Will, or should any members of the media apologize to the Taylor family?

[doublejs07]

It's funny that Gunna said this:

1. Michael Wilbon and the entire ESPN Network for their Shotty and irresponsible coverage of Sean Taylor's Murder


I was just about to make a thread about this today, but I got a little sidetracked. Personally, I think that the media was VERY irresponsible in how theycovered the ST murder. There was a lot of assumptions being made before the facts were actually presented. CBS's James Brown had this to say in referenceto some of his media colleagues yesterday during the ********-Bills pregame:

"Let me add my personal observations. An awful lot has been written and said about Sean Taylor over the past week. A young man without a doubt made mistakes, some foolish, some egregious and some immature and in no way am I looking to triviolize his transgressions or excuse them. But are those reasons enough for some to be so insensitive, so quick and I think so inaccurate in sterotyping Sean Taylor as a bad apple, or that the end he met with was not a surprise. A group of burgulers break into HIS HOUSE and surprise to find him there and end his life? Now by all accounts as we've heard from all those who actually knew him well, Taylor did an awful lot of maturing over the last year and a half. For those who have been mature for a lot longer than that, exercising restraint in passing such callaous and harmful judgement would seem to be in order..."
Could this be in reference to what Wilbon said? I don't know, but this was very well put by Brown.

Also, here is something that Dan LeBatard wrote in the Miami Herald last week:

Media has failed with Taylor coverage


I'm proud of this ridiculous thing I do for a living. It makes me happy. It is a lot of arrested-development fun. And it gives me the kind of power and platform I don't really deserve.

But there are times when being a journalist in today's climate embarrasses me. Makes me feel dirty and ashamed. I've always wondered why the reporters in the movies are so often portrayed as greasy, sneaky profiteers chasing the hero.

And then Sean Taylor dies in a terrible way, and it reminds me.

Journalism isn't very human sometimes. It isn't very compassionate or empathetic, either. Objectivity, the alleged bedrock of this profession, is both the excuse we hide under and a lie.

There are slants and shades in everything you read, hear and see as the line between Chris Wallace and Keith Olbermann and Bill O'Reilly and Katie Couric and Geraldo Rivera becomes blurred and smeared as entertainaournalism. Asking emotional humans, with all their embedded prejudices and experiences and baggage, to be without bias (conscious or subconscious) is like asking night not to be dark. All we can do is aspire to clinical objectivity as professionals and hope that too many people don't get trampled and harmed when we inevitably fail.

CRUEL AND UNFAIR

And we've done some failing on this Taylor story. What happened to him and his family is cruel and unfair. That's it. It isn't endemic of a people or a region or a school. It is just unspeakably cruel and unspeakably unfair. I don't know how anyone could lack so much compassion that they would somehow blame a city or school or culture to this awfulness, as if a city or school or culture could possibly deserve something that brings this kind of sobbing and wailing.

And yet that's what Time Magazine and MSNBC and FOX and CNN and ESPN have wanted to discuss in recent days because the machine must stay fed, and it matters less and less what kind of garbage we throw into its insatiable maw and try to pass off as nutrition. Why does this keep happening in Miami -- the city and the university? What's going on down there? As if Taylor somehow brought this grief upon himself, as if South Florida brought it upon itself. The late Darrent Williams, killed in a drive-by at 24, isn't representative of Oklahoma State's thug culture. But Taylor, killed in his home at 24, is representative of the University of Miami's?

TOO MUCH GOSSIP

I can't imagine how terrible it must be for Taylor's broken family to watch the television and see their late son/brother/boyfriend turned into a talk topic and one-dimensional stick figure because we, the media, didn't and couldn't have a complete picture of their beloved and didn't have the time to wait for one to develop. We didn't have very much information immediately after Taylor's death, but we had too much time to fill without new information, so too much of Taylor's televised eulogy became noise and speculation and gossip-cloaked-in-journalism about his troubled past.

A DUI and a gun-waving incident aren't irrelevant, but they weren't all Taylor was, either. Brett Favre, rest assured, won't be eulogized with excessive emphasis on his pain-killer addiction, especially not if he were to die this horrifically. How do you think your grieving family would like to see you defined on television by your one or two worst public moments?

