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This is Brentt Eads of Extra Inning Softball (EIS).
I’ve work in sports media my entire career – from Student Sports to ESPN, Full Count Softball (my own softball website and FloSports before this wonderful job—and I would’ve thought I had a good grasp on what is appropriate or not appropriate to run on a softball-centric website like ours.
But here’s a case I would REALLY love to get your opinion on: Is this type of content I’m about to describe “inappropriate” or “wrong” to cover on the Extra Inning Softball platform?
Here’s the situation:
A while back, we learned from good inside sources as well as public ones—meaning online media sources like ESPN, New York Times, as well as ABC, CBS and NBC local affiliate types)—that a famous figure in the fastpitch world was in the news… and not in a good way.
It had to do with something unpleasant to report.
A crime and arrest… and a mug shot.
Now, we do publish articles regarding accidents, illnesses, injuries or even death occasionally but rarely get pushback for these stories because people recognize they are inevitable parts of life.
But in this real-life incident I’m describing, a former star softball player did something in public that, frankly, put lives in danger for which she was arrested, and her mug shot shown on TV, online, etc.
We had the information and I as Executive Editor made the decision that, trying to be a source of all things in the softball world good, bad and ugly, we would run this troubling story.
It was public news, after all, and had already been reported but the pushback from our softball audience, at least to me, was stunning in its strong displeasure of this being reported… at least on our site.
The head softball coach at the subject’s Power 5 alma mater called and told me emphatically that:
“You’re not supposed to run this type of story… it’s not uplifting for the sport!”
The mother of the former athlete involved here called our CEO and expressed her strong displeasure, revealing the insight that her daughter had a health reason that led to the situation that wasn’t publicly known, but still led to her actions, illegal though they were.
Fans and alumni of the athlete’s former college were vehement in their opposition to this story being publicized but even the everyday fastpitch player, coach, parent and fan expressed their strong opinion that this was something we shouldn’t have published.
Let’s just say many were very strongly and vocally opposed.
We took the article down, although it’s still in our back-end publishing site (WordPress). I recently read it and was reminded how it was factual and fairly presented, but, wow, was it condemned by many if not a majority of our readers!
Side-story here, so bear with me but it does have a point.
When I was a young lad, I was in the Cub Scouts/Boy Scouts and received the publication Boy’s Life Magazine which today is published under the title of Scout Life – From the Publisher of Boy’s Life since 1911.
I remember, even as a pre-teen, how the information in this publication was always very positive in nature with little negativity involved… almost too positive, in my young perspective.
As I write this, I looked at the scouts’ online site which had stories titled “How to Make a Fast Pinewood Derby Car,” How to Buy a Good Pocketknife or Multitool,” and Watch Out, Bug! These Plants are Hungry.”
Totally legit articles for young scouts, but certainly not presenting the difficulties of life; for that unpleasant reality, I would just read the Columbus Dispatch, Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, or other local newspapers in my younger years.
As some would put it, me included, the Boy’s Life approach was pretty much all rainbows and sunshine.
Back to the arrest of the young athlete… this was unpleasant, but real. Softball relevant because she was a significant and well-known figure—even a role model to younger players looking to accomplish what she had impressively done at a high level.
It certainly passed the sniff test of being newsworthy; but, many questioned, was it appropriate? At least for our audience.
In media, you must know your market and I thought I did. Maybe I just heard from the very vocal few that made it seem like it was a majority and, even today, I feel we/I did nothing wrong because the story was factual and unbiased… but was it the wrong choice to report it?
Were we at Extra Inning, I feared, becoming the “rainbows and sunshine only” of softball? Is (or was) that good or bad? Since our editorial focus is wide-ranging—including youth coverage up through high school and club, college, international and pro—should we just report the positive?
Maybe so, but that’s not accurate to life or even athletics as, on every play in sports (including softball), there is a winner or loser, a strike, a ball, a hit, an out, an error, an eventual victory or defeat.
Life is that way too… so shouldn’t we report on the good AND the bad?
Honestly, what I thought I knew in this case I still ponder and question. Basically, were we at EIS wrong to publish the article in the first place… or wrong to ultimately pull it down?
Ninety-nine percent of the time, I believe, our coverage feels right, but I admit in this one specific instance I misread the reaction to this piece.
I guess that’s what life is all about – trying, failing, improving, growing and learning.
Still, I don’t know what I’d do if something came up like this again. I do know, however, that I will consult as many trusted people as I can to help make the decision!
— Brentt Eads/Extra Inning Softball
What are your thoughts on the issue? I’d love to get your honest opinions and feedback… email me at [email protected] and know I’ll appreciate any insights whatever side of the issue you’re on!