Constructive criticism by journalists

In our discussion of journalism ethics on Monday, we talked about how a journalist's job is to inform the public and present them with both sides of a story. Journalists should not be biased in reporting, they should be objective and let their decide for themselves what they believe.

Sean Keeler wrote a column earlier this week about the Iowa football team. Granted, as a columnist rather than a reporter, Keeler is allowed to give his opinion, I thought he wrote a good article. The Hawkeyes have underachieved this season and it has been popular for writers to bash them. However instead of bashing the Hawks, Keeler does a good job of posing his question to readers. He asks why Iowa doesn't change their style of play to compete with the changing game of college football. Their style of play brought them much success for the last six or seven years, but for the last two other teams have found ways to beat it. He gives some stats to back up his argument. Then he provides a few answers and suggestions, but he leaves it pretty much up to the reader to make their own opinion.

"The Hawkeyes won't become a top 25 program again just by rolling out of bed. You can win here. You can win consistently. But you have to work harder. You have to work smarter. You have to adapt. Beat the curve. Innovation has carried this program before. It can carry it again. All you have to do is spread your wings."

This is how Keeler ended his column. He was positive overall which I thought was a good thing. By being negative, he only would have contributed to the problem the way that every other columnist does. It almost seems as if he poses a challenge to the Iowa coaching staff and players to step it up. He provides constructive criticism. Going back to the goals of journalists, Keeler did a good job of being objective even for a columnist.

Rick Reilly sticks up for sports

I have often felt that some people look down on me because I am an athlete or because I have a passion for sports. I blogged a month or so ago on my favorite columnist Rick Reilly, and Relly has just written probably my favorite piece of his of all time in last week's Sports Illustrated.

Reilly got similar treatment from people when he was my age. He was a sophomore in college writing sports for the town newspaper when one day a professor said to him,

"You need to get out of sports. You're better than sports."

Reilly still hears such comments even today, after more than 30 years of writing about sports.

"So when are you going to graduate from sports and go write for TIME? You know, do something important?"

At first Reilly would reply quickly in anger that sports are important and worthwhile. But then when the person would ask why, he hesitated to come up with an answer. However, now he has prepared a full list of reasons in his column of why sports are meaningful in society and why he loves them.

I'm sorry I couldn't find an internet link to the article, but if you have a chance to do so, read it. I won't go into too much detail, but among his reasons are that sports teaches lessons, provides excitement and brings people together.

I am not saying that everyone I meet thinks less of me because of my passion for sports, just that, like Reilly, I have had a professor or two that doesn't agree that sports is something to build a career or life on. I understand that people have different passions and I accept that. I also understand the importance of a liberal arts education and being well rounded. I try not to write every blog on a sports related topic, but I think six of my eight blogs have been. My passion is sports, and I was very glad to see Reilly stick up for sports journalists and lovers everywhere. He took the words right out of my mouth.

Sports journalists eating up college football season

The way this college football season has gone, with countless story lines each and every week, sports journalists have been taking full advantage of the opportunity.

I follow college football pretty closely (Go Hawkeyes!) and usually read and watch whatever coverage I can get my hands on. The Top 10 polls have seen a shakeup every week, with top teams being beaten by underdogs. This season has seen tons of upsets, and just about every sports journalist has given their take on them all. This has caused the word "upset" to nearly lose all of its meaning whatsoever.

This season has also seen traditional powerhouse programs such as Notre Dame and Nebraska fall on some hard times, while traditional weaklings like Kansas, Connecticut and Kentucky climb the national rankings. Writers have had some fun at the expense of those top programs who had beaten up their teams for so many years. And of course everybody likes to see the little guy win.

Another constant this season is talk of coaching changes. Journalists enjoy selecting certain coaches as "on the hot seat" and giving credit to other coaches "on their way up."

The Heisman trophy race this year is as wide open as it has been in a while, or so multiple sportscasters have stated. This is always a hot topic every year, but with the wide open race, journalists are constantly comparing players stats with others week to week and giving their "top 5" choices.

Even though I have begun to get sick of some of the headlines, I think this is a good thing for sports journalism as a whole. It is better that there is too much happening than not enough. It is also good to have so many different opinions for audiences to interpret for themselves. So let the debates continue.