Broken News

I haven’t yet had the chance to watch the 4th season of The Wire (DVD comes out on December 4th. I’ve had that date circled in my calender with lavender-colored magic markers since August). But I’m already looking forward to the 5th season, because it’s supposed to be about the media. If you don’t have a healthy distrust of the media, dear reader, you should. The media fascinates me. I don’t claim to fully understand exactly WHY it’s so screwed up, although Noam Chomsky does a good job of breaking it down in “Manufacturing Consent”.

Whenever I discuss this topic, I generally make a distinction between two types of media f*ck-ups. First, you have the scary kind; the type of TV channel (Fox News, CNN, to a lesser extent BBC…etc.) or newspaper (USA Today) that enforces the status quo.

Then you have the amusing kind. Like this:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=wojciechowski_gene&id=3094881&sportCat=nfl

Since they cover sports, ESPN.com doesn’t really affect people’s lives, so their skewed reporting evokes merriment instead of heartache. In this column, Gene Wojciechowski announces that, following New England’s 24-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, which improved their record to 9-0, the rest of the season (and post-season) is a foregone conclusion. He laughs at the mere notion that anyone can beat the Pats.

Understand this: I am firmly situated in a choice spot on the Patriots bandwagon. I love watching them. I enjoy Randy Moss so much that the fact that he’s 30 makes me sad, because it means he’ll have to retire in a few years, if that makes any sense. Anyway, so, yeah, I like the Patriots.

Also, I’m fully aware that if anyone can go undefeated, New England can. And they have a decent shot of doing that, even though I don’t think they will. But what amazes me is that Wojciechowski doesn’t even entertain the thought of the Pats losing a game. Ignoring the fact that ANYONE can lose on a given night, what about injuries? If Brady or Moss has to sit out a game (against the Ravens or Steelers, perhaps?) does that perfect record remain intact?

And, even more amazingly, Wojciechowski is unwaveringly convinced that no one has the slightest chance of beating the Patriots in the playoffs. Not even the Colts, who outplayed New England for most of Sunday night’s game without their first and third receivers.

I have my doubts about New England going 16-0, but I think that, ok, there’s a chance that maybe, just maybe, they could do it. They’re also my Super Bowl pick. What irks me about Wojciechowski’s column is not the fact that he thinks that they’ll accomplish those goals. I just feel that his writing smacks of sensationalism. It’s almost as if Sunday’s game afforded him the opportunity to run with a pre-determined story. He doesn’t seem to value actual analysis.
And what if the inevitable Pats-Colts rematch results in a New England loss?

Even better. A chance to run with a different kind of headline: “Shock of the Century!!!!”

I wish reporters would just try, for once, to take the sober, measured, thoughtful approach. Especially when dealing with matters that are not as trivial as pigskin.