The death of a Yankee...and the deathbed of sports journalism

I don't make today's post because I'm a Yankees fan or even a huge Cory Lidle fan. I knew of him, I had him on my fantasy teams at times and wouldn't necessarily change the channel if he was pitching.

I make this post because something was brought to my attention earlier tonight.

Now, for those of you who know me, I was pretty close to the coverage of the NYC plane crash and the eventual knowledge that Lidle was the pilot and one of the dead, but I didn't stick to ESPN once Game 2 of the ALCS started on Fox.

I was willing to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt as far as their coverage went -- I learned that they went wall-to-wall since I first saw its Breaking News logo flash on the screen.

I was willing to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt because I wanted to give them that based on the qualities of news that we're talked about in Journalism 1301.

But any resemblance to journalism, even what might have remained after all these years, is out the window. I feel sorry for those employed there that have the journalism bone in their bodies and are unable to show it off.

At about 2 a.m. EDT, 17 September 2006, five student-athletes from Duquesne University were shot, through no fault of their own, because one of the players was talking to a friend.

Where was that wall-to-wall coverage?

Now, I've been searching and searching to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt. Baseball's going on right now, Lidle pitched his last game only a few days ago, it happened in New York where the NLCS was set to start tonight (postponed because of inclement weather), it was the prominence factor of the qualities of news... but no matter what it comes to, there is no reason to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt when claiming this coverage has to be because of the NY on the front of his cap and jersey.

If he were still pitching for the Phillies, you wonder whether ESPN would go wall-to-wall. I'm continuing to believe that ESPN's journalism is going by another word: sensationalism.

It's sad that Cory Lidle's memory is being used in this way. First and foremost, at least two families lost their husband and father and that can't be forgotten, but once this news cycle is over, those in charge of the news side of ESPN must deeply analyze what they call news.

Maybe their producers need to re-enroll in Journalism 1301.