Inside Sources/Friends/Alumni/Boosters

[The Zooker]

As mentioned previously, I have a buddy who works for a major journalism outlet that covers Gator sports. Today on the phone he told me that the entire department had a very serious meeting about who they use as sources. Sports journalism has gotten out of control with everybody racing to be the first to break a story. Some big time editors are putting their feet down to make sure sources are verified before they are trusted. On one hand I think this is long overdue. On the other hand it was kind of fun to see playground journalism on the big stage at times. But it really does make your outlet look bad when you report something that turns out to be false. It's gotten to the point where folks are automatically ignoring stories where the source is anonymous. I'm pretty much at that point now. Was fun while it lasted though.

 

[Escambia94]

It was fun for the first five minutes. You're right. I don't trust any sources any more--not with Gator news, NFL news, or CNN news. The most reliable sources lately have been the players affected--through their Facebook and Twitter. Social media is better than the "real" media nowadays, because people by their very nature cannot not keep secrets. The media can contain secrets and shape stories, but people on Twitter and Facebook need to have a nanny to mandate media blackouts in order to contain secrets.

 

[DRU2012]

I believe this all developed (and CONTINUES to proliferate, with long term consequences to what is already a culture of "rumor gone viral") out of a combination of two related trends: the immediacy and unfiltered nature of the internet, and the resulting race-to-be-FIRST--first with a story, first to be consistently "first" for its OWN sake. Being "right" isn't necessarily as important in this Brave New World of so-called "journalism", with potentially fearful consequences for the "truth"--something once held dear and placed above all else in the quest to get it out there to "the public", themselves by now held in ever higher contempt.
We're just seen as part of a "market demographic" today, and "news" reduced to an ever more sensational means to garner our carefully cultivated short attention span.

 

[Escambia94]

BREAKING NEWS: My inside sources say that Steve Addazio is coming back to Florida to be the coach-in-waiting under Will Muschamp. Just kidding again.

 

[The Zooker]

BREAKING NEWS: My inside sources say that Steve Addazio is coming back to Florida to be the coach-in-waiting under Will Muschamp. Just kidding again.

I also heard this from a Bull Gator who has deep ties to the UAA. Fifteen sports blogs and ESPN will be reporting it within minutes.