God bless him, Taylor's brave and tranquil father, suffering the worst pain a human can, has been as strong as anyone I've ever seen in front of TV cameras.

There would be plenty of people applauding, and no one blaming him, if he lashed out angrily at all the people trying to do their job on his lawn.

I just wish sometimes that my profession had more of his grace.

I know the journalists etc have a job to do, but when the basis of your writing is only speculation which turns out to be false, shouldn't an apology beissued? This was the hot discussion on the radio today when I was driving to work. Guys like Wilbon and Whitlock were called out and criticised because ofsome of their views. I know that guys like Frank Gore and Antrel Rolle were caught up in the moment, but they unknowingly provided fuel for the fire with someof their comments on ST's passing. I am sure the media saw it as guys who were co-signing to what was already written. Just watching the tributeyesterday made me tear up. A lot of it had to do with the way that ST's name was dragged through the mud. I just hope that this can serve as a lesson tothose who have the power to speak to millions by way of their writing, that responsibility is a character trait not only in life but also in your profession.

 

[chikickz]

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.

I won't excuse the media. We know they are hype freaks. But lets stop pretending that Sean Taylor wasn't carrying around a bunch of extra baggage.

 

[RyGuy45]

The media is a monster, we've known that for some time. And everyone has to topple over each other to not only be the first to report it but also getattention. Why should we be surprised assumptions were made? Things like this are going to happen, thats just the reality. But ya it's sad. I cant commentfor ESPN because i didn't catch all of their coverage. I also often sometimes have a hard time defining "media" when we have so many websites, AMradio, blogs, chatroom rumors, etc. So I would never know where to pinpoint an appology outside of a specific person.

The Brett Favre comparison was dumb IMO. He wont be remembered for that, no. But he's 38 years old and a decade outside of his problems. Rest assured ifFavre had died suspiciously a year after the drug problems that the media would have raked him over too....even that golden boy.

 

[theone2401]

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.
You obviously know nothing about Sean Taylor then

 

[N41D]

Should they? Absolutely.

Will they? Probably not.

They did the same thing jumping to all sorts of conclusions last year when Terrell Owens "reportedly" tried to commit suicide...Dudes werebacktracking somethin serious within a couple of hours...It's pathetic, but it's the nature of the beast, I guess.

But lets stop pretending that Sean Taylor wasn't carrying around a bunch of extra baggage.
Let's stop acting like that extra baggage had anything to do with a couple of teenagers breaking into his home and shooting him in the leg.

 

[outacontrol music]

Good point chikicks.

They did jump to conclusions, but thats what media does. The draw conclusions from what theyve seen, heard and read. Theyve been doing it before ST passed, andwill continue doing it furthermore.


I wouldnt think Wilbon and Whitlock would be out of line if they did say, they were sorry for assuming this had to do with his past.

But all they did was draw a hypothesis, and educated guess. Thats their jobs as feature journalist.

Its like saying the Knicks quit on Isaiah. Nobody knew if they really did, but their past actions sure suggested it. Now could they be wrong? Yes, but itstheir job to throw out ideas for banter

 

[ThaxbyChamblis]

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.


GTFOOH....What was he supposed to do?? I swear man, some of y'all are SOOO SENSISTIVE....

If you are on the field....w/ pads on....and a helmet....You deserve to get rocked....

If you dont wanna get rocked....RUN out of bounds or don't get on the field.....

Whenever people mention this play, they conveniently omit the fact that Moorman was about to run out of bounds, then he cut back trying to get moreyards...What was ST supposed to do, let him go???

Nobody said nothing when Roy tried to take somebody's head off in the Pro-Bowl.....

 

[maxelite]

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.
ur kidding me right?

 

[halfheadhalfamazin]

He was a person of ill-repute who was around people of ill-repute.

The four people that killed him were in some way associated with him or his family.

I hear the "If Bill Gates...If Brett Favre..." and I don't want to hear it. He had a punk cutting his grass. Someone he obviously didn't knowthat well but had no fear in opening his home to him because in some ways he probably identified with the guy. We've had people work on our house before,and generally ask a few questions and ask questions of people around them. I can guarantee if a guy wanted to work around my house and had been arrestedpreviously there's a damn good chance he won't be around my house again.

