and there’s also this commentary on Joyner’s site:
And then there’s the other commentary, headlined “Is It Me, or Has the Embattled Michael Vick Been Singled Out for Selective Prosecution?”
Finally, there’s the matter of the poll on Joyner’s site, in which 35 percent of respondents say that Vick is being treated worse because he’s black (and an additional 17 percent say he’s being treated worse because he’s a celebrity.)
As a dog myself (a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, specifically), I would just remind Vick loyalists that there are no more loyal creatures on God’s earth than dogs — like the ones Vick exploited for his own purposes, then callously hanged and electrocuted.
Word to the wise.
Or, as I would tell anyone who got within 10 feet of Vick: Arf! Arf Arf!
Now, to the Four Talking Points.
Many of you may not know this, since I am not on the Idea Grove’s leadership page, but I am actually a principal of the agency. I handle all the client accounts that daddy — I mean the president — considers “dogs.” (I’m assuming he means that as the highest compliment.)
As such, I know a thing or two about damage control … er, that is, crisis communications … I mean, reputation management.
Arf it! You get the idea. So anyhow, here are the Four Talking Points I’ve developed — in conjunction with Vick’s defense team — for his Joyner appearance:
1. I love dogs.
Or, to quote the defense offered by Deion Sanders: “Some people let their dogs eat from their plate. Some people dress their dogs in suits more expensive than mine … And some people enjoy proving they have the biggest, toughest dog on the street … I bet Vick loves the dogs that were the biggest and the baddest.”
2. I am too loyal to my friends.
This is an appeal that can resonate with many middle-class African-Americans who rose from difficult circumstances. As Tonyaa Weathersbee correctly puts it, “The one transgression that trips up many black people who find overnight wealth and fame [is] bad association” — being overly loyal to questionable characters from the ‘hood, rather than dropping them as dead weight on the climb to the top. (We’re assuming Joyner won’t ask Vick about Vick’s estranged father, who says that Vick is the mastermind behind the whole operation.)
3. Deer-hunting and greyhound races are wrong, too.
As NBA player Stephon Marbury phrased this defense: “We don’t say anything about people shooting deers and shooting other animals. You know what I mean? From what I hear, dog-fighting is a sport … There is no list for which animals should be killed and which shouldn’t.”
Or to quote Derrick Z. Jackson of the Boston Globe: “The national outrage rings a bit hollow … Vick will be shamed with prison stripes. Greyhound racing, despite its primitive exploitation of dogs, remains a $2 billion business…”
4. I will make things right.
Here Vick can go almost Imus on us. Just like Imus said, “I can come back and create a dialogue. There ought to be a black person on this show every day to add perspective,” Vick can say, “I plan to devote myself to animal welfare to make things right.”
It didn’t work for Imus — but then again, Imus went on Al Sharpton’s radio show — not David Duke’s.
So there you have it.
See what I mean by a mea not-so culpa? This strategy has worked like a charm for the Bush Administration for seven years, so why not? Apologies are for wimps.
I don’t know about you, but I think they’re going to eat it up on Tuesday.
Kind of like I sometimes eat the cat’s poo-poo when daddy — I mean the president — isn’t looking.