Why Did the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Drop the Ball on the Demaryius Thomas Story?

Because like most of the modern media, it’s populated by opinion columnists masquerading as journalists.

The mainstream media can mock the blogosphere all they want but at the end of the day many sports blogs (including this one) have writers that care more about research and accuracy than those who are paid to do so.

Dunwoody is a long way from North Avenue…..

I do know that Gannett is sucking wind… HARD! I think there were some layoffs in DC at US Today. I actually had a nightmare last night that WXIA was shutting down their news operations and my best friend was going to lost his job.

It’s dark days for TV news, but even worse for newspapers. I think investing in print media is one of Warren Buffet’s biggest regrets.

It seems like most papers are getting beat by web outlets like yahoo and blogs (at least in the cfb news dept.). Other than the Columbus dispatch’s last round of tressel revelations (and our own Columbus ledger’s minor scoop of the dumb rec dept. variety), I can’t remember the last story hat was broken by a paper. We joke locally about no one caring about tech, but its definitely true nationally. And I think the ajc is a great paper, its the columnists that piss me off. I just ignore them. As for former columnists, Furman Bisher can shampoo my crotch.

not just UGA fans are interested. The AJC has no qualms about reporting negatively on SEC schools … yet Tech is the midst of a major two-year, two-sport investigation and not a peep from the hometown paper?

If there was a young man who was choosing between the Jackets and Dawgs over the last 20 months .. .or even the Jackets and Clemson, or Wake, or wherever … can’t we agree he had a right to know if the team was being investigated? Isn’t that the job of the ethical sports media? Did Paul Johnson tell recruits there was an investigation? Was he asked about it by concerned parents? Are there players who matriculated at Tech who would have looked to another school had they known the whole truth? Did the AJC and Tech collude to supress news in order to protect Tech or Paul Johnson?

Atlanta is the biggest city in the South and a recruiting hotbed for more than just the local universities. The AJC is one of the biggest sport departments in the region covering the two biggest conferences in the Southland. The AJC’s editorial positons impact programs and sports reporting far beyond the Georgia state lines. With this prominence, however, comes concomitant responsibility. We all have a right to know if the AJC set on a big story to protect hometown favorites. If it did, it’s an even bigger fishwrapper than I had previously thought.

If the AJC can truthfully and credibly state it had no knowledge of the investigation either, then it raises an even more important question … are some NCAA investigations more secret than others? South Carolina is being investigated for the Whitney hotel mess. UNC is being investigated for serious allegations of academic fraud and coaches fronting for agents. Auburn, Ohio State and Oregon look to be in even deeper kimchee.
At least we all know about these investigations – they are all matters of public record.

Does that mean other schools have secret investigations? What if Florida was being secretly investigated now? What about Bama? Or FSU? Wouldn’t you want to know? Shouldnt we have a right to know? The system needs major reform.

But first the AJC needs to answer – what did they know about Tech and when did they know it?

lack of resources. I mulled over the “incompetence” option, but I couldn’t really do this. And here is why. I truly believe that Bradley and Schultz exist to sling hash on UGA. Since this is their primary task, they are completely competent because they do it so well. No one has accused these guys actually being journalists, have they? I honestly can’t tell you who is the Tech beat writer because I don’t read Tech news. In fact, I rarely read the AJC. I’m occasionally guided there by the links provided by TheDawgbone.com and other Georgia-centric blogs.

However, this whole incident really speaks to the bigger tragedy of the dying news dailies. I’m not even going to talk about television because, even when local TV was thriving, they derived much of their “scoops” from raiding the types of stories that once-great newspapers already broke. Local television is parasitic that way. Trust me. That’s not to say that some local TV stations don’t employ some solid, dedicated investigative journalists…but they, too, are becoming increasingly rare.

Back on point: It is sad to see the types of service to the greater good which the newspaper journalists once regularly provided by doing the kind of investigative journalism that broke stories such as the Watergate scandal, or other all-too-familiar tales of local corruption that would have gone unabated if not for local print media as watchdogs.

Irwin R. Fletcher is dead. Long Live Fletch!

that is all.

Bubba Watson made the cut at the Open, however he is currently tied for 33 and likely won’t be in the money.