Quote:
Originally Posted by freddyg12
I always find I'm taking up for JLC. The Skins seem like a tough team to cover & he did a great job of getting info to us. True, this last year he didn't have the sources to break the stories, but that essentially is saying that at one time he did & the team adjusted to make sure things stayed in-house more.
Please at least distinguish between his opinion - the purpose of the blog - and his professional work as a reporter. I will agree that his opinion of the team soured more & more w/time & that showed through in his writing on the blog, but bottom line he still got a lot of stories to us before anyone else did.
I have a question for the warpath; do you want a reporter to do a GREAT job & constantly fill the RI w/info - good or bad, or would you rather have a reporter that just does his basic duties, gets a couple of quotes & doesn't ruffle any feathers?
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I appreciate your willingness to play devil's advocate here, but you can't distinguish between his blogging and his reporting:
First of all, JLCs blog was more than just a place for him to place his opinion. It was titled Redskins Insider and was presented as a place to get inside information on the skins before anyone else. And for a while, thats exactly what it was. However, JLC decided to use his blog to make thinly vieled jabs at the skins. As a result, the skins stopped providing him as much information. So JLC retaliated by becoming more overt in his attacks, going so far as to accuse the de-facto GM of the team as being a slanderer and its owner as essentially being an idiot. As a result, the Skins completely blacklisted him. Not only did this affect his ability to provide inside information on his blog, but it also affected his primary job:
For a while, JLC was the primary WP reporter for the Skins. However, because of everything he did in his blog, was left without sources. What reporter can continue to do his job without multiple reliable sources?
JLC built up so much ill-will with the Redskins that it ruined his ability to be effective in both his "blog" and his "real job." Perhaps it was all part of a plan to distinguish himself and get his name out there so he could advance to the type of position he has now. If so, he did a marvelous job of it. But what JLC stopped being, a long time ago, was a good source for redskins fans to get inside information about the team.
I dont give a crap what a reskins beat reporter (whoever it is) thinks about my team. I don't want his opinion. I can form my own opinion based on the information he provides. If i need help forming an opinion, or want someone elses opinion, i can go to a forum like this one or read a different sports columnists' take on a certain situation.
Bottom line is this: that the guy who reports the news shouldn't opinionate on the news - otherwise, his ability to report becomes compromised. Hopefully Jason Reid will take note.