In this country, no level of stupidity ever surprises me. But today I was actually shocked by stupidity. Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com sportswriter Don Seeholzer actually reported that Sir Charles in Charge is Charles Barkley’s blog (post has been removed after the fact, but here’s a PDF…Update: nevermind, they’ve made the same mistake twice!), despite all the signs to the contrary. Forget the SCIC About page which lists the names of five bloggers — zero with the initials C.B. Forget the disclaimer at the bottom of the same page, which reads…
“This site is also not affiliated with Charles Barkley in any way.”
Forget that the referenced post was titled “Uncontested Shots – NBA News, Notes, and Observations From a Self-Described B-Ball Geek,” with “By Andrew Ungvari” listed right underneath the post title in bold font. Forget that Barkley himself has talked about being a caveman technologically. Forget how much money it would take for the FanSided.com Sports Network to get the Chuckster to blog.
Throw all of that out the window, baby. If the site is named after Sir Charles, it must be Sir Charles’ site! Simple logic.
Sorry, Don Seeholzer, but I see holes in your journalism. Sorry, couldn’t resist. But, seriously, how did you miss all of those signs? Furthermore, why not drop the owners of the site an e-mail just to cover your ass and do a little fact-checking? And what about the editors? Does Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com even have editors? Are they working today? If so, are they sober?
I am just blown away that this monumental eff-up got as far as it did. Check it out for yourself (we’ve grabbed a snapshot because we knew they’d take it down after our post)…
Say what you will about bloggers, but I’ve never seen a reputable blogger make a mistake like this one. In fact, it’s been my experience that bloggers go the extra mile when it comes to research. Most bloggers also do a great job of identifying and linking sources, which was obviously not the case here. All this is worth noting because the mainstream media blasts the practices and standards of bloggers on a regular basis.
If Barkely did blog for this site, he’d only have one word to say about your journalism, Seeholzer — “turrible.”
FanSided
Loading ...
[...] Apparently if you name your website after a celebrity it’s only a matter of time before some hack journalist assumes the said celebrity actually controls the content on the blog. It’s some combination of old, lazy and stupid. On a positive note, it increases the validity of sports blogs by decreasing the same in mainstream journalism. So a word of warning: This blog isn’t actually run by Charles Barkley: <sircharlesincharge> [...]
[...] Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For “Sir Charles In Charge“ [...]
[...] Idiot Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For SCIC [...]
[...] Charles In Charge had a sportswriter think that Barkley was actually doing the writing on the [...]
[...] + Reporter mistakes blog named after Charles Barkley for an actual Charles Barkley blog. {Sir Charles In Charge.} [...]
[...] Sportswriter Thinks Charles Barkley Blogs For FanSided! (Sir Charles in Charge) [...]
[...] has had some major problems recently, as even yesterday their editors somehow did not look through Don Seeholzer’s write up about how “Charles Barkley thought that Del Harris would be a good fit for our coaching spot. [...]
[...] piece by Sir Charles in Charge is a must read, showing how sometimes people do dumb things without realizing it. Want to know more, check out the [...]
[...] has had some major problems recently, as even yesterday their editors somehow did not look through Don Seeholzer’s write up about how “Charles Barkley thought that Del Harris would be a good fit for our coaching spot. [...]
[...] Idiot Sportswriter Thinks Barkley Actually Blogs For SCIC [...]
[...] Last night it became official. The Kansas City Royals have signed Nicaraguan 3B prospect Cheslor Cuthbert to a signing bonus between $1 million and $1.5 million. I have seen differing reports on the actual bonus. A commenter from Nicaragua, on a Baseball America blog, claimed the bonus was $1.5 million. Dick Kaegel’s MLB.com article claims the bonus was $1.35 million but who knows how accurate that number is. Kaegel also claims that Baseball America had him “ranked 7th among the top 25 Latin America prospects.” The fact of the matter is that he was not ranked as the seventh best prospect. Baseball America’s top-25 list clearly states at the top of the article, “the players below from Latin America are ranked based on their expected signing bonuses, not their projected talent. In fact, that is important enough that it bears repeating: The rankings are not an attempt to gauge the talent, but a way to forecast the market.” Some more misleading reporting by the “established” media, but nothing outdoes this journalistic blunder. [...]