Satire? On the Internet?

This story from Alana G (via TrueHoop) is hilarious, but frightening. As most probably know, the NBA is holding its All-Star weekend in Phoenix over the next few days. Reporter Niki D'Andrea of the Phoenix New-Times wrote a cover story about a "tattoo cap" on NBA players that commissioner David Stern was supposedly thinking of implementing, which turned out to be based off a satirical story by author/blogger Con Chapman which was republished on his community blog page at Fox Sports. D'Andrea explains her rationale in a blog post here:

"Though our knee-jerk reaction to the tattoo cap story was that it might be a joke, what it touted seemed possible. Commish Stern had already instituted a business-casual dress code for NBA players going to and from games -- in an attempt to thwart a trend toward hop-hop attire among some players. Also, Suns players we interviewed thought the tat cap story was true and complained about the alleged plan in our article. Calls to NBA headquarters for comment weren't returned before "In the Flesh" went to press. In fact, they haven't been returned to date."

It would be easy to mock D'Andrea, but this could have happened to other people. There are a few specific lessons writers and editors should take from this story, in my mind, in addition to following something along the lines of the Regret the Error accuracy checklist;

1. Double-check your sources and know what exactly they are: D'Andrea writes that they picked up the story from FoxSports.com. However, that site, like many Internet sports sites, combines factual stories and analysis pieces from its paid staff with comments and blogs from community members. Differentiating the two is extremely important, but not everyone does it well. (It can be particularly tough for those who haven't grown up in the Internet age; one of the biggest problems with Buzz Bissinger's Costas Now rant against Will Leitch was how he went after Leitch for stuff posted by Deadspin commenters, rather than what Leitch actually wrote.)


2. Put it in context: The best way to avoid these kind of sourcing problems is to look at whatever material you find in context. Just looking at the URL of the FoxSports post, you can tell it's a community blog post. That should set off alarm bells about the material's accuracy and at least require some fact-checking with other sources. Moreover, if you just look at Chapman's other GerbilSportsNetwork blog posts, it's pretty obvious he isn't being completely serious. In a different story, he features this "quote" from Bill Laimbeer on flopping;


"'Johnny Most used to call me ‘Stanisflopski’,” Laimbeer recalls bitterly, referring to the Celtics’ broadcaster who covered the team’s fierce Eastern Conference rivalry with the “Bad Boy” Pistons of the ’80’s and 90’s. 'I took my art seriously, and today I’m going to lead you through a dramatic interpretation that will help you get in touch with your inner rage–the scene from ‘Gone With the Wind’ in which Scarlett O’Hara curses the Yankees in the garden of Tara.'"

3. Check if it's reasonable: D'Andrea explains in her blog post that the story seemed plausible, given Stern's previous move to institute a dress code. That's true, but regulating tattoos goes well beyond regulating clothing. Moreover, examine Stern's entire "quote":

“We feel it is important that our players not scare the bejesus out of affluent demographic groups with gangsta-style tattoos,” David Stern said at a press conference here today. “Otherwise we might as well name the next two expansion franchises the ‘Crips’ and the ‘Bloods’,” he added, showing off his “street cred” to the admiration of NBA beat reporters.

There is no way in hell that David Stern, one of the most careful people in the world with his words (listen to any interview with him!) is throwing out "bejesus" and "gangsta" in a real interview, much less making references to naming teams after the Crips and the Bloods. Stern has spent much of his recent tenure trying to get the NBA away from the perceptions of gang life; I doubt you'd ever hear him say anything somewhat similar to this. Plus, no serious news story would incorporate the phrase "showing off his 'street cred'". In fairness, D'Andrea may not have been overly familiar with Stern, as she seems to mostly do arts and music pieces (the top six search results for "D'Andrea" on the paper's website are all on music). That will be discussed further later (see point #5 below), but it's a good idea to do a little background research if you're writing in an unfamiliar area, and a quick Google of Stern's interview transcripts would make it clear that this is a way he would never talk.

