Blackistone and Whiteside: Neutrality

        People tend to root for the underdog. We are addicted to upsets. When it happens, the media flocks to it, questioning the favorite's integrity. Since we love seeing the disadvantaged win, why do we still not favor the minority?

        Blackistone sees this ongoing tension in sports. Right away he shares the statistics of races in professional sports. While social minorities ultimately dominate basketball, many people find themselves rooting for the majority because now they are the minority. For example, so many times have I heard people say “I'm a Kidd fan because he's a white man playing in a black man's sport.” It's true. Society (since dominantly white) sees their counterpart as a minority in some sports and then supports it.

         We are not sure if society will ever evolve fully. The ASNE set a goal in 1978 to hire a more diverse staff by gaining the minority. By 2000, they admitted they were not there yet and set a new goal for 25 years later. Journalists and newspapers claim they are trying to create equality; however, they are still not meeting their goals. It was reported that 88 percent of sports' journalists were white males. There are some slight changes however; Three of the biggest sporting news' outlets have black editors (ESPN,The Sporting News, Yahoo! Sports).

          Blackistone continues on this thought by sharing the coverage of diversity. He brings up the punishment of Woods and Vick, two black male pros who were harshly convicted by the media for the wrongs they had done. Even years later, we still associate and remind them of the injustice they have caused. Strangely enough, Big Ben committed a more serious crime and was only given a two-game suspension and the media dropped it after a couple of weeks. The same with Favre, who sent pictures of his genitals to a female other than his wife. The media dropped it within a couple of weeks. There were other examples like the black athlete who was taunted after a game so he threw a punch and was forever labeled a thug. We continue to state we want more diversity; however, we continue to create unequal routes for minorities.

          Another underdog seems to be the sport's journalist. They are batted and criticized and some disrespected due to lack of professionalism.

          According to Whiteside, sports journalists are stuck in a “toy department.” This department lacks credibility and professionalism because it used to not tell the entire story. It also fails to fulfill the watchdog element. There is this thin line where beat reporters know they have to share the story, but wonder how it will affect their team and the relationship they have with their team. Journalists are aware that once you break a negative story, there will be much hatred coming your way. This creates a problem because Lowes states about the constant demand of stories in sports. It is the duty of the journalist to break the story.

         He shared the story of the University of Minnesota's men's team, who was suspected of cheated. Not only did 500 readers and the mayor create backlash and disgust for the story, but the football team refused to cooperate with that newspaper the following year. Journalists cannot be afraid and many were not when someone finally broke the story about special enhancement drugs.

        Whiteside tells the story of the changes in media when superstar Manny Ramirez was exposed for using a banned substance. Here, Whiteside breaks down the importance of research. Journalists have to see the story at all angles, know when they have enough to release the story, and gather enough institutions and sources for credibility. He shares the best way to release a story like this and how many news outlets did. As he further explained how the story was covered, it was shocking that only a few over half of stories used a pretty explanation by Ramirez. Finally Whiteside noticed the evolution of journalism since they were no longer maintaining a neutral status.

       Neutrality is such a confusing word in journalism. There should be neutrality amongst athletes when it comes to race and the journalist should equally report on all types of athletes. A journalist must keep a neutral opinion when it comes to breaking stories; however, they cannot be neutral to the athlete and not share the important facts. All we can do is stay neutral and be effective as possible while doing so.

        Speaking of neutral, my topic for the upcoming research paper focuses on the 2007 Betting Scandal in the NBA. Tim Donaghy was betting on games that he would then professionally ref. There is still some wonder whether the Rockets should have won their series after falling from a 2-0 start or whether Nash would have finally made it to the finals.