What Do You Find To Be More Credible

[THUNDER HANDS]

Poll question: What Do You Find To Be More Credible

Sports journalism or political journalism?

I think both can be wildly out of control sometimes, but honestly, more often than not I think sports journalism is the more professional of the two.

I'd much rather have politics covered the way that sports is in this country and sports covered the way politics is.

(speaking as a guy who has covered both for a newspaper)

[joeybee12]

1. Both suck, but at least sports journalists don't pretend they're unbiased n/t

[marmar]

3. Agreed....But sports journalism, particularly the alleged "journalism" on TV....

..... PARTICULARLY the NFL reporters...are so blatantly pro-Republican.

[joeybee12]

4. Yeah, because they're mainly pro athletes and the Repukes are

the majority there...I was talking mainly about when they talk about which team is better, which player, etc...in many ways there's no way to know, but they report their opinions like fact...some of them do.

[Awsi Dooger]

2. Sports journalism is forced to be higher caliber

Everyone in the target audience knows the horse race aspect, so the broadcasters/reporters are compelled to explore the sidelight factors, or be virtually laughed out of the arena by knowledgeable fans.

Here's a principal difference: with dozens/hundreds of teams there's naturally balanced coverage and perspective. Even the most popular or most hated teams are favored or despised by a small percentage of overall fans. The vast majority don't really care, so it's obvious when there's blatant bias, in any direction. A home town announcer knows his role and is easily identified. That's one of the few accepted exceptions.

But let's face it, in politics almost everything is driven by rabid partisanship. When a lesser known politician is revealed in scandal, the first thing everyone does is look for the D or R, then the argument is shaped by whether the offender is friend or foe. Political reporting, similarly, is allowed to be biased, if not blatantly shallow and inept, because no matter which way you tilt almost half the audience will embrace you and quote you, wonderfully content not only to ignore the slant but to scream it's outright mythology.

Notice sports bias is seriously debated only when an extremely high profile team is the focus, like the Yankees or Notre Dame. Those teams approach political levels of allegiance and hatred, so the clarity is lost.