4. Does anyone else have it? Very little news is actually exclusive to one site these days, especially when it's on something big and national like the NBA. With a story like this, you can bet that at the least, ESPN, Yahoo! and the Associated Press would have something within an hour or two if there was anything to it. It's worth checking back after you've started your story, too; if other news sites still don't seem to be reporting on it, there's probably a good reason why. In this day and age, this isn't the kind of story that would stay quiet for long if there was any truth to it.

5. Write what you know, or check with people who know:
It's almost unavoidable to have to write outside your subject of expertise these days, which often leads to increased errors. As mentioned above, anyone who regularly covers the NBA would likely have smelled something rotten with this one, especially with Stern's quotes. The New-Times doesn't seem to be a sports-intensive paper, but they do have several guys who write sports posts on one of their blogs, including Steve Jansen, Rick Barrs and Paul Rubin. I don't know if D'Andrea checked with any of them while she was working on this story, but it certainly would have been worthwhile; if she did check in and they didn't see anything weird with it, shame on them. Compartmentalization is a problem with newspapers and magazines in general these days, though; tight deadlines and individual beats mean that there often isn't as much interaction across newsrooms and sections as there should be. In almost any newsroom, you can usually find someone who knows a bit about your topic; it's usually worth it to get whatever background you can from them. It's an efficient use of resources to take advantage of the pool of knowledge in your workplace, and it also helps prevent mistakes.

This certainly isn't the first or the last time that people will pick up on a satirical story as bonafide news; a similar case happened this fall when my Out of Left Field colleague Duane Rollins wrote a tongue-in-cheek press release about dropping the "Thigh" from the "Oil Thigh", Queen's traditional fight song. That one was also pretty clearly satirical, coming shortly after the decision to drop "Golden" from the school's "Golden Gaels" moniker, and it was marked with a "satire" tag, but it still spawned a bunch of angry calls and e-mails to Queen's Athletics and Recreation. Other examples are myriad. The moral of the story; don't believe everything you read. Just because it's on the intertubes doesn't mean that it's accurate; as James Watt famously said(and Terry Prachett repeated in The Truth), "A lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on."

(Funnily enough, it's in dispute whether that quote came from Watt, Mark Twain or both) [Graeme Philipson, The Age].

(Also, that story is still the lead item on the New-Times website (with an attached correction), even though there's really no reason for it to exist now that the premise has been discounted).

The best quotes of the year

There were a lot of memorable moments in sports last year, but most were for less-than-stellar reasons. Scandals erupted in every sport from baseball (Steroidgate) to football (Spygate), basketball (Refgate), soccer (Riotgate), and cycling (Landisgate). However, there was never any shortage of good material for sportswriters. Here's some of the year's best quotes:

Baseball

"It was a pretty serious situation. I pray for his buttocks and his family." - Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden discusses the abcess removed from the posterior of pitcher Jesus Colome.

"It's not lies if we knew the truth." - Toronto Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi on the misinformation he spread about closer B.J. Ryan's elbow

"I hope he arouses the fire that's dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger." - Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (via a translator) on facing countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka

"He looking for changeup. He find it." - Arizona pitcher Yusmeiro Petit, on giving up Barry Bonds' 740th home run



"As anyone can plainly see, I'm 5'6 1/2'' and a strapping 150. And unlike some people, I came by all of it naturally." - NBC broadcaster Bob Costas, on Barry Bonds calling him a "little midget man"

"Hey, it looks like Barry Bonds might end up in pinstripes after all." - The Orlando Sentinel's Mike Bianchi after Bonds was indicted

"The Dalai Lama is here in the United States. This morning, he was awarded the congressional gold medal for his contribution to peace, human rights, religious understanding. Unfortunately, a few hours after the ceremony, he was stripped of his medal after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs." - Jimmy Kimmel

Football (American)

"I don't condone dogfighting, catfighting, cockfighting or bullfighting, but before it comes out in the papers, I have a confession: I bet heavily on hamster lacrosse."
- Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle on Michael Vick

