Rutgers technically doesn’t join the Big Ten for another three months. Still, I would expect Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany might have a conversation with Julie Hermann over her latest comments about the Newark Star-Ledger.
Delany has a keen PR sense. He knows it isn’t good PR to wish for the death of a major local paper, as the Rutgers athletic director did with the Star-Ledger.
Clearly, it wasn’t for Julie Hermann. She must have been tickled, because this is the same woman who stood up in front of a class of journalism students a few weeks ago and said it would be “great” if the newspaper died.
No, really. Great. That was her word. The Rutgers athletics director, in a wide-ranging discussion with the class, was talking about her own rocky introduction with the media in New Jersey when … well, here is the exchange:
“If they’re not writing headlines that are getting our attention, they’re not selling ads – and they die,” Hermann told the Media Ethics and Law class. “And the Ledger almost died in June, right?”
“They might die again next month,” a student said.
“That would be great,” she replied. “I’m going to do all I can to not give them a headline to keep them alive.”
Later, Politi gives the requisite statement from the school:
In a statement from Rutgers, Hermann did not apologize or explain her attack on the newspaper, instead stating that she was sharing her experiences “in an informal way and out of the glare of the media spotlight.” Because who would have imagined that journalism students would have recording devices?
“Her comments were in response to a broad array of student questions on a number of different subjects and were reflective of her own personal experiences,” the statement read. “She had no knowledge of the impending reorganization of the Star-Ledger and drastic changes that the newspaper would announce several weeks later, in April.”
Later, he writes:
She has declared war on the largest news gathering organization that covers her athletic department. What could possibly be gained by that? This was another excerpt from her classroom discussion:
“Keeping in mind that salacious sells, keeping in mind that we are a lot of people’s favorite topic, keeping in mind that there are people – I’ve got one guy over at the Ledger and he has one mission, that’s to get any AD at Rutgers fired. That’s his hobby. How soon can I get the new AD fired?”
If that “guy over at the Ledger” is yours truly, then I should make two points: 1. My hobby is gardening. 2. I hope the Rutgers AD gets out of her own way long enough to turn Rutgers into a thriving Big Ten power, because that is much, much better for business.
Ed:
I don’t wish for the death of any newspaper since there are already enough people out of work. I’ve been in the sports media business myself for over 35 years too so I have a vested stake in all this.
That being said however, tell me exactly where Hermann was wrong with this statement…”If they’re not writing headlines that are getting our attention, they’re not selling ads – and they die.”
Speaking simply from a sports media standpoint, I think she is dead right.
There are far too many “yellow” journalistic type individuals in the sports media business today. They aren’t interested in being “unbiased,” or “objective.” You know, the cardinal rules we were taught in journalism / telecommunications classes’ decades ago.
They are simply trying to promote their agenda and often times in the most irresponsible manner possible. They cross the line and make attacks against individuals or teams they dislike personal.
Who specifically am I talking about?
The names Jay Mariotti, Pete Thamel, Thayer Evans, Pat Forde, Doug Gottlieb, Skip Bayless and Mike North immediately come to mind.
Simply type their names in on Google and read or watch their tripe and you’ll see immediately what I’m talking about.
That’s not journalism, that’s cow dung.
So from that perspective with all due respect, Hermann was correct in my opinion. Maybe in order to get these individuals out of the business some newspapers or web sites need to die, or change their sensationalistic attitudes.
There’s a reason I come across so many fans that are bitterly angry at the profession in general and the above mentioned names are a big part of that reason. That hurts me when my profession is ripped like that.
To be fair there are a number of solid, good reporters / broadcasters out there both locally (in Chicago) and nationally…but you don’t hear about them unfortunately…all you hear about are, in the words of Charles Barkley, “the knuckleheads.”
They are a major boil on what is a noble profession. They need to be lanced.
I think Rutgers should go out of business.