sports – Journo James's Journal

Making Mistakes in Online Journalism Report

Post author:journojames
Post published:April 18, 2012
Post category:Papers/Reports

Originally published on Mar. 4, 2012

On Saturday, Jan. 8, 2011, NPR News broke the story and reported — on air and online — that U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords was killed in an attack at a public event near Tucson, Arizona.[1]

Within a half hour of NPR’s report, three cable news networks – CNN, Fox News and MSNBC – replicated the report. The ABC, NBC and CBS news divisions followed, along with other major news sources across the country, from the L.A. Times and Reuters to Talking Points Memo, many crediting NPR as the source.[2]

Gabrielle_Giffords_shooting_scene.wikipedia — Aftermath of Giffords shooting, Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

The problem: it was false. NPR mistakenly reported Gifford’s death when, in fact, she was alive and still in surgery. (more…)

Verbum Dei’s Oscar Rosa, Soccer Coach

Post author:journojames
Post published:March 23, 2012
Post category:Feature Interview Op/Ed/Commentary Sports

Originally published Nov. 20, 2011

Helping kids through sports.

Such a simple and noble thing has been sadly twisted and perverted in the last couple of weeks with all the recent revelations of alleged child abuse at schools, such as Penn State and Syracuse.

Kids and sports should always go together; it’s something that should be celebrated, never mourned nor questioned. There’s too much darkness right now. A moral compass that points to some light is desperately needed.

A little bit of that light was found this week.

On a late Thursday afternoon in Watts, under a crisp, darkening November sky, a rookie assistant coach keenly watched his young soccer team perform passing drills. (more…)

Cancel Rest of the Season, Penn State

Post author:journojames
Post published:March 19, 2012
Post category:Op/Ed/Commentary Sports

Originally published Nov. 11, 2011

Forget about a moment of silence at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. There should be nothing but absolute silence there for the rest of the 2011 football season.

500x_beaverstadiummediate — Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Photo courtesy of Mediaite

In light of the recent allegations involving the school, Penn State should cancel this week’s game against Nebraska. They should forfeit. The school has more important things to deal with than football right now. The school’s main focus should be on properly dealing with the horrifying scandal it finds itself entangled in: the alleged raping of a ten-year old boy on its campus. Nothing should be more important than dealing with this unspeakable crime. How silly and trivial a football game is right now; how grotesque cheering of any kind would be on Saturday. (more…)