Ethical Business of Sports

These were some of the questions that three news columnists and editors from the world of sports journalism answered: Shaun Powell columnist for Newsday, Melissa Segura, columnist/reporter for Sports Illustrated and Peter King, editor/columnist for Sports Illustrated.

Three Communication Arts Majors from Rosa Parks School of Fine & Performing Arts had the opportunity to attend the conference in “Ethics in Sportsjournalism” held on December 3 at the Yogi Berra Museum at Montclair State University.

The panelists said that cell phones and instant technology are to blame for many of the questionable news stories. They can lead to false information.

For instance, Yankees Alex Rodriguez, was caught with a random female on a cell phone. In a matter of hours, the picture hit the web with headlines of Rodriguez cheating on his wife. This female could have very well been a friend or one of Rodriguez’s coworkers.

Some panelists felt that information about an athlete’s private life is not always newsworthy if it doesn’t affect their performance on the field.

Sophomore Leah Johnson, one of the students who attended the trip, agreed with some of the things the panelists said about the invasion of athlete’s private lives.

“I think that if an athlete breaks the law, it should be put out there,” Johnson said, “but other than that, their personal lives shouldn’t be invaded.”

On the topic of cell phones, Powell added that the technology causes a friction between online news web sites.

“It’s a race [between] who can get the news first,” he said.

Powell also stated that this can lead to reporters not getting the right information.

According to the panelists the best way on getting the correct information is to have two sources and two reliable sources.

“You have to talk to two or three people,” said Melissa Segura.

Segura also said that at least 20 revisions are made to Sports Illustrated before it hits mailboxes and doorsteps

“The dangerous thing is that you only have 24 hours...there isn’t any luxury of time.”

Panelist Peter King of Sports Illustrated said that an athlete’s personal life should not matter more than a athlete’s performance on the field.

However, Segura pointed out that if the cause of the athlete’s performance is affected due to personal issues than it should be brought to attention or if it affects the public.

Such as the abuse case with Jason Kidd and his wife Segura believes that violence such as this should be brought to the public’s eye.

All three panelists believe that the world of journalism is slowly changing as new young reporters are coming in due to the fact that they are forgetting to be professionals instead of fans of the athlete or team.

“It’s interesting and sad when you see opinion passing fact and insight,” Segura said.

King recalled a moment where he was offered 1/3 of sales to collaborate in writing a book for a sports coach. His company told him to turn it down.

“Having a relationship with a sports figure makes it harder to report,” he said.

Sophomore Venesha Hunter, who attended the trip, found this point interesting.

“When you’re a fan of a sports player, you can’t be the fan all the time,” Hunter said. ”You just have to know when to be a fan and when to be a journalist.”