Whatever happened to that credibility stuff?

Tressel's general mood right about now (photo courtesy of Our Honor Defend)

I’m an Ohio State grad. You probably know this by now. I converse with many Buckeye writers on Twitter, most of whom have composed some excellent pieces about the recent events concerning head football coach Jim Tressel’s NCAA violations. So instead of me re-stating what everyone else said, I’m going to talk about a matter that’s bigger, or at least should be bigger, to ANYONE involved in the media, on either side.

For those who don’t know what happened, Yahoo! sports reporters Charles Robinson and Dan Wetzel wrote an article Monday claiming Tressel knew about the memorabilia scandal last April. A well-written article, yes. But a credible one, absolutely not.

Why?

The way this was written made it appear to be an investigative report, when really ONE inside source was the only provider of content. There were no comments from Tressel, the athletic department, or anyone who could have been somewhat of a credible, non-anonymous entity to make this a more legitimate piece of work.

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Had the source been fake or provided inaccurate information, we would most certainly be ripping Yahoo! Sports to shreds. But because there was in fact trouble in paradise, the website gets a pat on the back for being the first to get to the bottom of this, even if they did it without really adhering to proper journalism standards. Besides the obvious aftermath, this led to the ripple effect of hundreds of news sites and blogs sinking their teeth into the scandal without paying attention to the details of the meal. It was like watching Lake Erie seagulls fight over a french fry. Can you find where this type of sensationalism fits in the Journalist’s Code of Ethics? Because I can’t.

Underneath the “Seek the Truth and Report It” clause, the following statement reads clear:

Make certain that headlines, news teases and promotional material, photos, video, audio, graphics, sound bites and quotations do not misrepresent. They should not oversimplify or highlight incidents out of context.

My Twitter friends and I discussed this briefly. Even a University of Michigan blog came out defending the media attacks on their biggest rival. Watching everything unfold, I was absolutely floored by the lack of credibility these sites were just throwing out there. Here are some examples:

• My hometown paper, the Sandusky Register, originally ran its Tressel article with the headline “Ohio State may fire Tressel.” This has since changed, but it was eye-catching to the reader and the search engines and probably sparked wide-spread panic over Sand-town Buckeye fans.

• AOL Sporting News ran a post that over-analyzed a tweet from quarterback Terrelle Pryor. Yes, the tweet was probably referring to the incident, but is this newsworthy? No. Does this make sports journalism look like a joke? Yes. Does it make Sportingnews.com look like they uncovered something big regarding the situation? Yes. Does it violate the previously mentioned section of the ethics code? Duh.

• Today, the Wall Street Journal ran a blurb titled “Ohio State Paper Wants Tressel Gone.” No. That is false. ONE Lantern columnist voiced his opinion why Tressel should be fired. Not the whole paper. The paper simply was doing what we are taught by the journalism school and presented a fair representation of opinions. Maybe the WSJ should send some of its writers back to school for a few refresher courses.

My Bachelor’s Degree is in journalism. I love and still love writing, I loved being a student sports reporter, and most of all, I loved finding out people’s stories because I love people. But what I didn’t love was how, in far too many instances, a profession that is supposed to be the voice of the people, was really not that at all. Instead, it was just as much a big business and political entity as the very citizens they work so hard to bring down.

By no means do I hate the media, but I hate how so many outlets have abandoned basic principles so they can be the first to get at a story rather than the most accurate. Luckily for Robinson and Wetzel, they were dead on, but they took a big risk in doing so.

Public Relations is one of the fastest growing professions in the media world. So many factors play into this, but for me, I made the switch to learn about both sides of the spectrum. PR definitely has its cons and is not exempt from mistakes or unethical practices, but I’m finding that giving voice to a client that doesn’t have the skills to do it themselves might just be better than being a potential contributor in the ruin of someone’s life. Yes, some people’s lives deserve to be ruined, because they are bad people, but so many of today’s journalists don’t really get to pick and choose who they get to take down. They have to do what they’re told, in the way that they’re told, and they have to be the first to do it, even if they might be wrong.

Super Bowl not the biggest annual event…

The Black Eyed Peas confusing their image with the cast of Tron (photo courtesy of bittenandbound.com)

…we just make it out to be.

When I sat down to watch the Super Bowl, I was hoping for some type of scandal to provide something interesting for this post. Yes, Christina Aguilera butchered the National Anthem and the Black Eyed Peas probably would have benefited from some auto-tune, but neither were worthy of 500 words.

