Most of the time, the discussion surrounding prominent “insiders” in the world of sports news is about journalistic integrity and whether we can consider what they do to be journalism.
While breaking news is undoubtedly one of the cornerstones of journalism, especially in the world of sports, we’ve heard many stories about journalists pushing ethical boundaries to establish themselves as the preeminent “insider” that demands to be followed.
NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski is reportedly sending out a pitch on social media to potential sources to sell himself as the person most worthy of breaking the news. Adam Schefter, NFL expert spends thousands of dollars on gifts every year to keep their sources happy, according to a recent Washington Post profile.
Schefter, who is extremely good at his job, also routinely finds himself in hot water for a multitude of transgressions, including giving editorial approval to sources, unnecessarily editorializing about the people he covers, and shilling for products in a way that could conflict with its integrity. None of these issues make him any less valuable to ESPN, though.
While we often try to figure out why Schefter and his privileged brethren act the way they do, Dan Le Batard has a different take on their situation. Former ESPNer and current Meadowlark Media podcaster recently appeared on the House of Strauss podcast with Ethan Sherwood Strauss and shared his concerns about the mental health of insiders like Schefter and Jay Glazer, citing the demands of the breaking news industrial complex as the culprit.
“I was very sad to read that story about Adam Schefter in the Washington Post,” Le Batard said. “He’s a sweet man and a good man and he’s been a good journalist for a long time. But the way we’re doing it now in the current evolution of this, where you have to negotiate relationships in a way that surrounds some journalistic principles that I grew up with, makes me uncomfortable. But beyond that what makes me uncomfortable is the obsessive addition of… 2:30 in the morning, you have to worry that someone else in the world, in the information age, has information that you don’t you’ve got.
Le Batard shared an anecdote from his time at the Miami Herald to illustrate the stress of “news.”
I remember when I was 20 years old. I was crying in the bathroom at the Miami Herald at midnight because I was pitching the Marlins with Gordon Edes, a longtime baseball writer who had scouts at his wedding, and I didn’t know what I was doing,” Le Batard said. And just, having to report as a 23-year-old and compete and worry about what another newspaper would have was such a horror that I’m questioning my career choice in my 20s because that’s just not me. imagined it was I don’t want to give news. I don’t want to compete with anyone else for information. But now we have distorted where this is most valuable.
“So, I don’t know that you can be a normal human being and be good at these jobs.
“To do what these guys do, compete against all the beatwriters in every city that pay them to cover these teams and have more information… Does your audience understand how hard it is because I don’t think they do? I don’t think they have no idea what it’s like to be Jay Glazer, Woj…Shams [Charania], and Schefter. These are the (best) four.”
Le Batard also spoke Glazer’s mental health journey and how working as a breaking news reporter for Fox gave him panic attacks.
“You don’t know the weight of mental illness until it grabs you by the throat,” Le Batard said of Glazer. “I was having panic attacks right before I stepped [the TV studio].”
As for what makes the job and industry so damaging, Le Batard cited the impact of social media.
“If I wasn’t doing what I’m doing right now, Ethan, I would throw my iPad like a Frisbee into the ocean and never look at social media again,” Le Batard said. “For example, you never check anything that’s going on because of how addictive it is and how toxic it can be, and how slow and depressing you can look at all the other stuff out there and be sad about it. “.
There is certainly validity to what Le Batard says. The pressure Woj and Shams must feel to consistently compete with each other, not to mention hold their spots against everyone else in the NBA world, must be immense. And it’s clear that Schefter and Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero and others are in constant competition with each other, while constantly working to prove their worth. Not to mention the microscope they’re under for doing everything right or embarrassing themselves on social media.
It’s also worth saying that all of this is also a choice. You don’t have to cross the ethical boundaries of journalism to be the first person to say that the Pittsburgh Steelers have signed a new punter. This is a choice you make to put your career ahead of other things. As Le Batard himself alluded to, the problem of breaking news was too much for him, and so he moved his career into another aspect of sports media. This is possible for others too, as Glazer seems to be showing.
Does the state of modern sports journalism require Adam Schefter to court sources with gifts and give them editorial say over his reports or is it a choice Schefter makes because he wants to be number one no matter the cost to his integrity? This is the central question of what Le Batard says. Considering you don’t see other people in the NFL getting into the same hot water that he does over and over (and over), it seems like it’s the latter. But the jury is still out.
