SI.com's Peter King in his weekly "Monday Morning Quarterback" column praised several NFL writers for their coverage of the league's labor negotiations and subsequent lockout. Yahoo Sports' Jason Cole earned credit for "being clear and very well-explained" in his coverage, as he "really gets the economic issues." SI.com's Don Banks "has been irreverent and tough on both sides for letting it get to this point." Also, NFL Network's Albert Breer earned "kudos ... for working for the NFL's TV network and working as hard as you can to be a real journalist, getting both sides of a tough story" (SI.com, 3/14).
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ESPN's Doria discusses social media
during online Q&A |
WHISPERING TWEET NOTHINGS: ESPN Senior VP & Dir of News Vince Doria took part in an online Q&A yesterday and said Twitter has given him more "headaches, period," than happy thoughts. Doria: "No doubt social networking has contributed to the immediacy and volume of reaction to news stories. That's probably a good thing. The difficulty we're experiencing ... is that fact that reporters are often disseminating information without putting it through the vetting process that we have in place. We have policies to deal with this, but trying to enforce that policy consistently among the large number of news gatherers at ESPN has proven to be a challenge." He added the net embraces the fact social networking "has become part of the newsgathering process and will likely play an increasingly influential role moving forward" (ESPN.com, 3/14).
FOURSOME PLAYING THROUGH: YAHOO SPORTS' Jonathan Wall noted NBC for its coverage of the WGC-Cadillac Championship "did something you don't see very often, doing Sunday's telecast with a four-man crew" consisting of Dan Hicks, Johnny Miller, Peter Jacobsen and Gary Koch. It was an "interesting dynamic, especially when you have an opinionated guy like Miller in the mix." The telecast "wasn't a train wreck, and it seemed that the four talking heads got along quite well during the round." Jacobsen and Koch are "consummate professionals, so it was nice to have a new view from time to time" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 3/14).
AN OFFER HE COULDN'T REFUSE? ABC’s Jeff Van Gundy during Sunday’s Magic-Suns game discussed the recent comments made by his brother, Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, concerning NBA Commissioner David Stern, and Stern’s response a couple days later. Jeff Van Gundy said, “I thought Stan’s comments were snarky and I was surprised by what I thought were unbecoming comments by Commissioner Stern.” Van Gundy later compared Stern’s powers to Michael Corleone, which prompted ABC’s Mike Breen to compare Stan Van Gundy to Fredo. Jeff Van Gundy: “It’s very godfathery-like, ‘we’ll never hear from him again.’ I thought he was being taken to the Meadowlands to be buried. I mean my goodness, commissioner, don’t bury my brother yet” (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 3/14).