Despite the lack of scandal*, there was still the usual over-exaggerated hype in the days before the big game, allowing my PR mind to turn on. Most media outlets dub the game the biggest and most elite sporting event of the year.

But is it really?

While some would argue that I’m being just as un-American as Xtina by even thinking to question this, I have to wonder, is it the game itself that we love or is it everything else surrounding the game that makes it so special?

Though the media says it’s the mother of all sporting events, the Super Bowl is actually only one of the biggest, not thee biggest. In fact, in the United States, the biggest event is the Boston Marathon. Each year, more than 20,000 people run while around 500,000 watch. Despite it’s size, I bet few people could name the actual winners.

Aaron Rodgers says "yay, we won!" Or so I like to think (image via thirdage.com)

Thirty-two teams (53 players on each roster), 16 teams in each conference and 4 in each division of each conference, comprise the NFL. Two make it to the grand finale. Everyone could tell you Green Bay came away victorious in 2011, the Saints in 2010 and the Steelers in 2009. This year’s game featured the greatest enemies of Cleveland and Chicago. Browns fans became “Cheesheads” for the night, while Bears fans proudly waved Terrible Towels.

Whether you were a one-night only fan, a true fan or not a fan because you couldn’t even explain a first down, you probably hosted or attended some sort of Super Bowl party. For non-football fans, you were probably one of those that said “I don’t care about who wins, I just want to watch the commercials.”

Participation and viewership of the Super Bowl are far less than the Boston Marathon, but we can’t deny the relevance those three or so hours in our lives.

The following statistics from squidoo.com show how much really goes into all of the external fun:

• More than $55 million goes into food sales
• Eight million pounds of guacamole, 15,000 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn are consumed
• Antacid sales go up 20 % in the day following the big game
• Americans spend $237.2 million on soft drinks at grocery stores the week before the game
• Year after year, the Super Bowl beats out holiday parties as the biggest reason for Americans to host an at-home event
• Only on Thanksgiving do Americans consume more food at one time
• Besides New Years Eve, the Super Bowl is the biggest day for alcohol consumption

And how do we forget about the ads? This year, it’s been reported that the price of one Super Bowl ad was almost $3 million. Companies spend so much money on advertising because people want to see the ads, and maybe buy the product. Yet, how many businesses advertise in a Super Bowl time slot that don’t already bring in billions of dollars? To my knowledge, the last time up and coming businesses bought ad space was the year of the dot.com bust. While many reasons are behind the failure of some of these online corporations, I think part of it can be contributed to unnecessary advertising during the big game. The lesson from all that mess was never to try to mass market your ideas if you’re still a niche.

The Super Bowl is more than a game. It’s an opportunity for our culture to come together in the same way we do for holidays. Whether or not this is a display of American consumerism and invites criticism from other countries, it is one of the biggest ways PR and marketing professionals from a variety of backgrounds can capitalize on exposure.  The average person probably doesn’t think about this, but then again, when do normal people think “oh good PR move.”

*There in fact was a scandal, with the overselling of seats. But we could debate that for days and I wouldn’t want to bore you with my rant 🙂

Philanthropy doesn’t always equal good PR

After 23 years, I’ve finally developed a morning routine. Sure I’m only four weeks in, but that’s more than I can say for any other routine I’ve attempted in my lifetime. I wake up, let the dog out, eat two egg whites and two pieces of 35 calorie multi-grain toast (or a mushroom and spinach omelet if I’m really ambitious), allow Tony Horton to guide me in P90X, shower, let the dog out again, go to campus, spend 30 minutes reading my RSS feeds.

A week ago, as I scrolled through my Deadspin feed, I noticed I missed an article from January 16 titled “Report: Many Dallas Athletes Run Shoddy Charities”. To some, this wouldn’t really stand out. As a person who constantly evaluates the image boosters and blunders in the sports world, I found it quite alarming.

Apparently, the Dallas Morning News reviewed tax records of 22 Dallas sports-sponsored non-profits. While some passed as legitimate, most represented a series of shortcomings that sparked a two-part expose of these athletes’ shady behavior. Some spent more money on overhead costs than charity. Some collected money but never put the full amount toward its intended use. And others left contributions sitting dormant for years.

We all know the sad but true fact that corruption runs rampant in business, and sports is not exempt. It is also a fact that Dallas has a reputation for being a dirty sports town. Much of this was brought to life in ESPN’s final 30 for 30 film, Pony Excess, a play-by-play account of Southern Methodist Univeristy’s football scandal in the 198os. Coincidentally, SMU was also exposed by the Dallas Morning News. In any sense of a scam, it’s one thing to lie about it, but to think the lie will go unnoticed is absolutely mind boggling.

