Monday, February 20, 2012

Jeremy Lin coverage

I thought the story was very interesting.

I liked how it told the story of how the media took what was a ‘feel good’ story and over-hyped it, and how that turned into a racial debate. I know I talk about the media all the time and how they like to stretch stories until they can’t get anything outof them anymore and the danger with that. This story explained my theory in a way that everyone could understand.

I thought the story had a lot of detail andfully explained what was wrong with the story but it still was short enough tokeep a reader’s attention.

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/20/business/media/jeremy-lin-media-hype-stumbles-on-race.html?hp

(Clay posted this for Brett C., who was having technical difficulties).

16 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this article. I always enjoy reading David Carr's stories. He just has a great but simple tone. While this story is telling us readers something that we already know, it's still an interesting read.

    Reading this as a journalism student it's very interesting and calls a lot to my attention. It seems that many times writers are writing to compete. Who can come up with the newest or most interesting way to tell a story wins. But as Carr pointed out, there is definitely a line that can be crossed.

    I definately agree with Brett in that the media likes to tell a story to death. Everyone loves Lin's feel good story, some writers just took it too far. As Carr points out, there was a great story without pulling race into it.

    My only complaint is of this line:
    "Of course, what Lin is achieving is most likely not sustainable."

    I don't understand what Carr meant by this. In my opinion it didn't add any value to the story.

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  2. The world of sports journalism has turned into more of a paparazzi type atmosphere and media giants such as ESPN are always more than willing to hop on a new horse and ride it until it is dead. Sports journalists all over the world can learn a lesson or two about what angles t pursuit and which ones are less than morally inheritable. There is a crazy amount of pressure on these people to produce original content and exclusive stories, but when this is overdone it is very obvious. Linsanity will pass with time just like Tebowmania did, once ESPN finds their new flavor of the month.

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  3. This article was interesting. I think the title is misleading in some ways. First, the writer talks about "linsanity" and all the coverage this underdog has been getting. The article reflects on the basketball player and how he has become a superstar in a matter of a week.

    What is misleading about the title is that there is only one paragraph about the racist headline. The writer doesn't tell us what it was, only that the ESPN writer who wrote it, is now fired. That is the only information given about racial issues in this whole piece. If the writer wanted to go off of the racial issue, I think the writer should have gotten more feedback and information about the article that was published then deleted and what people had to say about it.

    The article seems to be all over the place. It tells half way through about the rookie's way to stardom so readers who are not familiar know who the basketball player is. In the beginning, the writer talks of other headlines in papers, then ends with what Lin is achieving is most likely "not sustainable." The writer says this but doesn't back it up with information.

    I didn't really enjoy reading the piece because I didn't like how it was written and I'm not really interested in basketball.

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  4. I liked this article because of its conversational tone, like a lot of sports stories are nowadays. However, I don't think that it really added anything more to the Jeremy Lin saga that people didn't already know. There wasn't really any new information, even though it was presented in a little different way.

    The article basically just summarized the entire Jeremy Lin story and didn't really focus on the element of race, as the title suggests. This could be an editing error but I still don't think that the racist comments were that newsworthy, because that news was already broken and this piece didn't really add anything to it besides condoning the author.

    This was an enjoyable read; I had no problem committing to the story and reading the two pages, but I don't think I gained very much analysis or any information that I hadn't already heard about "linsanity."

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  5. I really enjoy reading these types of stories. I think the reporter did a great job in keeping his article interesting.

    However, in my opinion, he used clichés way too often, ones that really were unnecessary. I like the idea and purpose of the lead sentence, but I think it was a little too wordy and "cheesy."

    I agree with Annie that the article simply summarized Lin's story. There seemed to be nothing new included in it.

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  6. I don't think I gained anything from reading this article. I'm not a huge basketball fan, but I have been reading bits and pieces of from different articles about Lin. His overall story is compelling. Who doesn't love an underdog story, especially when the protagonist is diverse and well educated.

    Having said that, people are focusing on Lin's race and disregarding his talent. It was an enjoyable read, but about five paragraphs too long. This story had already broke over a week ago.

    The author could have taken a different angle. I would like to read a story about Lin's educational background, how it will help him in basketball, and read some quotes from his professors and former teammates.

    This was a well written summary of the Lin story, but nothing more.

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  7. I think that this article was a well written story. However, as everyone else has said, it didn't really bring anything new to the Jeremy Lin story. I've heard all of the facts that the story put out. I think that it is now becoming the "go to" sports story, just like Tebow was during football season.

    All that being said, I did enjoy the story. I'm one of those suckers for an underdog story. I did think it was interesting also how the article didn't dance around the importance that race has had in this story. I feel as though race is always a touchy thing to bring up and talk about. This story just came out and said the fact that he is Asian-American is the heartbeat of the entire story.

    I also liked how he directly related the story to everyone in America by saying we all believe that we are superstars if only given the chance to prove it. I liked how he threw this in the story. It was just an interesting way to look at the story and why exactly we are all so interested in this underdog.

