Are Hawkeye media adequately diligent?

C

CP87

Well-Known Member
I thought this tweet re: the OSU saga was interesting:

That got me thinking, is this an issue at Iowa as well? Honest question, I am not enough in the know to have much of an opinion.

And I don't care a bit if media covering the Hawkeyes take a generally rosy and optimistic tone; I prefer that as a fan, I want to feel good about my team's prospects on the field. But has the media covering the team shown they are willing to ask tough questions and hold the program accountable when it comes to issues beyond the field? Did they do their job with Everson/Satterfield? Did they do their job with rhabdo? Where they critical enough of the process that resulted in the Brian Ferentz hiring? Was the Meyer/Griesbaum/Barta situation covered adequately? Again, these questions aren't rhetorical, I honestly don't know. Some supporting evidence one way or another would be appreciated.

@RobHowe , this is a tough question for you to answer because it is difficult to be objective, but how good of a job do you think the Hawkeye media (as a whole, not one person in particular) do in holding the program accountable for the important things?

I apologize in advance if this discussion turns ugly, it seems like it has that potential. That is not what I am hoping for. I guess more than anything I want to believe that the OSU thing would not happen here, and I am hoping for someone to make me feel like we have the watchdogs in place to prevent it.
 
I don't know who this guy is referring to as "media types". It's way too generic to refer to individuals as the "media", and itself is sloppy for this guy to make this reference. There is a news department and a sports department (among others, of course). If there is a non-sports issue involving the athletic department, it's up to the news department to investigate this issue. Maybe the sportswriter first learns of it, and it's on him to turn it over to the news department and let them decide how to run with it. However, it's not on a sportswriter to do this investigation, at least it shouldn't be. That's not his expertise. That's why I can't stand listening to the ESPN talking heads pontificating on issues they don't understand beyond what someone else has tweeted. Just listening to them talk you can tell in the first minute they have no idea what they're talking about. Therefore, I don't think it's necessarily fair to ask whether Iowa sportswriters (if that's what you mean by "Hawkeye media") are "diligent". It depends.
 
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Here we go!

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It's a complicated question. Investigative journalism isn't what it used to be. A big reason is that as news outlets consolidate and the internet grows, advertising is much more important so the lean is towards making the main audience happy. One also needs to define media or parts of the media. Newspapers are different than a small internet page with a forum and catering to the mostly faithful.

The media used to be called the unofficial 4th branch of the Govt. 20 some years ago the Govt took down ADM leadership on price fixing. Now it's mostly about retribution. The media took down the Catholic Church cover up in Boston. Now the media is taking down "fake" news. That's a really hard one to mull over.

In a nutshell, we've had our things that could have blown into something more. Contracts, ummm yes rhabdo, rape, the women's sports. Did the media do it's best? It's a small town market. Was there more to cover? Likely. How much bigger would have been brought out...maybe nothing.

It's still gets back to what happens when a U is too big for it's britches...when the football or basketball coach is more important that it should be.

At the same time some of these radio sports programs are way over the top on negativity. If a coach has a 30 something million dollar pay out, well, there should be expectations. But at a U, oft it's the 60k employee that's really looked over.

At almost any major university, the media is not diligent enough, but that hardly compares to state auditors, law enforcement, and admin doing their jobs.
 
homes said:
I don't know who this guy is referring to as "media types". It's way too generic to refer to individuals as the "media", and itself is sloppy for this guy to make this reference. There is a news department and a sports department (among others, of course). If there is a non-sports issue involving the athletic department, it's up to the news department to investigate this issue. Maybe the sportswriter first learns of it, and it's on him to turn it over to the news department and let them decide how to run with it. However, it's not on a sportswriter to do this investigation, at least it shouldn't be. That's not his expertise. That's why I can't stand listening to the ESPN talking heads pontificating on issues they don't understand beyond what someone else has tweeted. Just listening them talk you can tell in the first minute they have no idea what they're talking about. Therefore, I don't think it's necessarily fair to ask whether Iowa sportswriters (if that's what you mean by "Hawkeye media") are "diligent". It depends.
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I am obviously pretty ignorant on this issue. What I think of as Hawkeye media is anyone who has a role in covering the team. What I had in mind was primarily local beat writers (Lesitikow, Morehouse, Emmert, etc.) and people like Rob and Jon. If any of these find out about something unsavory going on, do they go in victim-blame mode like Jeff Snook, or do they try to dig to the bottom of the matter.