So what happened?

A detailed run-down is present the original article, but here is a quick picture:

• Terence Newman, a Cowboys cornerback, created Newman’s Rising Stars Foundation. Every penny is supposed go toward scholarships for standout student-athletes in the Dallas Independent School District. However, the foundation paid a percentage of donation dollars to Icon Sports & Entertainment, a company that converts good deeds and good publicity into endorsement opportunities.

Newman with his rising stars (photo from the website)

• Former Dallas Maverick Josh Howard uses almost half the contributions to the Howard Foundation on employee salaries, including his best friend’s. Howard said, “I take that as me being charitable.” Howard was eventually released from the Mavericks around this time last year because of a series of poor PR decisions. He now plays for the Washington Wizards.

• Former Cowboys quarterback, Troy Aikman, created the Troy Aikman Foundation in 1992 to raise money for “poor, sick and suffering children.” In 2008, the foundation reported $1.6 million in reserves, yet only $70,000 has been allocated. Aikman said his charity earmarks funds for future hospital playrooms but has no immediate plans to spend the money.

Aikman interacting with children in one of the few playrooms created by his foundation (Website photo)

This practice isn’t exactly shocking when it comes to traditional business, but sports is supposed to be different. Children don’t look at CEO’s and say they want to grow up to sit behind a desk in the top-floor office of a high rise building surrounded by leather bound books that smell of rich mahogany. Instead, they idolize the Troy Aikman’s and the Josh Howard’s. They beg their parents for athlete-endorsed products. And their parents donate to athlete-sponsored charities.

How to tell if a charity is worthwhile

Non-profits are overlooked as being corrupt because we believe they are bettering the world. We see the coin jars for cancer at check-out counters. We watch the commercials urging us to do our part and stop animal abuse. We march in the breast cancer walks and purchase more pink in October. Yet, do we ever question how much of our money actually goes to the kid pictured on the coin jar who’s been battling leukemia for three years? If we do, it’s only when corruption stories such as this one surface, and we’ll probably keep it to ourselves to minimize accusations about our cold-hearted personalities

With athlete-supported non-profits, we feel we have a connection with these superstars, so donating to their charities is a sure-fire confidence booster and a bigger tax write-off. I’m not trying to discount what non-profits are trying to achieve, because most of them do accomplish more for society than any of us could imagine. We just need to do a better job at choosing charities wisely.  In 2007, The Seattle Times broke down athlete-sponsored charities, basically telling readers exactly what to look for on public tax forms so they don’t buy into a scam. Such steps include:

1. Distinguishing between private foundations and public charities
2. Finding the size of the charity
3. Comparing Basic ratios
4. Knowing what you can’t see
5. Taking further precautions outside of the IRS

The thin line between publicity and philanthropy

Whether it’s one’s own foundation or a non-profit represented by a series of sports stars, it is difficult to find a pro-athlete that doesn’t identify with some sort of charitable cause. It is almost an unwritten rule that once an athlete enters the big leagues, he or she needs to find a cause to promote or else they are considered cold or uncommitted to the community. According to part two of the expose, agents are ready to sell their clients’ images as soon as they sign their professional contracts. Q scores are typically used in marketing to measure a brand’s familiarity and popularity.

In sports, the athlete is the brand.

In the article, Ivan Blumberg, a lawyer and 20-year sports-marketing veteran, said “Is it good public relations for a high-profile athlete to be perceived giving back to their community? Yes. Is the best way to do that by forming a foundation? Probably not. If you’re creating a foundation for the reasons of positively impacting your image, and thus positively impacting your ability to secure marketing deals, then you’ve sort of missed what should be the prevailing objective, which is to do good.”

So why do so many get involved?

Some say it just feels like the right thing to do or feel pressure from family and friends to give back to their roots. Some think of it as a business move that will lead to opportunities that can’t be given to them by talent alone. Whatever the reason, going into philanthropic work without full knowledge of the commitment to the cause can pose more harm to the charity than good. Not to mention the blow to the athlete’s brand when faulty management and unethical activities are uncovered.

My recommended sixth step to the Seattle Times article is make sure you are able to differentiate charities that athletes are 100 percent passionate about from the ones that are 100 percent publicity ploys. As a budding PR professional, I feel that taking on a cause is an excellent PR move, but ONLY if it’s something the athlete can manage and put their heart and soul into. Saying you want to make state of the art playrooms for sick kids is one thing. Actually making these rooms come alive is what makes the charity a blessing to those in need of its resources and enhances the relationship between the athlete and the community.