Gray Matters
Sports Media Owes Sean Taylor An Apology
By Mark F. Gray

Let me be the first to step up on behalf of my industry to do something people with more credibility and clout choose not to.   It is something that you won’t hear from columnists like Jason Whitlock, Michael Wilbon, or Len Shapiro.  It is something that wouldn’t be condoned by sports editors around the country such as Emilio Garcia-Ruiz of the Washington Post. So on behalf of the sports media business let me fall on the sword for everybody.

Dear Sean Taylor & Family:

I apologize for jumping to false assumptions and making them public in the hours leading up to your death.   If there was any sensitivity in my industry we should have waited for the facts before maliciously slandering your character.  We should have not jumped to conclusions about how your past may have played a role your murder.  We were wrong to put your family through unnecessary trauma in their time of grief as we were wrong in our presumptions about the case.   Although your past was part of the story, we were not vigilant in trying to find the truth and create an accurate opinion about you.

Rest In Peace Sean.

Sincerely,

On behalf of Mr.’s Whitlock, Wilbon, Shapiro, Garcia-Ruiz, and Gray
           
This story has exposed the sports media business for what it is. The industry has evolved into a gutless 24 hour news cycle of “A Current Affair” tabloid inflammatory gossip.   At the time leading up to his death there were plenty of ghetto fabulous theories of why Taylor got shot.   We were caught up in the emotion of the moment and looking for answers.

As a matter of fact I was guilty of extreme talk show unfairness as well.  During my weekly segment with Scoop Jackson from ESPN.com we publicly articulated our theories of the case.   At first, “was it the girlfriend because he was messing around?”   Then there was, “when someone shoots you in the groin that’s personal”.  These were two theories with no basis on blast for the world to hear.  They were wrong yet available for public consumption regardless of their validity.   

There are sports columnists and talk show hosts around the country who need a crash course in evolution.   After the presumptive analysis that inferred Taylor’s past played a role in his death, there hasn’t been any editorial space in newspapers – here or around the country - devoted to apologizing for an insensitive rush to judgment.

In reading the Miami Herald and the Washington Post during the peak of this story the zeal for sensationalism took precedence over journalistic integrity.  The people who run the newspaper industry continue to lament shrinking circulation and a lack of readership.   They refuse to admit the penchant for microwave journalism has watered down the credibility of the once virtuous medium.   When speakers at Taylor’s funeral constantly cite the inaccuracy in reporting and columnists are routinely vilified by former players the business needs to take a hard look at itself. 

Newspaper reporters and columnists always take the position of standing behind their stories or columns even when they are wrong.  I didn’t realize that the Whitlocks, Wilbons, and Shapiros were perfect when it comes to analysis and observation.   Each was heinously wrong when offering their opinions of this case.       

Whitlock is nothing more than an overweight hater playing the role of Armstrong Williams on sports.  He is uncomfortable being African American and constantly uses the “Black KKK” reference when supposedly addressing problems and behaviors of young black people.   Remember this was the same fellow who chided Rutgers women’s basketball coach Vivian Stringer for standing up for her players when Don Imus disrespected them.  Before Whitlock falls off his perch he needs to remember what happened to “Mr. No Check Left Behind”.

Wilbon claims that he wanted to broach a subject – black on black crime - that needs to be discussed.   However, he screwed up by alleging that Taylor’s past came back to haunt him.  With each passing day more evidence to the contrary is uncovered.   Pardon the interruption Mr. Wilbon, can’t you admit that even if the spirit of the column was right its context was wrong. 

While I didn’t agree with Shapiro it’s hard to hold him to the same standard of Whitlock and Wilbon.   You can’t expect a “fat, bald, white guy from the suburbs” – his words not mine – to understand how sensitive the black community would be to character assaults on someone who matured and was lying on his death bed. 

Before we blame the authors solely, let’s ask questions about the sports editors who allow this type of venom to be spewed.  Sports editors – such as Mr. Garcia-Ruiz of the Post – are the free safeties of sports journalism.   They are the last line of defense between information and inflammation.   In this case, Garcia-Ruiz got burned like one of Taylor’s replacements in the Redskins secondary after he got hurt in his final game against the Eagles.  

The community no longer trusts newspapers because the policies they once hated they now practice.  If they step from behind the veil of perfection and admit they were wrong once in a while, the public will again start buying newspaper for information.  However, most major daily sports sections these days aren’t fit to line bird cages or doghouses.