Fifteen days after The Mitchell Report surfaced and stripped Roger Clemens of his Cy Young Awards — at least in the courtroom of public opinion — the New York Yankee pitcher posted a carefully-worded video on the web site of his foundation: The Roger Clemens Foundation.
While the video seems incredibly convincing, it is unfortunate that we live in an era of denial that makes Clemens’ rebuttal an eerily familiar experience.
Pete Rose lied to us for more than a decade, then wrote books about it. Rafael Palmeiro wagged his finger at Congress and Barry Bonds might actually do prison time for lying to a grand jury.
As a journalist, what I take away from this video is that Clemens has now joined the long list of athletes that are using their own web sites to relay their message, further breaking down the relationships that athletes used to have with the media.
But it’s not just athletes. Politicians, public figures, Hollywood stars, etc. are using multimedia to get their message out.
But will this practice eventually cut out the media? While I think there is some merit to this practice, I also think it’s important to note that having an athlete’s message put into context within a factually based article, written by an objective observer, is often needed.
The media is often the middle man or the voice of reason between conflicting sides or opinions, i.e., Clemens vs. the Mitchell Report. Without the middle man providing objective context, it just becomes a “he said, she said.”
December 23rd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
I’d say that BJ is advocating the traditional role of media as gatekeeper. This comes at a time when mainstream media increasingly is losing that role — or at least is being drowned out at times — to a multitude of new voices. In that sense, this blog plays a role and provides BJ with a voice he might only have had to express himself through mainstream media. I have the opportunity to comment and answer him with this comment. YOU have the same opportunity.
All these voices! And yours, if you choose to be heard by posting a comment or writing your own blog or item.
Good thing?
Bad thing?
Right now, the majority of you with knowledge of this blog (and that includes my spring class) are not participating. You’ll participate by design once the semester begins, however, as we indulge ourselves in this new world outside the mainstream when all of us, not just the gatekeepers, get to have our say.
December 24th, 2007 at 11:51 pm
You have a good point. One such example of cutting out the mainstream media, is the Washington Redskins excellent use of their official web site. Tired of errors and negative reporting, Dan Snyder decided to start filtering many of his breaking news, which he used to break to the Post’s beat reporters, on his own site, led by Gary Fitzgerald.
While the thing I would look forward to is the Post’s major stories on the Redskins, (which I would read the night before they came out on the print edition on the web site), I now enjoy reading Post Redskins beat writer Jason La Canfora’s Redskins Insider blog. I know you’re not a redskins fan Professor Klein, but you should check it out, as he does an excellent job of not only giving out his various opinions on the team, (which he doesn’t get to do express in his stories), but he goes above and beyond in interacting with his readers, even allowing guest blogs.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider/
May 29th, 2014 at 4:59 am
Clemens’ uses multimedia to relay his message | Sports Journalism
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