The Media Circle

The media has been hounding Wayne Gretzky.  The media is now commenting on the media hounding Gretzky.  James Mirtle comments on the media commenting on itself about Gretzky.  I now add the next link in the chain.

Mirtle points out both sides of the media monster: there’s good and bad and demand for it all right now.

Outside of so many “unnamed sources”, I think the media’s been pretty good with this one.

For one thing, the media has not been that hard on Gretzky.  Gretzky has been given sainthood north of the border.  Excuses and defenses were being made for him before his name was even mentioned.  He might have done nothing wrong, this isn’t a complaint, simply an observation from someone in NY who’s seen the media eat someone up before.

Secondly, this is a huge story, and how people are compaining over it being covered too much already is insane.  It’s still fresh and there have been constant information leaks, some true, some not.

Frankly, as long as things stay confirmed in regards to the bets and hockey (that there were none made on NHL games and no information passed along), this is good for the game in the US.  Oh, I know, everyone doesn’t believe “any publicity is good publicity”, but let’s look at some facts here:
- Hockey was on the front and back page of major newspapers cross-country
- ESPN led with a hockey-related story for multiple news broadcasts
- All names involved are pronouncable
- Americans love to gamble (or “why the NFL is popular”) and won’t condemn anyone as long as games weren’t fixed
- Todd Bertuzzi is not involved (I hope)
- No one’s been physically harmed that we know of

Compared to scandals in other sports, the NHL has little to worry about with “Operation Slapshot”.

What the media (and public) has to do now is be patient.  Wait for Rick Tocchet’s arraignment, see what his real (if any) connection is to helping run/finance gambling ring, and what his connection (if any) is to any other individuals who helped run it.  The speculation is what can make the coverage dirty.  Hopefully that will be kept to a minimum.

Posted by David M Singer on Feb 15, 2006 at 05:05 AM
Major Stories • Operation Slapshot • Media • NHL

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