You see it in the news on an almost daily basis. A college athlete gets in trouble for a relatively minor offense, and before long, the whole world knows:
“Breaking … State U football player arrested for possession of marijuana, suspended indefinitely by coach pending review of further details.”
It’s been going on for years — the personal life of big-time college athletes is big-time news. But in a college sports year that has been marred by major scandals, I’ve found myself questioning what should — and what shouldn’t — be reported and discussed in the public domain.
First, a few disclaimers. Obviously, the media has a responsibility and duty to its audience to report on the major news at sports programs — a coach getting fired, players leaving the team and a Heisman Trophy winner allegedly getting paid $180,000 under the table are all front page news stories.
But it gets murkier when the news is personal and doesn’t impact the day-to-day operations of a team. Take the case of Tyson Coleman, for example.
Coleman, 18, enrolled at the University for spring term. He’s a kid, in the truest sense of the word, that should be getting fitted for his cap and gown for high school graduation.
Yet after being spotted by law enforcement carrying a can of Four Loko, Coleman was pulled aside by police officers for questioning.
While Coleman’s choice to try and run away from the cops was obviously misguided, the point remains: If any other Oregon student had pulled a similar stunt, it wouldn’t have registered a blip on the radar.
And I’ll be honest; the fact that Coleman’s transgression was essentially front page news — Register-Guard football writer Rob Moseley’s blog entry on Coleman generated upwards of 100 comments — was a bit disturbing. That’s no slight on Moseley or his report — he’s one of the finest beat reporters around, and his entry on Coleman was responsible — but it does go to show the public’s appetite for that sort of news. It’s no wonder media members might be tempted to push the limits of appropriate reporting with that sort of potential viewership.
I understand that football players — and all varsity athletes, to varying degrees — are held to a higher standard, but shouldn’t 18-year-old kids have a bit of privacy to experience normal college growing pains? It’s not like a significant percentage of college students haven’t committed similar infractions.
The whole college sports landscape revolves around the concept of amateurism — the idea that college athletes are not professionals in their given fields, merely talented kids playing sports at a high level.
That’s the whole justification for football players receiving such a small portion of the revenue they produce — that college athletes are in school for school, first and foremost, and have an opportunity to obtain a free education.
Shouldn’t, then, those same amateur athletes be granted the opportunity to make mistakes without the type of scrutiny highly paid professionals endure?
It’s a complex question. Nobody’s arguing that media shouldn’t cover college sports — it’s in the best interest of student-athletes, fans and athletic programs that they do.
And, I get that an inherent part of covering a team is reporting on both the good and bad. But I’m concerned it could go too far.
Nowadays, it seems like there’s an arms race among investigative reporters to break the next big scandal in college football. Obviously, most times those reports focus on large-scale, institutional problems that deserve to see the light of day, but there’s a fine, fine line between bringing needed accountability to college sports and intruding on the personal lives of 18-year-olds.
Most reporters do a good job of toeing that line, but some don’t. It’s certainly an easy trap to fall into. In a day and age where sports journalism jobs are scarce, breaking a scandal can help a reporter’s career immeasurably.
I just hope I, and my fellow sportswriters, make sure to avoid the temptation of and stay cognizant of the fact that the athletes we’re covering are 18-22 years old. A few extra page views isn’t worth ruining someone’s life.