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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Expert Analysis: Michael Carter-Williams is Tall


Here's a sample of my latest work from Orange Fizz:

It’s well documented Michael Carter-Williams is having a phenomenal year on the court (the shoplifting story has been unwanted off of it). But from a hoops standpoint, even those who thought MCW should’ve gotten more run last year (*hand up*) couldn’t have predicted he would make this type of leap. He’s not only leading the nation in assists, he now has a streak of 5 straight double doubles. He just dropped 16 assists vs Monmouth, and 14 against Canisius. In fact the only game in the last 7 where he hasn’t netted double-digit dimes was against Arkansas. He had 9. Which is a damn shame. If he got one more he would’ve had a triple double.

Read the whole article here at OrangeFizz.net

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Funemployment Podcast 3: NBA Top 10

Alex Brewer and Kevin Brown join me as we re-draft the NBA in an effort to find out who are the best players in the league for this season.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Funemployment Podcast 2: 3 & Out, FIP's

Alex Brewer and I look at some of the major story lines from the past weekend in the NFL and look ahead with First Impression Selections.


Monday, December 17, 2012

Reaction to Newtown - The Media Pt. 1

Friday, I sat like so many of you glued to my television unable to believe what had happened in Newtown, CT. The emotions ranged from full of anger to devoid of hope. How could anybody possibly execute 20 innocent children and six others who have dedicated their lives to raising our next generation, all after shooting his own mother? Trying to answer that is an impossible task as no one in their right mind can fathom doing it. Yet, experts will try and understand, as they should to try and prevent something like this from happening in the future.

This week on the blog, I will explore some of the other questions being asked and some of the issues raised by last week's shooting and other recent events. There are many media questions which I want to explore for the obvious reason of being in the media as well as some political issues that need to be discussed. All that follows will be simply my opinions mixed with whatever facts and other opinions I choose to include, all of which will be attributed to their original source. I'm not the first one to write on any of these topics, so if I accidentally step on someone's toes without attributing them, it was just that - an accident.

The first of these posts will be on the media, the role it played and continues to play in Newtown and the mistakes made in covering the shooting. This will not include the decision by some to interview children as that's not universally seen as a mistake and will be addressed later this week. Without any further introduction, off we go.

There's a post making the rounds of Morgan Freeman's thoughts on the Newtown shooting where he blames the media for a number of different things. The thoughts are not actually Freeman's but they are the thoughts of many, many people. They are not without consideration and actually make a lot of sense. They are also wrong.

The people who think this way accuse the media of focusing too much on the shooter and not enough on the victims in its initial reports. Guilty as charged, but do they realize what "news" is. It's the things people want to know. We knew as soon as we heard "shooting at an elementary" school that this was bad. We soon found out our worst nightmares were true and that children had been killed. The next question everyone had was "who did this?" and that's where the media's focus correctly shifted.

We want to know who. We want to know why. We want to know how. Who was killed at that point mattered to the people of Newtown and their relatives as they wanted to know if their innocent child was okay or not. If someone is in that boat, we don't want them finding out from the news anyway so the media should get credit for not focusing on the identities of the victims until all those people already knew.

The simple fact is this: we, the media, talk about what people want to hear about. Of course, there are exceptions and agendas exist, but in general I think the media does an alright job covering the news. What matters to people? Why are gas prices on the news every night? Because they matter to people. The simplest way to decide if something is news is by asking "who cares" and if the answer isn't "my viewers" than whoever's asking it shouldn't let it make air. Who the shooter was mattered as do all the questions surrounding him.

This brings us to the issue of identifying the shooter and his motives which was botched Friday for a number of hours. It was first reported that Ryan Lanza shot and killed his mother, a teacher at the school after the principal let him him because he recognized him which explain how he got passed the newly implemented security measures so easily. We now know that Adam Lanza killed his mother at their home and that Nancy Lanza's connection to the school is unknown or non-existent. Adam Lanza forced his way in and commenced his mass murder of the innocent.

How could the media get all these details, starting with the very name of the guilty wrong? Every journalism school in the country preaches be right over be first. The outrage over this is real and valid, but the answer is simple: they did everything right.

There's no way in a story like this that a member of the media to the caliber that the people covering this story are, didn't get confirmation of their intel from people they have trusted for years or from multiple sources. When you get information as a member of the media, you don't just run with it. You confirm it. It appears as if Adam Lanza had his brother's ID and that was the cause for confusion. Reporters got the info from law enforcement and then law enforcement realized they had made a mistake. This is why this day will be brought up in journalism classes forever. We need to re-examine what is right.

I'm not big on rules. I'm big on common sense. To have blanket rules for every situation ignores the fact that situations are different. Every story is different. Reporting on whether a player is in or out of a football game should not be treated the same as the name of a mass murderer. They both involve the same process of finding a source, getting information and reporting it but if you say a guy is out and he winds up playing, the most mad person on earth is the guy who had the player on his fantasy team. You can live with that.

I think the rule for a situation like this is to simply use common sense. Adam Lanza's shooting spree ended when he turned the gun on himself. He was not a killer at large. His identity wasn't something that needed to get out as soon as possible for the safety and well-being of anybody. There was no harm in waiting for the official word and letting officials be the ones to announce who had done this.

This situation played itself out sadly a few weeks ago in Kansas City when Jovan Belcher took the life of his girlfriend and then his own. Some outlets went with the name as soon as they knew it while others waited for the police to release it or confirm it. In that situation, the people that released it knew without a doubt that it was Belcher, yet others waited for the police as they weren't sure all the families had been identified yet. I respect both. They all knew. There was no confusion as to the who. That's why there should be no rules. Use common sense. In the case of Adam Lanza, if the police weren't ready to say publicly who it was and perhaps that should have been a sign.

