John Tomase, the reporter that broke the story that the Pats
had taped the Rams walk-through before the Superbowl. He apologized for
not having vetted the story as throughly as he should have. That is
only part of the story, if you will excuse my pun.
By Bill Smith
Today, the traditional media including newspapers, television
network news, and most cable news are more interested in advancing an
agenda than they are in telling the truth. I am not defending the
Pats. Personally, I believe that there have been a lot more violations
than the NFL and the team admits to. But, in sports coverage and the
coverage of national and international news, we have seen the antique
media write their beliefs in the news as if it was fact.
The Herald like almost every other paper in the US is losing
readership and revenues to the Internet, cable news and other
outlets. When Tomase got wind of a possible violation by the local team
of a gargantuan nature, he jumped on it. He did so not because he
wanted it to be true, or because his source was so reliable. He did it
to sell newspapers. The primary principle of journalism is “if it
bleeds it leads.” But in this case, like in so many others in recent
years, what is bleeding is the Herald.
I will give the Herald credit for one thing—at least they
didn't bury the retraction on page d32. Many of the less than honorable
media outlets would have. But that does not absolve them of their
guilt.
Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams and has
scouted talent. He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com. He has also published
several novels on
http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm and edits
http://fryingpanpolitics.blog.com