Philosophical Question - How Much Do Reporters Report? (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

https://x.com/gerrydulac/status/1768714477489279072?s=20

Dulac is a trusted and reliable source.

The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett's behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17.

Dulac with a classic case of "what to do" there.

Even if he's right, one has to wonder if that's the right thing for him to make that public.

This will be a huge negative for Pickett.

The upside seems minimal. And there's a ton of negative in it.

On the other hand, it's not Dulac's job to protect a player.

I think it's an interesting situation.

 

[eighsse2]

https://x.com/gerrydulac/status/1768714477489279072?s=20

Dulac is a trusted and reliable source.

The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett's behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17.

Dulac with a classic case of "what to do" there.

Even if he's right, one has to wonder if that's the right thing for him to make that public.

This will be a huge negative for Pickett.

The upside seems minimal. And there's a ton of negative in it.

On the other hand, it's not Dulac's job to protect a player.

I think it's an interesting situation.

Don't see why a reporter wouldn't report significant info on a player.

 

[Boston]

It’s his job to report the truth.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

https://x.com/gerrydulac/status/1768714477489279072?s=20

Dulac is a trusted and reliable source.

The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett's behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17.

Dulac with a classic case of "what to do" there.

Even if he's right, one has to wonder if that's the right thing for him to make that public.

This will be a huge negative for Pickett.

The upside seems minimal. And there's a ton of negative in it.

On the other hand, it's not Dulac's job to protect a player.

I think it's an interesting situation.

It’s the world we live in. The Information Age. Everything gets out eventually.

As your other hand suggested, it’s not Dulac’s job to protect Pickett .

I’d say it is what it is. If Pickett wanted to avoid bad things being said about his character, Pickett could have demonstrated better character.

 

[ghostguy123]

Beggars can't be Picketters.

Sounded better in my head

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

It’s his job to report the truth.

 

[Zow]

https://x.com/gerrydulac/status/1768714477489279072?s=20

Dulac is a trusted and reliable source.

The Steelers made the move because of the way Pickett was poorly handling the arrival of Russell Wilson, according to sources. That came on the heels of Pickett's behavior last season when he refused to dress as the emergency third quarterback in Seattle in Week 17.

Dulac with a classic case of "what to do" there.

Even if he's right, one has to wonder if that's the right thing for him to make that public.

This will be a huge negative for Pickett.

The upside seems minimal. And there's a ton of negative in it.

On the other hand, it's not Dulac's job to protect a player.

I think it's an interesting situation.

The fact that this news warranted its own thread on a football messageboard demonstrates that it was newsworthy. So, philosophically, zero issues with Dulac reporting it (assuming the story met his journalistic standards).

 

[Spartans Rule]

There is a balancing act for reporters. You don't want to become the organizational mouthpiece, but if you report every little bit of dirt you gather, players and coaches aren't going to be very forthcoming when you're around.

Of course it's easier to say stuff about a guy who just got traded away from the team you cover. Dulac won't have to talk to Pickett regularly anymore.

 

[Ashem]

Dulac is a Steelers reporter. If he enjoys his job and the scoops/bits of info he gets, then he'll report whatever the Steelers give him; otherwise, they'll let someone else leak these reports.

 

[Bri]

Most fans don't think of how the team wants a lot of their players to be alphas and how that mindset is what got them there. We usually jump to "be a good boy" as a backup.

His new team's coach will simply egg him on- well beat out soandso then.
Often the response is well why didn't he do that with the current team. He got demoted. That stings anyone.

He wasn't given time to sit with it and go from bummed to regroup to develop that "I'll beat Wilson out" mindset. (Normal process)

****
Dulac is just passing it on. Others have said similar. I figure the experienced reporters would sit on it with also thinking if they have to say it, they wouldn't want to be first. They also don't want to look like they didn't get the story

 

[houston]

I’ll assume that everyone in the league knew this before it was reported. Player just had another team trade for him, he wasn’t released.

 

[Long Ball Larry]

The reason that the Steelers traded Pickett seems extremely important, at least within the world of sports fans. As long as it’s based in fact, I’m not sure what the issue is.

