March 6, 2011
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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It is usually considered in bad form for the media to be the news story.
It tends to sound self-serving, and we are reminded that we should be covering an actual story instead of those we work with in the media center. However, in the last two weeks, off in one corner of the coverage of NASCAR, a story has unfolded around one of our “own”, and a debate has sprung up about cheering, bias, and emotion from the press covering NASCAR.
Two weeks ago, I was sitting in the media center at Daytona International Speedway watching the end to one of the most exciting Daytona 500 races I had seen since I became a fan in 2004. It had been an emotional weekend, with the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s death being commemorated. Many media members talked openly about their memories of that day, and some even noted that they were still having a hard time getting through the commemoration of Dale’s passing that weekend.
The new pavement, new cars, and start to a new season had made for some good racing, and it looked like the last few laps were going to be the perfect ending to what had been a great race. Four cars were battling for the win on the last lap, and it wasn’t clear until they crossed the line who was going to take home the coveted trophy.
I ended my story from February 23rd with the following paragraph:
“As Trevor (Bayne) crossed the finish line, members of the media stood up and cheered in the media center, a rarity for a group who is supposed to be un-biased in our reporting efforts. Not that we were rooting against anyone else who had a chance to win the race, but we all recognized that on a weekend that had been filled with memories of a tragedy from ten years ago, this win with this talented young driver was the perfect way to kick off a new season, and move forward with memories of a great race and a and the smiling face of a young man who might just be the best thing to hit NASCAR in years.”
I will readily admit I was one of those who were on their feet in the media center. I wasn’t exactly cheering for Trevor, but for the finish that was unfolding in front of us. As I mentioned on a call into “Sirius Speedway” on Sirius 128 Wednesday, it was as if we needed to stand and get closer to the TV to watch what was unfolding as the pack of cars driven by Bayne, Carl Edwards, David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte came off Turn 4, so closely bunched that it was unclear as to who was going to win, or if they were even going to cross the finish line without crashing. There were gasps as Carl tried to force his way into a place to move Trevor out of the way, with people sure that it was not going to turn out well.
If there was specific rooting for one driver or another, I didn’t hear it. I heard a few “look outs” and “this isn’t going to end wells”, but no one yelling for one driver or another.
As they crossed the finish line, a cheer was let out. Some media remained in their seats, but others -- some well known and from major media outlets -- clapped and smiled and turned to their fellow media mates and commented on what a great finish we had just seen.
We then sat down and wrote our stories about the race.
When Carl Edwards and David Gilliland came in to conduct their second and third place finisher interviews, even they were smiling about the fact that it was a great finish, even while bemoaning the fact that they were sorry they hadn’t won.
When Trevor and Len and Eddie Wood came into the media center, there were smiles on their faces that were infectious. Trevor was joking with members of the press, and there was a light-hearted air about the fact that the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500 was sitting on the dais with the owners of one of the oldest teams in NASCAR, and the history that was made with that combination.
At the end of the question and answer session, several members of the media, including several “older” and well known writers, got up and went to the dais to shake hands with the Woods and Trevor.
They then went back to their chairs, and finished writing their stories.
This week, we found out that Tom Bowles, who writes for SI.com, was one of those who stood and cheered. And as a result, he lost his job. We don’t know the details behind the firing other than what Tom has written, and I’m not going to comment on the decisions made by his supervisors, or his response to the dismissal.
I tweeted in response to Tom’s firing that if everyone who had stood up and cheered in the media center that day had been fired, the media center in Phoenix last weekend would have been mighty empty.
It turns out many of the media who had cheered were admonished by their editors, but only one was fired.
Yes, I understand that one of the tenets of professional journalism is “never show bias”. I have a degree in Communications and was a TV news producer for a decade, including in a top 20 market, and completely understand the need to keep reporting untainted.
Since beginning my career here with Insiderracingnews.com, some have accused me of showing favoritism or dislike for one driver or another, but I truly don’t ever try to let what I write lean one way or another. That said I have always been up-front about the fact that I try to do this column each week from a “fans perspective”, which might separate me from a lot of the men and women who cover this sport on a daily basis. I try to include feedback from people I talk to instead of just making it from one point of view.
However, it doesn’t give me license to fawn over one driver while bashing another, or show any form of bias towards one team over another.
I would say that most seasons pass by without an urge to celebrate in the media center. I have to admit, in the five years I have been going to the races as a member of the media, this was the first time I have seen such an outburst of emotion in the media center. I often find myself being one of those who have to bite her tongue and sit on her hands in order not to react to something on the track -- that is just my nature to get involved in what is happening and react emotionally to what I am seeing. I am sure I am not alone, but 99.9% of the time, the media center gets more excited about watching the unfolding of the Kentucky Derby (which is usually on the TV’s in the Richmond International Raceway media center, since Derby day is the same day as the Cup race) than anything that happens on the track.
I posed the question to my friends about whether they feel the media loses credibility if they get caught up in the moment and cheer as we did.
“I agree with you. There's applauding the outcome and then there's cheering a team. And so what if you do. His writing -- which is all he was paid to do -- came across as unbiased. For all I know he was wearing Tony Stewart boxers while he was watching the race. Just plain stupid. It’s like they were looking for an excuse. I'd be on the phone with ESPN Bleacher Report or anyone else I could get. He's got street cred,” was the response from Craig Foster, a former co-worker and long-time NASCAR fan.
Bob Heiss, who has also been a long time NASCAR fan, noted “Common Sense, pure and simple. It was a simple case of a man enjoying a moment in history. Wonder how many people applauded Junior breaking his streak at Michigan a couple years back, or how many were forced to control all emotion after Gordon's win this week?”
“Don't most journalists, especially ones that cover NASCAR start out as a fan?” asked Stephen Conley, who has no problem sharing his excitement of events on race day. “I think a member of the media that doesn't cheer, or get excited over something this big might just be the ones I'm concerned about and I'm probably not reading their work anyways.”
Some point to the blatant cheering that happens in the TV booth during a race and ask why the standards are different.
“Isn’t DW (Darrel Waltrip) a NASCAR reporter? He jumped up screaming for MW (Michael Waltrip) at the truck race and even cried. What’s the difference?” was Joe Brier’s comment.
“Ridiculous. But it was okay for Ned Jarrett to openly cheer his son on or DW cheering Mikey on? I think it was fine... but they need to apply their standards consistently,” added Lin Cord.
Writing about a sport is a challenge, especially when you are a fan of that sport. There are times when you do get caught up in the moment, and the majority of the time, you are able to bite your tongue and keep your thoughts to yourself. But to be completely uninvolved and not get excited for what happens on the track week in and week out, I feel, doesn’t allow you to provide some of the color and insight that fans want to hear from the men and women they rely on to get them their NASCAR information.
“Just the facts” is imperative when covering hard news. But when you just do the facts at a race, it can be, well, a bit boring to read. Fans who want passion from their drivers also want a little color from their writers. It may be why so many people are taking to the internet and blogs to talk about the races. They have a chance to debate issues directly with the men and women in the sport, and thrive on the passion they see in those people who are willing to share a little bit more of themselves than the straight black and white “typeset and paper” coverage that used to provide the only insight into NASCAR.
Black and white is fine for paper, but in the end, I think there needs to be a little gray area for those “special moments” when the reporter lets their inner fan out for just a moment before putting his fingers to keyboard to share the results of the race.
Follow Kim on Twitter: @ksrgatorfn
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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