I can also guarantee you that if I had money I would be keeping an eye on my family. If I've got a dirty family member that would have a party at my housewith people like this, I'm probably not keeping them real close. Does that mean I'd cut them off, no, but I'm not keeping them close.

His actions and his family actions brought four burglars/murderers close enough to his family circle to do this. This wasn't random, they all knew whatthey were doing.

If four random people did this then there is no bringing up the past. But these people weren't random.

Taylor's life opened the door for this to happen. Acting like it didn't is ignorant. It's tragic that it happened, and I feel bad for Mr. Taylorand his family, but this particular incident with these particular people was avoidable. But if he would've turned his back on any of his family or thisparticular guy he wouldn't have been "keeping it real".

 

[chikickz]

Originally Posted by theone2401

You obviously know nothing about Sean Taylor then

Obviously right? In your world, Sean Taylor never laid out the punter in an all-star exhibition game.

 

[doublejs07]

If you never played organized sports, then it's hard to understand why Sean Taylor laid out the punter. It's ok Chikickz.

Last I checked, the punter is still one of the 11 men on the field. If he is running for a 1st down and CUTS BACK to get more yardage (rather than runningout), then whatever hit he takes, he deserves. He's got pads on like everyone else.

Halfhead....hindsight is 20/20, but you would figure that your family wouldn't be boasting or bragging about materiaistic things to people you don'treally know. Sean Taylor had a big enough heart that he let lil' dude cut his grass on the side. Sean Taylor's "past" has NOTHING to do withwhat happened. I heard a great quote that is full of irony. It went along the lines of "he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, in HIS house."

 

[flydaily]

the media hates UM so that right there is part of the problem....trust me...sort of how they had antrell rolle all in the news when he got in trouble....espnnever covered a college athlete like they did him

 

[jayfiend]

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games
So he deserved to die because of this?
Some dudes on Nt are so F'n stupid I swear.

 

[maxelite]

But if he would've turned his back on any of his family or this particular guy he wouldn't have been "keeping it real".
do you even hear what you're saying? he should've have turned his back on his family? i still find it amazing how ppl are still makingthis out to be ST's fault. sean is not pacman jones, or chris henry, brett favre, or anyone else.

 

[prurientsole]

It's a terrible thing when (almost) anyone dies, much less is killed in cold blood as Sean Taylor was...

But, the media personnel who are now being labeled as insensitive and callous were just voicing the same opinions and questions that many, many people hadabout Sean Taylor regarding his past and the people with whom he associated. If a journalist's job is to write a column or appear on a TV show expressingtheir honest and subjective opinion on a major news topic, then it's to be expected that they may touch on a nerve or two when discussing a controversialsubject.

However, all of this speculation and conjecture about his life could've waited for a few days, at least until after the funeral.

 

[outacontrol music]

Unfortunately, im sure they thought, the longer they wait, the less sting their articles would provide.

 

[sole lovely]

Originally Posted by chikickz

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.

I won't excuse the media. We know they are hype freaks. But lets stop pretending that Sean Taylor wasn't carrying around a bunch of extra baggage.

what is he supposed to do? %#%%@ tackle him? lol they were both going full speed... do you expect him to stop or slow down?
the pro bowl is forentertainment... did Sean bring entertainment? hell yes he did!

 

[theone2401]

Obviously right? In your world, Sean Taylor never laid out the punter in an all-star exhibition game.
No in my world what someone does on the football field has very little bearing on their character. I didnt know Sean personally so I wont say whatkind of person he was. But I damn sure wont make an assumption based off of what he did in Hawaii when Brian Mooreman himself had no problems with being"leveled".

Just like I wont judge you because of the ridiculousness of your statement.

 

[halfheadhalfamazin]

do you even hear what you're saying? he should've have turned his back on his family? i still find it amazing how ppl are still making this out to be ST's fault. sean is not pacman jones, or chris henry, brett favre, or anyone else.
Yes, I hear what I'm saying. I've got dirty family members now, and they aren't associated with me. Cousins and close friends whowere like brothers that decided to do their own thing so I let them go. That's anyone in life. If you want to keep them close for whatever reason,that's fine. But you have to understand, regardless of the relationship, if you keep a person close to you that associates with characters like Mr.Taylor's sister then you are inviting some less than stellar characters into your life. If some of them end up hurting you or your family, it's yourfault.

