Sports press obligated to report objectively

The obligation of the sports press is not to protect the teams or the players – not the Boston Red Sox or anyone else.

There seems to be a growing pressure by both sports teams and players at every level to expect the press to be their mouthpiece. That means noncritical.

This pressure stems primarily from the advent of the marriage between the teams and the outlets that cover them, especially television.

The Sox have NESN, the New York Yankees have YES and countless college conferences have or are creating their own media outlets, like that of the Big Ten with its own television network.

Since the teams/conferences own and run these operations, they can be and often are viewed by the owners as mouthpieces for the team. Since the announcers are hired by the team or the network, the relationship can become far from independent.

Even the independent newspapers that have reporters covering sports can fall into “cheering for the home team.”

Coverage of the old home team brings income. Everyone wants to be on the bandwagon when the team is winning and the bucks are flowing.

Reporters of every kind get caught up in the rah-rah of winning, and when that negative story is there for the reporting, it may or may not be reported. The reason for that decision may not be the newsworthiness of the story but the perceived negative response from teams, players and fans.

The loser in all of this will be the fans and the press. Make no mistake, when the newsmakers get to control the news, the news becomes nothing more than a press release to serve the interest of the party releasing it.

In sports, when the radio and television outlets are owned/controlled by the teams, the pressure on the writing press to remain independent becomes even more essential and more difficult to maintain.

Sports talk radio, often carried on some television outlets as well, brings other interesting concerns.

When teams are hot, generally sports talk wants to be seen as part of the euphoria.

When the losses mount, sports talk loves to criticize the teams and players, creating controversy – and hopefully listeners.

For stations that follow that course, there is no “reporting” available for the public to learn from, just verbal garbage.

Coaches want only positive coverage and love to scream at reporters who ask real questions.

Teams, players and coaches can’t wait to be on the tube, but don’t dare ask about steroids, drugs, night club violence, grossly high salaries, tax money for private stadiums and recruiting violations.

Yes, there are always balances to be struck. For the sports press, the balance is what’s newsworthy, wherever the story heads.

For the sports public, the demand for such coverage is essential.

Otherwise, we get lists of baseball drug users cloaked in court files, college recruiting violations that are declared as “in house” matters and coaches’ salaries that get paid for by boosters.

Old Town native Gary Thorne is an ESPN and ABC sportscaster.