Sports Media Ethics (or lack thereof), Part II

Today will be remembered by me as the day in which journalism ethics in sports reporting officially died. Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean (and reprinted in USA Today) publishes deeply personal and private discussions between Vince Young and his psychologist regarding contemplations of suicide that Wyatt obtained from a police report. Last May, I discussed "Sports Media Ethics (or lack thereof)" and how journalists routinely get away with intruding into the private lives of sports participants. What could possibly be a justification for this publication? Is it that professional athletes seek attention (e.g. by endorsing products) and thereby "assume the risk" that every aspect of their private lives will be exposed by the media? Is it that the public is entitled to know this because it relates to his performance on the field? Is it because professional athletes are "role models"?

There is no justification whatsoever for this publication. As I mentioned in my post last May, the media determines what is "newsworthy" and there is no external mechanism or independent body to enforce journalism ethics codes. You might be thinking, well, that has always been the case. However, the economics of the journalism industry in the Twenty-First Century are different. Too many media sources are vigorously competing with one another to grab the attention of the audience, which directly conflicts with the goals and policies of journalism ethics codes. As the credibility of the press crumbles, the justification for First Amendment protection becomes weaker. I am in the finishing stages of a paper in which I discuss the changing journalism marketplace and its impact on the First Amendment, and how courts can incorporate journalism ethics codes into tort law standards without compromising the First Amendment.

UPDATE 9/16: It is reported that Titans coach Jeff Fisher says that the police report contains many inaccuracies, including the fact that (1) Young's local marketing manager, Mike Mu, called the team psychologist, Sheila Peters, with the alarm that Young had left his home without his cell phone, threatening to quit and was speeding down the interstate with a gun in his car after talking to Mu (not the psychologist) about suicide and (2) the team psychologist, in turn, called Fisher with Mu's account but she never spoke directly with Young, as indicated in the police report, until the end of the night. As to Young's state of mind regarding possible suicide, Fisher said, "I don't buy it," and was irritated with Mu's involvement with Young.

Journalists have an ethical obligation to seek the truth, which entails a discipline of verification -- seeking out multiple witnesses, disclosing as much as possible about sources, or asking various sides for comment. This “is what separates journalism from other modes of communication, such as propaganda, fiction or entertainment.” See Project for Excellence in Journalism, Principles of Journalism, at http://www.journalism.org/resources/principles. Before publishing the information in the police report, the accuracy of the report could have been verified by merely picking up the phone and asking Fisher whether the police report was accurate about what Fisher told the police.

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