Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Muckrakers in the outfield
By Mark Jurkowitz
The PhoenixPublished: 4/5/06
Excerpt:
Last week was an important moment in the history of American journalism. After reading the explosive steroids-scandal book "Game of Shadows," written by two San Francisco Chronicle
reporters, baseball commissioner Bud Selig finally emerged from his
cocoon of denial to announce an investigation into the
performance-enhancing drugs that have cast a cloud over the sport and
particularly over San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, who is 47 home runs
away from catching all-time leader Hank Aaron.
As
the scandal has gradually grown from a whisper to a public
preoccupation, the media’s role in keeping steroid abuse out of the
spotlight for so many years has come under increased scrutiny. Sure,
the players, Major League Baseball, and the union all share a huge bulk
of the culpability. But there were also reporters who got long hard
looks (often literally, via clubhouse access) at the many
manifestations of steroid use — quick and massive muscle growth,
pimple-strewn backs — without being willing or able to blow the whistle. ...
"Clearly,
we can find many issues in sports that can be called front-page and
metro related,” ventures Bob Steele, an ethics expert at the Poynter
Institute media think tank. “There’s a great deal of business and
economic conditions. Sports are often about race and race relations....
Sports may be as central in our society as politics and religion."
More of this article...
Search Google News for more quotes by Bob Steele...
E-mail this item |
Add Your Comments |
QuickLink this item: A99608
Poynter on the Record Archive
MAIN
|
Back to Top
