Buzz off base vs. blogger at media town hall

by Jason Whitlock

Updated: June 3, 2008, 7:50 PM EST

So I was somewhat stunned Tuesday night when one of the great journalist/authors of this era, Buzz Bissinger, erupted on HBO's "Costas Now" at the mere sight of deadspin moderator Will Leitch.

All great journalists (and there's a huge difference between writers and journalists) walk with anger. However, they normally save their venom for more important targets than leaders of the online paparazzi.

Ninety minutes before Bissinger's eruption, we shared a car service from our hotel to the Equitable Center Theater where Bob Costas' live town hall meeting on the changing landscape of sports media would take place. It was my first in-person meeting with Bissinger ("Friday Night Lights"), and I found him bright, intense, straightforward and likable.

He told me on the ride over that he hated blogs. I told him that blogs weren't going anywhere and we might as well learn to live with them and enjoy them.

On camera, Bissinger told Leitch that he was "full of sh**" and that deadspin was contributing to the dumbing down of America. Bissinger cussed, berated and railed against a mostly imaginary enemy. More than anything, Bissinger betrayed his own immense intelligence and surrendered the moral high ground to someone who couldn't find it with a map, compass and Mother Teresa serving as a guide.

His points were lost in all the sound and fury signifying good TV.

He turned Leitch into a martyr, a role he plays well. I scan deadspin two or three times a week. It is not representative of all (or even most) blogs. Romenesko, thebiglead, profootballtalk, joeposnanski, thestartingfive.wordpress, joesportsfan and AOL's fanhouse are just a few of the blogs less dedicated to humiliation and self-book-promotion than deadspin.

I used to be a more regular reader of deadspin until the site published a post suggesting that a prominent sportscaster was spotted at a Super Bowl party texting a woman late at night for a hookup. Allegedly one of Leitch's correspondents looked over the married sportscaster's shoulder and read the text message.

I don't have any doubt the gossip was posted on deadspin because the national sportscaster is despised by many sports fans. Bloggers, like journalists and writers, play favorites. Leitch's site troubles a lot of journalists, traditional newspaper writers and broadcasters because we are often the target of his humiliation.

Some of us don't have the time, patience or inclination to help promote Leitch's book, which spends an inordinate amount of time telling prominent, successful, well-spoken African-Americans that they're not really black.

Again, bloggers are no different from writers or journalists. There are good ones and bad ones, fair and unfair ones, moderately accurate and horribly inaccurate ones. None is infallible.

For every inappropriate or patently biased thing I find on deadspin, I find 10 things that absolutely crack me up. The guys who run thestartingfive.wordpress hate me and my columns most days. But they also post some pretty interesting interviews with writers, journalists, athletes and entertainers from time to time.

Bloggers might be inspired by their loathing of traditional media, but they are not the cause of our growing irrelevance. We did that with our refusal to adapt to new technology, our clutching of political correctness and the transparency of our agenda-driven "objective journalism."

We opened the door. And it won't be closed with bluster and anger.

I wish that had been examined more thoroughly on "Costas Now." The sparring between Leitch and Bissinger I'm sure made for terrific television, but it took us nowhere.

The segment on sports-talk radio was superior. Costas had a perfect storm of panelists for that segment. In Michael Strahan, Mitch Albom and Chris "Mad Dog" Russo, the show had a world-class athlete, a world-class writer and a world-class @$$. That trio overshadowed the fact that HBO producers put together a taped setup piece that featured the original sports blogger, afraid-of-the-locker-room coward Jay Mariotti as the voice of reason preaching to talk-radio hosts about ethics. Next week I'll be hosting a show blasting Oprah for putting on weight.

Anyway, Strahan did a masterful job explaining why so many athletes abhor talk radio. Strahan also demonstrated a nuanced view of "the media," differentiating between the journalists and writers who cover the team on a daily basis and radio talkers and bloggers.

To his credit, Russo explained that his show is for fans, not athletes or journalists. And Albom played arbitrator, siding with Strahan but not to the point of arguing that guys like Russo need to disappear.

Segment three of Costas' town hall — a look at sports on TV — was a bit of a waste because it was filled with too much star power. Joe Buck, Dan Patrick and Mike Tirico are major players on camera. They're not going to say anything too controversial. Plus, Buck cracked a brilliant joke to open the segment — riffing on Buzz's earlier rant — and that was too much bait for Patrick not to demonstrate the personality that made him a superstar at ESPN and a budding independent star on radio.

I was back in the green room during segment four — a discussion about the relationship between the media and athletes — and missed it.

My segment, the last of the evening, the one about race and sports, could've been spectacular. Mike Wilbon and Cris Carter were gassed and ready to go. But we just didn't have enough time. HBO promised to come back with a full 90 minutes devoted to the topic. I hope the network keeps its promise. It's the only network with the integrity and reputation to handle the subject properly.

I'd like to see David Simon (creator of "The Wire"), Dan LeBatard (Miami media personality), Bill Simmons (ESPN's Sports Guy) and Dr. Richard Lapchick invited to the follow-up discussion to add some diversity. And, of course, people such as Dr. Harry Edwards, Bill Russell, Jim Brown, etc. should be invited too.

And maybe Will Leitch can come along and tell us if we're all acting black enough.

If you would like to respond directly to Jason, you can e-mail him at ballstate68@aol.com.

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