 

[halfheadhalfamazin]

No in my world what someone does on the football field has very little bearing on their character.


That's ridiculous.

You are who you are in life. And your tendencies show up in all phases of life. This is true everywhere. If your lazy and unorganized at home, then you will beat work, and you will be in relationships. This will always be true. Can you change, certainly, but when you do you will change in all phases.

 

[theone2401]

That's ridiculous.

You are who you are in life. And your tendencies show up in all phases of life. This is true everywhere. If your lazy and unorganized at home, then you will be at work, and you will be in relationships. This will always be true. Can you change, certainly, but when you do you will change in all phases.
So being a hard hitter on the football field or being a fierce competitor tells you something about how decent a human being is? If that is youropinion fine but to believe that your opinion is based in truth is foolish.

Its not even like Sean Taylor was the bad boy of the league and considered a dirty player. Oh wait did ESPN tell you that?

 

[doublejs07]

That's ridiculous.

You are who you are in life. And your tendencies show up in all phases of life. This is true everywhere. If your lazy and unorganized at home, then you will be at work, and you will be in relationships. This will always be true. Can you change, certainly, but when you do you will change in all phases.


You can't be serious....there are people who go to work EVERYDAY who are totally different in or on their job site than what they are at home. Football isone of the most brutal sports you can play, but i'll be damned if I equate what they do on the football field to how they conduct themselves at home.That's silly.

 

[halfheadhalfamazin]

No, it's backed by research.

A person who is a fierce competitor and will do anything to win on a court, will do so in life (Jordan anyone?)

A person who is an attention seeker in their sport, will do so in life (TO anyone?)

A person who is a lazy pot smoker and doesn't work hard in life, will probably do the same thing in their sport (Ricky, Randy, anyone?)

A person who is withdrawn and reserved in their sport, will probably do the same in life (Barry and Bo, anyone?)

A person who doesn't hold people accountable in his family probably won't do so in his work (Jack Whitaker, our famous WV powerball winner, anyone?)

A person who enjoys the spotlight in their sport, will probably do the same in life (Deion and Irvin, anyone?)

Bottom line is you are who you are.

You can argue it if you like, but it's fact, psychological fact at that.

I studied it, I know it, I've seen it.

Now I'm not saying Sean Taylor is a bad person. But if he doesn't mind inflicting pain and fear to get the job done on the field, he'd probably dothe same off the field, and that IS A FACT, because he did it when he assaulted someone and brandished a weapon at them.

I just realized all my people besides ol' Jack are of african american descent. I'm sure I'll be racist so let me put a few white folk in their.

If you're a risk taker and careless on the football field, you will probably be so in life (Brett Favre, anyone?)

If you waste money at the job, you'll probably do so in life (Enron or Adelphia CEO's, anyone?)

If you're arrogant on the field, you will probably be so off (Dan Marino, anyone?)

 

[maxelite]

Yes, I hear what I'm saying. I've got dirty family members now, and they aren't associated with me. Cousins and close friends who were like brothers that decided to do their own thing so I let them go. That's anyone in life. If you want to keep them close for whatever reason, that's fine. But you have to understand, regardless of the relationship, if you keep a person close to you that associates with characters like Mr. Taylor's sister then you are inviting some less than stellar characters into your life. If some of them end up hurting you or your family, it's your fault.
then, my friend, we have different views about life. just don't disrespect a man you do not know enough about. i respect your perspective, buti whole-heartedly disagree. thats all i can say.

 

[CP1708]

Originally Posted by chikickz

Decent men don't level the punter in exhibition games.

I won't excuse the media. We know they are hype freaks. But lets stop pretending that Sean Taylor wasn't carrying around a bunch of extra baggage.

They should put your account under review. Those same 4teenagers could have walked into Brett Favre's house and shot him. Would we need to stop pretending that he hadn't had extra baggage too? Let meguess, "but Brett didn't tackle a punter once."