Unbiased Reporting

A certain story in the news this week jumped out
at me when I read it. A couple of reporters requested
an autograph from rookie quarterback Tim Tebow after
Sunday nights game between the Cincinnati Bengals and
the Denver Broncos. Bengal officials immediately escorted
both reporters from the locker room after witnessing the
episode. There is a line between being an objective reporter
and being a fan of the happening. I spent 30 years in
broadcast journalism and this story really hit home for me.
I only requested one autograph in those thirty years and that was
when the event was completely over and players were
headed for home. I had followed Jack Nicklaus for the final
eight holes of the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament and watched
him as the final players finished up their rounds. My father-in-law
was a huge Nicklaus fan and I had the 'Golden Bear' autograph
a cap for him at the nineteenth hole in the clubhouse. Over the
last ten years of my career I could see a change in the mass media.
Instead of reporting on the event, new media types were coming
to the games with jerseys or caps of the Cowboys, Rangers, Giants,
or Colts. They also wanted to be 'friends' with the players and coaches.
I came up in a time when you established some distance between you
and the game. How else are you going to be believed in your reporting?
I have called many 'play-by-play' broadcast of sporting events and one
of the highest praises I ever received was when fans would say, "I couldn't
tell which side you wanted to win." That is what you call 'being objective.'