 

[need2know]

Wish more reporters would report the facts and keep their opinions to themselves

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Wish more reporters would report the facts and keep their opinions to themselves

Was it Dubac’s opinion that that’s the reason they traded Pickett, or was that what he was told by the Steelers?

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

There is a balancing act for reporters. You don't want to become the organizational mouthpiece, but if you report every little bit of dirt you gather, players and coaches aren't going to be very forthcoming when you're around.

Of course it's easier to say stuff about a guy who just got traded away from the team you cover. Dulac won't have to talk to Pickett regularly anymore.

Yeah, that's the only time it bothers me. Like when Schefter had a scoop on Dalvin Cook that was an obvious attempt by his agent to get out in front of a domestic violence allegation. There are some cases where the identity and motive of the leaker is more important than the content of their leak. In those cases, reporters shouldn't let themselves get played. But otherwise, report away.

ETA: I can't even remember what the upshot of that Cook story ended up being. It may be that the accusation was false, and the agent' leak was accurate. Even so, I still didn't like what Schefter did there

 

[candian fantasy guy]

I don’t see an issue with this.

 

[BassNBrew]

I think the philosophical question should be how much do teams leak.

Personally I would be pissed if a team traded for Russel Wilson to replace me if you ignore the fact that I'm two decades older than him.

 

[menobrown]

The whole reporting thing is a give and take where the teams, agents and players use reporters to get their side out in exchange for scoops and info.

Dulac was carrying the Steelers water yesterday while Aditi Kinkabawla was putting in work for Pickett or his agent. Such is the way it goes.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Interesting nugget on today's Athletic Football Show podcast: Diana Russini mentioned that she had heard the same info about Fields not competing with Russ for the Steelers' starting job. But she said she felt like her source was shopping that scoop a little too eagerly, which made her suspect it was part of some agenda, so she didn't report it. Eventually someone else broke the story.

So it would appear that, at least in some cases, reporters don't allow themselves to be used by their sources

 

[pinkstapler]

Interesting nugget on today's Athletic Football Show podcast: Diana Russini mentioned that she had heard the same info about Fields not competing with Russ for the Steelers' starting job. But she said she felt like her source was shopping that scoop a little too eagerly, which made her suspect it was part of some agenda, so she didn't report it. Eventually someone else broke the story.

So it would appear that, at least in some cases, reporters don't allow themselves to be used by their sources

Personal opinion statement incoming (but I think can be backed up with history): I think the Athletic as an organization holds their employees to a higher standard than a lot of the other popular sports reporting orgs (ESPN as one glaring bad example), and obviously much higher than a lot of the freelance twitter verse people. Feels like they are one of the few out there who are actively working against the "it's better to be first than be right" mentality. Newspapers have become a **** show over the past decade or more; but it feels to me like they take the old school newspaper rules to heart; eg. sources can be anonymous to the public but are required for internal verification, multiple sources required in many cases especially when its "big" news, concern is shown towards communicating to involved parties prior to breaking news especially "negative" news, etc. I don't think anyone does it 100% right 100% of the time, but I think the Athletic is pretty much the lighthouse for what good looks like.

Side note, very glad Russini landed there, loved her for a long time now and appreciate how quickly she adapted from being a "content" person on the sidelines (where she felt underutilized to me) to writing actual articles and getting to more properly fill the role of an NFL Insider. Her pieces on the Jets were refreshing to not be the typical fluff, and seemingly did not hurt her relationships with anyone in the org. despite the criticisms on all levels.

 

[Cjw_55106]

I guess I would refer to the "think" acronym. It doesnt clear up how many of the below have to be accounted for, but it helps.
T - truth
H - helpful
I - inspiring
N- necessary
K- kind

For all intents and purposes, we are assuming it is true
I believe it is helpful for a reporter to explain why moves are made if they know the reasoning.
Inspiring: no
I believe it is necessary for a reporter to explain why moves are made if they know the reasoning.
Kind: no

So 3/5 for me. Inspiring to me is kind of a throw in if you dont have other reasons to report something.
Kind? Sometimes your actions hurt you. In this case, that may be true.

Overall: Reporting the issue is fine by me.