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NFL Lockout Watch, Day 69: Whitlock Accuses Media Of Bias Against Lockout

FoxSports.com columnist Jason Whitlock appeared on "Pro Football Talk Live" Monday and discussed among other things the media's coverage of the NFL lockout. He said journalists "need to ask themselves -- and fans need to ask themselves -- is it about the money that we will potentially lose if the lockout continues." Whitlock noted as all sports "have grown, so have the salaries and the incomes of the journalists, particularly at the top that cover these sports. We're a lot like the television networks." Whitlock: "We're invested in these sports. A lot of our revenue comes from these sports doing well, and I'm following people on Twitter who are building up this hysteria and wondering why fans don't have this hysteria." Host Mike Florio responded, "Your point is the NFL media wants the lockout to end right now because there's fear of some short-term loss of revenue for the people that cover the game." Whitlock added he is "not saying there's anything wrong with that" notion, but articles about the lockout should have an "asterisk put next to the story, and people would refer to a footnote that says, 'This is good for my business if they come back and that's the mindset I'm writing from.'" Whitlock said writers' egos "are tied up in being the guy at the top of the industry," and that is why "they're panicked because if their sport gets diminished they get diminished and their egos get damaged. That's what I'm calling BS on." Florio said that idea is "awfully cynical," but added, "There's probably some truth to it" ("Pro Football Talk Live," NBCSPORTS.com, 5/16).

EXHIBIT A? YAHOO SPORTS' Michael Silver wrote it is possible that the 8th Circuit Court's ruling Monday to keep the lockout in place "represents a major leverage shift toward the owners in this ongoing staredown." But he added, "I'm sensing a little bit of ... overreaction from many of my fellow journalists." The ruling "constituted a single defeat after a long run of good news on the legal front," but "by no means was it a conclusive death blow." The players are "still standing firm in their quest for a better deal than the ones which have been offered by the owners on March 11." Silver: "Rest assured that neither the rank and file nor the leaders on the players' side, including NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, are panicking in the wake of Monday's opinion" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 5/18).

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