I e-mailed the Terre Haute Tribune-Star...

[zrinkill]

Silverbear owns the media

 

[Gryphon]

Look, the guy made a VERY specific claim-- "according to an article on dallascowboys.com", Vanderjagt is in jeopardy of being cut...

There is no such article... there is no "source" to verify here...

Yeah, that IS intentional... I guess you've never heard of lazy journalists makin' stuff up to fill out a column, then gettin' caught at it...

FYI- This same article is posted on Sports Illustrated.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/scorecard/08/24/truth.rumors.nfl/index.html

 

[silverbear]

Silverbear owns the media

Bet I'm not the only Cowboys fan to complain about that... LOL...

 

[silverbear]

FYI- This same article is posted on Sports Illustrated.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/scorecard/08/24/truth.rumors.nfl/index.html

Then they were suckered...

 

[peplaw06]

FYI- This same article is posted on Sports Illustrated.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/scorecard/08/24/truth.rumors.nfl/index.html

This is what happens when one "journalist" prints something that is a lie. Other reporters quote the original "journalist," then the lie makes it from Indiana across the country. Next thing you know everyone thinks Vandy may get cut when that's not the case.

We need more people to call "journalists" out on this type of "reporting." Kudos to Silverbear for calling out Tom James

 

[trickblue]

This is what happens when one "journalist" prints something that is a lie. Other reporters quote the original "journalist," then the lie makes it from Indiana across the country. Next thing you know everyone thinks Vandy may get cut when that's not the case.

We need more people to call "journalists" out on this type of "reporting." Kudos to Silverbear for calling out Tom James

That's exactly the way it works now... before the internet, the wealth of info on the web wasn't a keystroke or two away. Like many, they take it for gospel and go ahead with their piece...

It's a much easier job now on one hand, on the other hand, it makes it easier for folks like Silverbear to easily validate the info and call their hand...

Nice work, my friend...

 

[LeonDixson]

Silverbear, I love that stylized bear avatar you have. Good job!

 

[silverbear]

That's exactly the way it works now... before the internet, the wealth of info on the web wasn't a keystroke or two away. Like many, they take it for gospel and go ahead with their piece...

It's a much easier job now on one hand, on the other hand, it makes it easier for folks like Silverbear to easily validate the info and call their hand...

Nice work, my friend...

Aw shucks, it wasn't nuthin'... LOL...

I actually do find it gratifying that nobodies like me can contact a newspaper like that, and they'll act if they find the complaints have merit... mind you, I'm quite sure I'm not the ONLY one who contacted them about this...

Of course you're right, in this internet era, a rumor appears one place, and next thing you know, it's all over the place... and the more often it's repeated, the more it gains credibility...

 

[silverbear]

Silverbear, I love that stylized bear avatar you have. Good job!

I typed "silverbear" in the Google search engine, and that bear was one of the first results I got back... what it is, is a depiction of a Zuni bear fetish (little stone or bone carvings of animals)... right down to the "lifeline"...

Being a bit of a student of the southwestern tribes-- Apache, Zuni, Navajo, Hopi-- that one resonated with me... the reason I became a bit of a student of those tribes is when I went to college at UTEP, everybody else on my floor in the dorm was a Mescalero Apache... I got to be friends with them, they took me up to tribal ceremonies and such...

 

[Tenkamenin]

Silverbear, thanks for sending the complaint. I'm glad you took the initiative to not let that comment get swept under the rug.

 

[speedkilz88]

Mickey Spagnola just brought up this very subject on Talkin Cowboys. He saw the cnn/si blurb and tracked it down to tribstar. Said they are trying to get a hold of their sports department. Mickey, Sham, and Bill Jones all had a good laugh about it and said that Vanderjagt will not be released.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

Good work, Silverbear!

 

[Alexander]

Mickey Spagnola just brought up this very subject on Talkin Cowboys. He saw the cnn/si blurb and tracked it down to tribstar. Said they are trying to get a hold of their sports department. Mickey, Sham, and Bill Jones all had a good laugh about it and said that Vanderjagt will not be released.

They have already printed a retraction.

