Sipple/Freep backs down.

Submitted by Section 1 on

So, I am kicking back, and I am enjoying the early beatdown that Bucky Badger is putting down in East Lansing.  Good to see; keep it up.  60 minutes of necessary violence.

Actually, I feared an unusual level of shocking violence in this game.  So much blood and mayhem, that I considered going out to see Drive instead.  

But as I am kicking back and weeding through old newspapers to throw away, I came across Friday's print-edition Free Press sports section, and the Gholston-suspension story which was the top headline, above the fold.

And there was the third paragraph of the story:

 

Gholston punched Michigan tackle Taylor Lewan on Saturday, his second personal foul of the game. Before the punch, Lewan held Gholston to the ground by his helmet. 

 

 

That's not such a bad paragraph.  It is hard to know what to call what Lewan did to Gholston, and it was a chippy play to be sure.

 

But what was so interesting to me was that that was not the way that paragraph was originally written.  When George Sipple and the Freep sports editors originally posted the story, Sipple wrote:

Before the punch, Gholston was dragged to the ground by his face mask by Lewan.   

 

I read that on Thursday afternoon when Sipple first posted it to the Freep website.  And I was shocked by the reckless inaccuracy in that reporting.  Sipple probably wanted to write it that way because he wanted it to be true.  It wasn't.

I called Sipple out in an e-mail to him, and posted this on MGoBlog:

http://mgoblog.com/comment/reply/60838/1296854 

Sipple was wrong; Gholston was not "dragged to the ground by his face mask by Lewan."  He corrected the later print-version.  I can only presume it was because he had been called out here.

Now at any good newspaper I can think of, a correction like that would be noted online.  Something like, "An earlier version of this story stated that Gholston had been dragged to the ground by his face mask; this version corrects that inaccuracy.  We regret the error."  But we're not talking about any good newspaper.  We're talking about the Detroit Free Press.

manchild56

October 22nd, 2011 at 9:28 PM ^

I am from Ohio but I swear everytime I am on here the freep is always pro sparty right? And it seems they will write anything to make the wolverines look like they are cheating or cry babies? If so is the only reason to read this paper or internet paper just to read the horrid writting or is it a decent paper other than sports?

Butterfield

October 22nd, 2011 at 9:53 PM ^

Does it make everyone else feel better that Section 1 may have influenced the editing of a freep article?  I know I'll sleep better tonight knowing his quest continues.  Some may call him an obsessed lunatic.....hogwash I say!  I see the contribution he makes and the world needs know-it-all ombudsman types to keep the freep in line at least as much as it needs trial lawyers. 

manchild56

October 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^

there is a battle of two exact same threads going on except one guy is posting over and over and i am too new to understand why? down with the freep either way.

OHbornUMfan

October 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 PM ^

 which people get struck by lightning each year, maybe give some guidance.

I would never wish for somebody to get hit by lightning, but if somebody on the planet is going to this year, maybe it could be . . . or if, you know 20 people are going to get hit. . .

manchild56

October 22nd, 2011 at 10:31 PM ^

can anyone tell me what i am doing wrong or is it cause i am new on here. but every time i post on here it is in white the post is, and it doesnt show up unless someone clicks on it? everyone else has there post in blue while mine is in white any help please?

a2_electricboogaloo

October 22nd, 2011 at 10:57 PM ^

If you say something that someone doesn't like they can moderate it's score down (conversely if you say something someone likes then you can have it upvoted).  After a little while the up/downvotes accumulate and change your overall karma (the score you start with).  You've probably said a few things that people didn't like or found unnecessary, and got down voted.  This makes your starting post score a 0, which is under the score threshold, causing your post to be hidden.

pdxwolve

October 23rd, 2011 at 1:34 AM ^

I've known Sipple for some 15 years, and he's a solid reporter and a great guy. I know a lot of people have a problem with the freep, and I understand why, and I understand Section 1's concerns. The fact is that the story was corrected. If it was wrong in the first place when posted, it was fixed when it got to the fishwrap. 

 

Section 1

October 23rd, 2011 at 2:04 AM ^

Then you can ask him about this.  Tell us what he says.

Ask him what he thinks about what Rosenberg and Snyder did in Stretchgate.  And ask him what he thinks about Three and Out.

Oh, and ask him what Gholston said in that weird exchange with Brady Hoke at the end of the M-MSU game; because Gholston's description of it is one of the wierdest things I've ever seen.