Yellow Journalism at NBC?
I was making my normal rounds of the blogosphere and racing sites via my normal mode of transportation when I cruised past Clance’s place of abode, The Church of the Great Oval and spied a headline that caught my attention. (Not hard, I’m also distracted by spinning lights and sparkly things - and Double Stuff Oreos)
Anyway, her headline noted an accusation that NBC’s coverage of the Daytona 500 was an exercise in providing half truths. Never one that put any belief in curiosity being related to dead cats I stopped in to see what all the fuss was about.
Clance’ noted an editorial by Tiffany Myers at Racing Junky. Ms. Myers attended the 500 and from her seat “on the super stretch down towards Turn 3″ she claims to have had a far better picture from what was shown to NBC’s audience via their NASCAR intravenious tubes (otherwise known as TV). In fact she has accused NBC of bias in how they presented the broadcast based on what she personally viewed and what her “recorded version of the race” had shown.
Before I get into specifics it’s instructive to review what we do know.
- All coverage of TV sports events sucks for various reasons. Some cut across all sports, some are unique to an individul sport.
- NBC along with the other networks that cover NASCAR miss things, also for various reasons, nothing is perfect or omnipresent despite the plethera of cameras around the circuit.
- All networks miss things due to commercial breaks, sometimes they catch up via replays, sometimes not.
- More specific, is the weather during the event. From the outset the low ceiling created problems for the in car equipment and associated Helo that relays and transmits the TV pictures.
- There were times during the event when in car camera shots went black because of a loss of signal.
So there’s the basics, even I understand them through my occasional “Oreo euphoria.”
Ms Myers stated what preceded Tony Stewart’s act of retribution on Matt Kenseth (EDIT: Name changed thanks to the sharp eye of Deb who spotted my error case of brain fade) was a long string incidents by a number of drivers and I have no reason to doubt her. She notes, and I distinctly remember Stewart saying as much in the after race interview. And this is where we part company:
However, as a journalism major, I find it highly disturbing that NBC refuses to show the public the entire truth. Kenseth should well have been black flagged for his blatant hit
I agree with everything that you’ve said in relation to that article but the driver that Tony Stewart clashed with on the track was Matt Kenseth, not Kevin Harvick.
Thanks Deb for the sharp eye, its been corrected As you may have noted Kenseth’s name was noted further into the piece. For some reason the brain thought one thing and wrote another.
Plus for some strange reason I often make the Kenseth/Harvick switch. Got no clue as to why, just some type of mental block I suppose.
Thanks!
I do the Kenseth/ Harvick switcheroo sometimes too. Strange. I wonder what the Neuro-Linguistic-typo connection is.
Great post Marc, you are totally “right on” on the yellow journalism call. I also think the fact that you left Deb’s comment on for all to see, plus made a point to call yourself on yourself is awesome. Shows humilty and that you don’t take yourself too seriously. I enjoy your posts, comments and rebuttals on my travels through the ether’s. Love the weekly cess pool.
Now Onward…To the West or Bust!!
What’s to take too seriously?
I’m writing about a sport that is supposed to be fun. At least that’s what it should be, but sometimes I wonder, and Ms. Myers is an example of losing sight of that.
She’s far from alone, a fast trip thru the “Roush Racing” of blogs or most of the NASCAR forums shows there is a lot of hatred, invective and veil comments made about each other and “their” drivers.
As far as my correction goes, I may not by a journalist but I still need to write, as best as I can, the facts as I know them. Someday I’ll go thru my 2 plus years of archives, pull all the corrections and write one entire article quoting them. I even have a couple titles in mind.
Full Throttle - at Less Than Half Speed.
OR
Officer Why Do I Have to Blow into That Thing?
Great title for corrections article. Another suggestion? “Throttle on the Bottle.” Mine would be “Not so FastMachines.”