Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Oh, the meanness of it all

A 90-minute town-hall style "Costas Now" on HBO last night used a combination of taped and live segments to explore the role of sports talk radio and bloggers in the evolution of sports media. Mitch Albom blamed sports talk radio for spreading negativity and meanness to other forums, including sports columns. During the discussion about blogging, Buzz Bissinger told Deadspin's Will Leitch that blogs are conduits of cruelty and dishonesty. Traditional-media journalists also had their turn on the hot seat; they were accused of being jealous of athletes (One has to wonder if they're also jealous of bloggers) and of fueling distrust by athletes. The whole thing makes one wonder...So who is responsible for the ugliness in much of sports coverage today?

1 comment:

Mike C. said...

Hi Marie,

Interesting stuff. I'm a fellow professor. We're considering adding a sports communication major and I'm piloting a class this May. I hope it's okay if I've linked your blog to my course website. We'll be taking a peek now and then just to stay on top of things. It was nice to start a search and find a reputable source out there writing about this.

Mike