Watching family home videos can be embarrassing, but at the same time it usually prompts some enjoyment or fun because those videos chronicle important or memorable activities and events.
Watching unforgettable family moments play out live, in high definition on national television, can be much less enjoyable. Especially when the media converges, and the story itself transforms into one of the most salacious and sensational stories in years -- a small-screen miniseries.
"It's like living inside a case study," said Malcolm Moran, the Knight Chair in Sports Journalism and Society who serves as director of the John Curley Center for Sports Journalism at Penn State. "What has happened here with the media, and continues to happen here, will be written about for years."
In fact, Paterno and his relationship with the media have been a case study at Penn State for several years, with faculty member Mike Poorman teaching COMM 497G Joe Paterno and the Media. This week, Moran, who teaches courses in sports writing and ethics, Poorman and many other faculty members have incorporated the news into their classrooms -- as this article from The New York Times relates.
As the nation has followed news about Penn State this week, what viewers have found has often been both compelling and unflattering. It's been even harder for those of us closer to the action to stomach.
But while it's troubling to discover the crimes and lies that were happening right next door, it's necessary to acknowledge the work the media has done with the story in general. With a close-up view, my assessment of their work would be that it's been generally fair, albeit in a few instances lazy.
As it should with a sports-related story of this sort (and, in fairness, there has been no story of this sort before), ESPN has generally led the way on TV since the story gained traction last weekend. Cameras and talent, including the tenacious Tom Rinaldi, converged on Happy Valley by Monday. The lineup of satellite trucks was well established by that afternoon.
Throughout the week, the media's determination has been matched only by the related missteps of those on whom the cameras and microphones were turned. From ambush interview attempts with administrators and man-on-the-street moments to stunning silence by those in charge and a silly spokesman (that was Scott Paterno, not Chris Farley, speaking for his family and to anyone who would listen Tuesday) -- the amazing options have rarely disappointed the media.
Plus, the story seems to have tentacles, twists and turns that will never end.
It's all happening quickly, too. That's why those who attempt to exercise hindsight or perspective about the media's coverage are even more at fault than the media themselves who have made the (generally small) mistakes.
It's easy for critics such as the Poynter Review Project, columnist Richard Sandomir in The New York Times and even @RobLowe to pan ESPN's coverage of the Wednesday evening happenings, but that must be nit-picking, at best. From the sloppy-all-around news conference by the university's Board of Trustees to student rioting downtown, it certainly felt like ESPN had its cameras and commentators on the pulse of what was happening.
Just because we as media consumers in this age expect everything to be on TV or available on our smart phone, that does not mean making it happen is easy. Especially with hastily called news conference or spur-of-the moment demonstrations.
Criticism about not enough cameras of the streets full of thousands of students, of which a relative few got violent? Did people need to actually see the footage to know what was happening? More cameras downtown in the area where students were protesting (and rioting) would not have added depth to the story, just more "sexy" shots.
And with reports like what follows about some news media members apparently trying to incite students, the overall story adds another layer. This from a column by Penn State faculty member Russell Frank, a longtime journalist who teaches ethics, on StateCollege.com Thursday ...
"Joe Paterno made enormous contributions to this university. But he's not a cardboard cutout in a shop window. He's a man, with all the flaws that men have. It's touching that so many students thought otherwise. Now they know.
Now they know what a media circus looks like. Three students in my ethics class told me they saw reporters trying to incite the crowd that gathered in Beaver Canyon on Wednesday night. One raised and lowered his arms, the way football players do when they want the crowd to make more noise. One complained that what he was seeing wasn't a riot, and urged the students around him do better. One told the students he interviewed what he wanted them to say."
Honestly, ESPN and others have not missed much, if anything, about about the story. While it's been hard to watch from our seats here -- kind of like looking through a life-sized magnifying lens that reveals a lot while distorting some things -- the circus has, in some ways, been necessary.
The biggest missteps by radio and TV types have come as they try to out-shout each other and share each possible tidbit of information as quickly as possible. The fact that it's not a simple story has made things even more challenging and changeable.
"I've never been around a story that's changed as much as this one," Sports Illustrated writer Joe Posnanski told students in the Paterno class Thursday. "A lot of people are here just to spout their opinion. Everybody's trying to top each other -- 'No, I'm more against child molestation than you are.'
"There are some people who are doing good work, but a lot of people came here to bury Joe."
After Penn State cancelled Paterno's weekly news conference Tuesday, media members turned to each other as sources for stories, and they became justifiably more upset about access and information they could not get from the university.
By Wednesday night, after an afternoon retirement announcement by Paterno and his subsequent firing by the university's trustees that night, ESPN had expanded to an all-Penn State, all-the-time approach.
Somehow, though, the balance and perspective initiated each morning by "Mike and Mike in the Morning" on ESPN Radio, remained through most of ESPN's offerings. With Rinaldi and others on the ground, and capable studio hosts like Steve Levy and Stuart Scott, ESPN tracked down Penn Staters for interviews and regularly leveraged the talents of its deep stable of college football experts, especially those with Penn State roots, for opinions.
That produced memorable TV when Matt Millen broke down while discussing the situation. Also, Todd Blacklege, who initially hoped to avoid doing much radio or TV work related to the story, offered only pained silence when asked on radio if Paterno should be allowed to coach on Saturday. (That reaction itself was a "yes" that became moot when the trustees made the decision to fire the veteran coach.)
Even with all their efforts, there was some perspective missing from what ESPN and other TV outlets offered. And on both TV and radio it was easy -- as Scott Van Pelt repeatedly displayed -- to generalize.
On his show Thursday, Van Pelt took an easy route to lump Penn State as insular and misguided simply because of the students' actions after Paterno's firing. While such talking heads clamor for the students to display proper perspective, they fail to do the same things. That's because the view from afar is often not as clear as an up-close look. And the story has nuances.
Conversely, those who have been on site have been able, at times, to bring a bit more depth to what they have produced.
Some here wish that positive stories -- about students going downtown to help cleanup after the riotous actions of others, about the fact that many do not want the actions of a handful to further damage the reputation of a half million people who are Penn Staters, about the fact that many have already pledged thousands of dollars to fight child abuse and other charities -- would find more airtime. That's just not going to happen right now, though.
A lot more remains for the story -- from the obvious (such as as sit-down interview by someone someday with Paterno) to the scary (if rumors about even worse things by Sandusky prove true).
If the media can continue to do what they've done so far -- even though it comes with embarrassment and emotional pain for those closest to the story, and even though it comes with a couple mistakes and some self-aggrandizing by certain media members -- that's OK. We'll deal with some shared warts because the truth needs to be discovered and those who committed heinous crimes or covered them up need to be held accountable.
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