Spagnola is a little late.

http://www.tribstar.com/prosports/local_story_236221842.html

 

[tyke1doe]

Aw shucks, it wasn't nuthin'... LOL...

I actually do find it gratifying that nobodies like me can contact a newspaper like that, and they'll act if they find the complaints have merit... mind you, I'm quite sure I'm not the ONLY one who contacted them about this...

Of course you're right, in this internet era, a rumor appears one place, and next thing you know, it's all over the place... and the more often it's repeated, the more it gains credibility...

Unfortunately, as a member of the media who works at a newspaper, I have to agree with you.

If writers don't have their own sources within a particular organization, they "borrow" from other publications - AP, Pro Football Weekly, Dallas Morning News (or whichever local paper covers a particular beat) - and that information gets circulated to other areas.

As an example, there was this controversy about Jerry Falwell saying that the Teletubbies were "gay." An AP reporter writes the story and then the story is carried around the country. Now, if you goggle or access the story, you will get statements about Falwell saying that the Teletubbies were gay.

But he never said that. The "statement" came from Falwell's publication - can't remember the name - and the article had to do with gay groups in Europe "identifying" the Teletubbies as "gay" characters. The original article, which I read, mentioned this fact as a way to inform parents.

The AP writer asked Falwell about the article, and Falwell said he stood by the article because he trusts the editor of his publication.

Boom: "Falwell says the Teletubbies are gay."

Now that's what most believe, and whenever this controversy gets mentioned that background information is what is inserted into stories.

Note: This is NOT a discussion on Falwell and his beliefs. This was simply offered as a way information gets circulated as if it is the "truth" when it is not. I did my own research to verify what "actually" occurred.

P.S. Good job, Silverbear, calling for responsible journalism and bringing this to the attention of the paper's editor. Opinion is one thing. Errors that can be verified is another.

This case involves the latter.

 

[Khartun]

Mickey Spagnola just brought up this very subject on Talkin Cowboys. He saw the cnn/si blurb and tracked it down to tribstar. Said they are trying to get a hold of their sports department. Mickey, Sham, and Bill Jones all had a good laugh about it and said that Vanderjagt will not be released.

whatever, he read Silverbear's post. We know you're here Mickey.

 

[silverbear]

Silverbear, thanks for sending the complaint. I'm glad you took the initiative to not let that comment get swept under the rug.

Thanks, but like I said, I'll bet they didn't pull that because of little ol' me... I'll bet there were a number of folks who spoke with them about the accuracy of that bit...

Perhaps one of them was a staffer for the Cowboys... I'll be THAT would get the TribStar's attention in a hurry...

But y'know, I'm vain enough that I'm gonna tell myself that I brought a big ol' newspaper to its knees... LOL...

 

[silverbear]

Good work, Silverbear!

Mess wit da Bear, ya gits da claws, milady...

 

[silverbear]

They have already printed a retraction.

Spagnola is a little late.

http://www.tribstar.com/prosports/local_story_236221842.html

Kewl-- a retraction is even better than simply dropping that part of the story from their website...

 

[WoodysGirl]

They have already printed a retraction.

Spagnola is a little late.

http://www.tribstar.com/prosports/local_story_236221842.html

Yep, but I think they'll still have a little fun at the expense of their fellow colleagues.

Not a thing wrong with that, especially since those guys should be around when the boys play Indy.

 

[silverbear]

P.S. Good job, Silverbear, calling for responsible journalism and bringing this to the attention of the paper's editor. Opinion is one thing. Errors that can be verified is another.

This case involves the latter.

I once gave serious thought to translating my writing ability into a career in journalism... took a few college courses toward that end...

So I've had some of the basics of journalistic integrity, and it hacks me off when some "reporter" plays fast and loose with the truth... a lot of folks (mostly of the non-thinking variety) believe everything they read in a newspaper...

In this case, Terre Haute is well within the Colts' "home" territory, and the author was probably going for a laugh at ex-Colt Vanderjagt's expense... which would be OK, if he'd bothered to get his facts straight...

Really, if I was on the editorial staff of the TribStar, ol' Tom James would need to have a REAL good excuse for what he did, or he could start cleaning out his desk... a reporter who fudges facts is poison to a reputable newspaper's reputation...