"Some people get vasectomies. I used to give them." - Former NFL lineman Conrad Dobler, considered by many to be one of the dirtiest players in league history:

"He may be drawing on someone else's experiences." - Former New York Giants running back Tiki Barber on the announcement of Dallas Cowboys' wide receiver Terrell Owens' new children's book, Little T Learns to Share

"I'm realizing how ignorant you guys are. But I didn't mean that in a bad way."
- Chicago Bears' "quarterback" Rex Grossman to the press on Super Bowl media day

"We had better signs, but Belichick stole them." - Sign in the stands when the Baltimore Ravens played Belichick's New England Patriots in the wake of the Spygate scandal


Football (European, otherwise known as soccer)

"If Rafa (Benitez) said he wanted to buy Snoogy Doogy, we would back him." - Liverpool co-owner George Gillett showing his faith in his manager by giving him money to buy a mispronounced rapper (Snoop Dogg)

"You know, omelettes, eggs? If you have no eggs, you have no omelette. And it depends upon the quality of the eggs. In the supermarket you have Class One, Two and Three eggs. Some are more expensive and make better omelettes. So when Class One eggs are in Waitrose and you cannot go there, you have a problem." - Ex-Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, on his injury list causing problems

"To be the England manager you must win every game, not do anything in your private life and hopefully not earn too much money." - Former England manager (and current Manchester City manager) Sven-Goran Eriksson on the demands of the national team job

"Had I not become a footballer, I think I would have been a virgin." - At least Peter Crouch recognizes that his looks aren't great

"David Beckham is coming to the United States. People say he could make a huge impact on the way Americans ignore soccer." - Jay Leno


Hockey

"If one hockey player ever does that show he's never gonna live to tell about it." - Detroit Red Wings defenceman Chris Chelios on Dancing With The Stars

"I don't feel I have a concussion problem. I have a problem with people giving me traumatic blows to the head." - Ottawa Senators' forward Dean McAmmond


Rugby

"Head coach of the England team demands management skills that Brian does not have. Somehow we'd managed to turn our World Cup campaign into a Monty Python sketch - called The Life of Brian." - English writer Lawrence Dallaglio on national coach Brian Ashton

"We went into South Africa with no direction, no shape and consequently no belief. It was the worst week I had known in international rugby." - English player Mike Catt on his team's initial poor performance at the Rugby World Cup (they went on to place second in the tournament)


Basketball

"If I have offended any cowboys, any Texans, any horses or anybody else, I want to apologize for this." - L.A. Lakers coach Phil Jackson "apologizes" for his Brokeback Mountain reference

"When we lose, I blame the referees anyway." - Golden State Warriors guard Baron Davis, on why the Tim Donaghy scandal won't cause him to look at refs more closely

"I want to buy an island. Because Diana Ross has an island. Marvin Brando had an island." - Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas should bone up on his cinematic history before considering the real-estate market


Volleyball

"Beach volleyball in Mongolia is very difficult, because we don't have any beaches." - Mongolian beach volleyball player Bayarmaa Tsogtbaatar


Golf

"Some players have psychologists, sportologists. I smoke." - Angel Cabrera, U.S. Open winner

"This is the icing of the gravy." - Reserve qualifier Lucas Glover after his opening-round 71 at the British Open.

"I'll be in my villa in Malaga in 34 degrees smoking a cigar and drinking wine. You play in the rain." - Miguel Angel Jiminez to fellow golfer Paul McGinley, on why he's skipping the European Open in Dublin


Tennis

"I feel like a cow on ice." - Maria Sharapova on playing on clay

"Um, we both owned Alaska at one point." - Tennis player Dmitry Tursunov on the similarities between his native country (Russia) and his adopted one (America)


Boxing

"I'm not as top as I'd like to be, but I'm topper than others." - Heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitschko.


Formula 1 Racing

"This is the best feeling I ever had. You cannot compare it to sex. But you know, I would say it is better than sex. It is!" - Lewis Hamilton after winning the Canadian Grand Prix