In the end, the public got a look this weekend into a hypothetical newsroom. The amount of information we get covering stories can be overwhelming and it's our job to sort through it and not let out what is false. In that regard, the media failed miserably this weekend. However the thought that anybody did it for ratings is absurd. Yes ratings matter and on a night to night newscast basis some decisions will be made with ratings in mind. However in a situation like this, we all go into journalist mode as if we're all fresh out school with just "journalism" on our minds. The years of being ruined by ratings disappear and the information becomes the most important. You gather information, you assess it and then if deem fit put it on the air.

Unfortunately the information the media got this weekend changed and changed drastically as the investigation unfolded. This begs a question to which I do not know the "right" answer to and don't honestly know which is better. Are we better serving our viewers by telling them what we know as we go considering the 24 hour news cycle in which we live or are we better serving them by waiting until an investigation is complete? The answer likely lies somewhere in the middle. If I was told Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school, I wouldn't doubt the law enforcement source who told me this. However I'd like to think I'd confirm it as there is an easy to find staff directory on Sandy Hook Elementary's website. A search for Nancy Lanza comes up empty.

There are names in that directory that we do recognize though. Dawn Hochsprung and Vicki Soto jump off the page. Why? The media. The same media that couldn't get the shooter's name right or seemingly any of the details. The same media that many thinks is to blame for this horrific act. In the weeks to come, the media will likely do some of it's finest work, remembering the victims and telling their stories. As much as I hate "the media" all being lumped together, let's hope the media has saved its best for last in covering this horrible tragedy and (to steal a thought from President Obama) produces work worthy of the subjects we are remembering.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Knicks/Nets - This is Real

There are a million things that make sports great. It's the best reality on television as games have ups and downs that aren't scripted and often you can't make up. There is drama. There is tension. There is conflict and it's all very real. All of these are heightened in rivalry games and in early December it is abundantly clear that the rivalry between Knicks/Nets is real.

It started before it started when Mikhail Prokhorov and some guy named Sean Carter (you know him as Jay-Z, even if you're this lady) took out space on the side of a building (New York's version of a  billboard) across from Madison Square Garden, sending the message of "we're coming for you."


After last night's epic, the story lines were endless but it all starts with the fact that both teams are actually good, something that couldn't have been said basically ever. The Nets have been a model of mediocrity or worse with the exception of the 5 season stretch last decade led by Jason Kidd, ironically the man who hit the game winner last night for the Knicks.  During that time the Knicks were at their worst, missing the playoffs every year except 2004 when they were swept by the Nets.

There was always the big brother/little brother dynamic where the Knicks were far and away the talk of the town, and the Nets were more of a geographic annoyance between the Knicks and Sixers than an actual rival. However the fact that the two teams have never been good at the same time makes the timing of the Nets move to Brooklyn all the better.

Of course this wasn't coincidence. If the Nets hadn't moved, Deron Williams has admitted he would have left for Dallas last off-season. They never would have traded for Joe Johnson. There's also the sleeping giant that no one is talking about yet that if the Nets can trade the oft-injured Brook Lopez (not possible until Jan. 15) for some expiring deals, they might be able to land Dwight Howard this summer if the Lakers' disastrous season continues and Superman wants to fly away.

From the chants of "Brooooooklyyyyyn" to Jay-Z and Queen B sitting on the sidelines, the atmosphere in the Barclay's Center is infinitely better than any of the arenas the Nets called home in Jersey, and the Nets really feel like Brooklyn's team. The Nets for a time played at the Meadowlands across the street from the Jets and Giants both of whom claim New York as home. With all due respect to the Garden State, there is just no respect for the Garden State. Being stationed in New York makes the Nets a legit force and whether Knicks fans like it or not, the Nets just hit puberty and the little brother you used to beat up is now your size and not so easy to manhandle anymore.

Monday, December 10, 2012

First Impression Selections - Week 15

The first funemployment podcast takes us back to the finest college show ever to exist (<----completely unbiased, subjective statement) "Call It A Wrap." Alex Brewer and I look back to this weekend's games and look ahead to next week.

Free Agency

On Friday, I was let go by Great Plains Media. I am thankful for the opportunity I was given to be on the air every day right out of school. Anyone who's talked to me over the 5 months I've been in Lawrence has known it hasn't been the easiest ride, but I never once took for granted that I had an hour every day to make my own on KLWN and that I was in a prime timeslot with major reach on KKSW.

Since Friday, the outpouring of support has been astounding. Although I haven't posted or said anything "publicly" until now, so many have reached out and shown their support. As I've told those people, yes this isn't ideal, but I have no doubt I'll land on my feet somewhere and hopefully soon. In the meantime, I will use this space to post original content including columns, podcasts and whatever else I can think of. To steal from my friend Jon "Jag" Gray, please do not use this space to bash my former employer.

As I search for a new job, I will continue to be based in Lawrence with the exception of a few week stretch in early January during which I will be based out of New York following the Pinstripe Bowl. To any potential employer reading this, I am available for fill-in work over the holidays, will travel and can likely get ISDN access nearby.

To all that have not only shown support, but offered help in various ways, I can't thank you enough. There is no good time to lose your job, but with the upcoming northern trip, I'm excited to see friends and family as well as explore new opportunities. Perhaps my greatest strength is networking, and I've not only built up a deep rolodex of contacts, but many of the people in it I consider friends. Many of these people have already started helping me look for what is next, and it is for this reason I firmly believe that I'll be back to work in a relatively short time. Thanks again for all the support and check back often for new and exciting work with some old familiar faces. I have a home studio and I know how to use it. Let the funemployment begin (hopefully leading to it's speedy end).

 Craig