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  8. I liked what Alex said about sports journalism becoming a bit of a paparazzi mess. I feel once they start making money off headline (case in point Tebow).

    The article was well written though, it was very engaging.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. The media covering the media is always weird to me. This article just reaffirms the role the media plays in our lives because it is basically critiquing ourselves as journalists. The viewers have already interpreted what is at the core of this story: race.

    --Completely separate thought--

    Regina makes a great point when she says that the author used way to many cliches, because stories like this one are inherently cliche.

    The media loves this story, and so do viewers.

    Think about when Tiger Woods burst on to the scene, when Barack Obama actually became a contender for president, Michael Vicks downfall, the O.J. Simpson trial.

    Unfortunately for Jeremy Lin it has turned into just like the others, and not about what he can do on the court as a human athlete.

    Just like the others as well there is an achilles heal (cliche, it has to be done). We watch as the media builds them up just to eventually tear them down.

    Think about the car crash, the birth certificate, the dogs, the car chase.

    The question is, if the media never sensationalized these individuals were the risk of their "achilles heals" ever happening even existed?

    Can Jeremy Lin go left? What if he can't?

    If not then just as Achilles, Perseus, and Hercules did before him, Lin will fall from grace with the gods, yet still find his place in the stars.

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  11. I gave David Carr a standing ovation after I read this article. I am so happy a journalist finally stood up to tell people all his has gone way to far. And as much as I hate comparing Lin to Tebow because there stories are no where near the same, this Lin coverage has gone as far, if not further than the Tebow coverage and we all know how that irritated most of the fans. Just let them play. Just like you let the other rookies play without all the "hoopla".

    I love the quote toward the end of the article made by Jason Gay, "I think once you get passed all the interesting variables of race, it is the quintessential underdog story." He is so right.

    As for the writing and the content in this article, I loved it from beginning to end. He is a very simple, straight foward writer and I enjoy that. I love reading articles that tell me what a need to know, along with a few quotes that help complete the story.

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  12. I thought this article did a nice job using the inverted pyramid. It starts with a bit of an anecdotal lead about his economics degree (which could also be stretched into a racist remark with the stereotypes of asians and mathematics). It got to the nutgraph early mentioning his race, religion, and background.
    Personally, I don't see what all the fuss is about. Yes, racist remarks have been made, but thats something that most all ethnic sports figures have to deal with. Lin and everyone else should be proud of his heritage, its not something to hide. The "over-hyped" references to his heritage are simply more publicity for the guy and his country.

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  13. I, honestly, am getting tired of hearing about Jeremy Lin. Even the puns about his name that the article had were slightly annoying. They're funny when you see them the first time, but perhaps one laugh is just enough.

    The story was well written and the length was just right. I found it interesting that the last basketball player from Harvard to play in the NBA was 50 years ago. The fact that Lin used to sleep on his brother's couch on the Lower East Side of New York added a touching component to the story too. I enjoyed the little backstory.

    I do agree that Jeremy Lin is like a new fad that people can't get enough of, but when someone new comes along, people will forget about him.

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  14. Always a fan of Carr for the way he's able to step back form an issue or a story and really consider it from a separate angle. And I do agree with him. The race issue with regard to Jeremy Lin has gone too far, although it's hard to say whether the story would truly be there as prominently were it not for race. True, Lin's story is remarkable because he just came out of nowhere. It's a classic underdog story, and that type of story sells. In this regard, the race issue is irrelevant. The story is of a guy who came from the bottom and got to the top. And, at first, if you were watching the early coverage of Lin, they really didn't focus on his race nearly as much. Now, though, the story has been covered practically to death. Is this why his race is now something to talk about extensively? Because the underdog story has gotten old? Because we need some type of social connection? Perhaps, and it this is true, I really don't blame the journalists for spinning it in this regard. As Carr pointed out, it is a mistake, an unfortunate turn, but it represents the simple desire for a story that is so encapsulating, it can blind everything else. If Lin is to become an underdog turned superstar, why can't he also become a new social hero as well? It may not be accurate, it may be irrelevant to the story, but it's the kind of thing people want.

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  15. I really enjoyed this article because unlike the other articles we see on Lin, this one is actually pointing out that he is an amazing athlete, and that the racist slurs and articles have gone too far.

    At the same time though, it didn't provide the reader with any new information. In fact, it just kind of added to the "Linsanity" epidemic that has taken over the sports industry.

    Overall, this article was nothing special. I was glad to see someone recognizing that the racist aspect of Lin's abilities should be put to rest, but I am also a little tired of hearing about him in general.

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  16. I've read other stories by Carr before and think that this story really shows off his writing style well. His comments, like the reporters acting like "fanboys," bring character to the article and really makes his critique on media enjoyable to read.

    It was also interesting to include the reporters that had covered Lin before he was noticed. It added extra perspective and really added to the idea that all the other reporters were just jumping on the bandwagon.

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