TMZ-ing ESPN

Schefter's NFL Insider reports on ESPN can seem
more like gossip than actual sporting news.

What is news?  What nuggets of information can actually be considered newsworthy and worth spreading to the outside world?  The definition of news has changed, and this shift has even infiltrated the world of sports journalism, as even some prominent sportscasters are getting confused.

Take, for example, ESPN’s hiring of former Denver Post sportswriter Adam Schefter in 2009.  His title: NFL Insider.  What does that really mean?  In short, it means that Schefter’s job is to dig up dirt on athletes, teams and other sports figures and make speculations about developing stories.  To put it another way, he sensationalizes things.

If someone wants to get really good at sensationalizing things, they should simply check out TMZ, a news source that specializes in celebrity gossip.  For example, the fact that Jon Cryer, Charlie Sheen’s former Two and a Half Men co-star, went to a spa with his wife (!) was headline news earlier this week.

Seeing how media consumers thrive off of the late-breaking news blurbs and all-consuming celebrity dirt, Schefter and the world of sports media has begun to mimic its tabloid counterparts.

So while the National Enquirer speculated on its Web site this week whether Sarah Palin was involved in a nude photo scandal, Schefter speculated on sportsgrid.com reasons why former New York Giants running back (and NBC football analyst) Tiki Barber might be making a comeback to the NFL:

First and foremost I think he had nothing in the world of television, that world is dried up…“[Barber] had nothing in television right now, and he is looking at this, and he’s looking at his brother Ronde, who signed a one-year extension last month with Tampa, and saying to himself, ‘I take good care of myself, I train hard.’  …If he signed some sort of veteran contract, he’s going to make more in football than he could in television right now.

It’s great that Schefter has sound reasoning.  He might even be correct in his assumptions of Barber’s intentions.  But in all honesty, Schefter has no idea why Barber wants to come back to the NFL.  Unless Schefter just got off the phone with Barber’s personal confidant, his agent or Tiki himself, we really shouldn’t care what he thinks.

Schefter’s Twitter account is now considered a legitimate news source, yet he rarely reveals the sources of his reports.  Why? Sometimes, he has no sources to report. 

In December 2009, when the Minnesota Vikings were on their way to the NFC Championship Game, cameras spotted Vikings coach Brad Childress and quarterback Brett Favre having a ‘heated discussion’ on the sideline.  No big deal, right?

ESPN brought Schefter in after the game so he could tell the world exactly what’s going on between Favre and Childress, as you can see here:



Does Schefter have any sources?  Does the story really have any significance?  At times, he does indeed have valuable reports, but all too often he merely comes across as a know-it-all NFL gossip-monger, and not a sports journalist.  ESPN (and Schefter) should start acting less like TMZ…ASAP.