I don't know, would we call someone like Jeff Snook, described as an author and OSU insider, as "Buckeye media?"
 
Okay, here is a specific example: after Rhabdo, was there a public information request for communication between KF and Doyle to try to glean if the workout was done as some form of punishment/wakeup call? I have not read the official report on that incident, I am sure that info is out there.
 
As I re-read the tweet, I guess maybe the heart of the matter is the "media types" who are "masquerading as media." That is, the journalist are being diligent, but there are too many people with an outlet who can appear credible at first glance but who actually have serious skin the game they are covering.
 
In 2013, OSU ast coach Zach Smith was arrested for DUI in Dublin,OH which is about 25 minutes from Columbus. When this happened, not a single newspaper/blogger/website mentioned it. We have media types and others here in Iowa that monitor police/jail logs on a regular basis and if something happens, it's in the news/on a Hawkeye related website within just a few hrs/
 
trakker said:
In 2013, OSU ast coach Zach Smith was arrested for DUI in Dublin,OH which is about 25 minutes from Columbus. When this happened, not a single newspaper/blogger/website mentioned it. We have media types and others here in Iowa that monitor police/jail logs on a regular basis and if something happens, it's in the news/on a Hawkeye related website within just a few hrs/
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Do they monitor Brighton? Ok Washington? Parts of Dublin are in another County.
 
HawkGold said:
Do they monitor Brighton? Ok Washington? Parts of Dublin are in another County.
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Pierre Pierce got punished even though the kidnapping was in Des Moines. Ex-Hawkeye Bonecrusher Williams was kicked off his team in Purdue after committing a heinous crime in Illinois. Word gets around, bud.
 
CP87 said:
As I re-read the tweet, I guess maybe the heart of the matter is the "media types" who are "masquerading as media." That is, the journalist are being diligent, but there are too many people with an outlet who can appear credible at first glance but who actually have serious skin the game they are covering.
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Look, pal, there are several issues. First is that it ain't the media's fault because programs absolutely condition access on being friendly to the program. Remember Morley from 60 Minutes? No one was particularly happy when he showed up unannounced and programs are the same way.

Second, the schools are bound by all sorts of federal privacy laws, so they can't say shit about the kids.

Third, since the kids are pretty much off limits, that leaves the coaches. There's only so many hardball questions that can be asked about coaches or decisions and they're all repetitive.

Fourth, some places, like Lincoln and Columbus, have cops and townspeople who care about nothing but the blessed football program so they'll use "discretion" a lot of times whereas Iowa City is about totally on the opposite end of the spectrum. No effing way there is an arrest in Lincoln over a drunk ball player getting into a cop car instead of an uber. If you have a town full of jock sniffers, you need a stronger media but it is even less likely to exist.
 
Who was it in the media years ago that got on KFs wrong side? Like KF restricted his access or something but I can't for the life of me remember if that was Rob or who that was. My memory like Urban Meyers is a little fuzzy just not due to meds
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Who was it in the media years ago that got on KFs wrong side? Like KF restricted his access or something but I can't for the life of me remember if that was Rob or who that was. My memory like Urban Meyers is a little fuzzy just not due to meds
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I know what you're talking about. I was thinking it was Rob, but maybe not. Pat Harty maybe?

I want to say it was about either Rhabdo or DJK. I'm prob wrong.
 
Hawkfnntn said:
Who was it in the media years ago that got on KFs wrong side? Like KF restricted his access or something but I can't for the life of me remember if that was Rob or who that was. My memory like Urban Meyers is a little fuzzy just not due to meds
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Someone asked a question that was a popular conspiracy theory floating around the message boards about if Kirk torpedoed DJK's NFL career. It was either the guy who ran Rivals or Scout after JD Miller went out on his own. Kirk looked less than happy, but the guy who asked it had balls the size of watermelons and the people on the boards genuinely wanted to know, so I commend him!
 
okeefe4prez said:
It was this presser and there used to be a video of KF calling the guy out afterwards, but there were legit rumors swirling and the guy asking the question wanted an answer for the fans.

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Rob had some serious balls. Kudos!

Kirk really seemed uncomfortable. If there was a time when Kirk lied to us; that's probably it right there.
 
I don't see any integrity in the national news left or right when it comes to honestly and diligently reporting facts so hope the Iowa sports media is unlike them.
 
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