I’m Gonna Go On-Record Here

Published June 21st, 2007

This morning there seemed to be a ridiculous glut of commercials on the radio. I kept flipping between the two shows I listen to in the morning, finally finding some content on my B option. They had some reporter on from Entertainment Tonight - I believe it was Kevin Frazier. Mr. Frazier was basically denouncing the tactics and behavior of reporters from TMZ.com. And he sort of hit on one of the most heated arguments that is currently raging between old media and new media: What is reporting, and what is news?

See, apparently, in the old days, reporters were all very respectful of each other, patiently waiting in line for interviews with celebrities and sports figure. Reporters became familiar with their subjects, particulary in the sports world (as show host TJ Simers discussed). Both he and Frazier lamented that all the bloggers and internet sites have ruined journalism, dragged all of it down into the paparazzi culture. And its just horrible that anyone can photograph or print anything and not be held accountable. That accountability, said Simers, was the key to good journalism. That if a subject says something to you, and you print it, your name is on it and you are held accountable. And especially in sports reporting, you have to see that subject the next day, and the next, etc. And you know, there is some truth to this, accountability has its merits.

But mostly, like 80%, of this is just old media whining and being scared of new media. Simers acted like having bloggers with dugout/locker room access was an abomination unto journalism. That the bloggers and the internet sites have no shame. Sorry guys, you see what’s happened is that you’ve become a part of what you supposedly report on. You’ve become starstruck. You think that public figures deserve special treatment. See here’s the deal - in the past, there was on-record and off-record. On record, we all though Michael Jordan was a god among men. But off record, all the journalists pretty much knew he was a philandering compulsive gambler. But no one ever said anything. Why? Because they had to face him the next day. Because they had a special rapport - something Simers said was a good thing. But it’s not. Welcome to the world of the panopticon. Originally a prison concept, we have turned our entire world into a prison with an all-seeing eye. There is no more special treatment for public figures. If you’re out there, you’re out there. Everything you do is fair game - just as it would be for a regular joe like myself. No one would hesitate to print anything about me - it’s just that no one would care.

This is what it is now all boiling down to. Journalists in the past have had special access. They’ve been the conduits. They’ve also become too close to their subjects. They have lost the ability to report objectively on them. And that gap is being filled by the bloggers, the internet media. They have no special access, and they don’t care if you’re supposedly “off-record.” I never get to be off-record, why should anyone else? The time has come where the media is being kept honest by the new media. The media originally kept the public figures honest - but they don’t do that anymore.

It’s time to get honest people. The world will be a better place once we realize that everything we do can be held against us - and that’s both good and bad. We’re just learning that our public figures are not the gods we were led to believe - they really are just like us. Time to treat them that way.

The old media should fear the new media - we’re doing their job for them.

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