Brian's Obligations
In reading Brian's Wermers story I was wondering what Brian should have done with the story?? He said he was looking for a 2nd source. Do us as Mgoblog readers want Brian to sit on news waiting for MSM like confirmations or do we want him to go with "rumors"? I think as long as Brian clarifies where he puts the reliability level of the info I think it is fine to go with it. We come to this site because we love UM football and Brian does a great job covering ot for us, but it seems he is hesitant to go with some of the juicier stories or rumors. I'm sure there are things he comes across that he battles with ethically on wether to post or not. What do we as readers want?? As it was with the Wermers story Brian may have been Angelique just summarizing RR's comments as he waited on the story. I think it is a tough question to answer. Where do you stand??
The reliability of the source and the sensitive nature of the topic (in this case, fairly sensitive given its on the future of an individual player) have to be taken into account.
In your words, the "juicier" the story, I'm guessing the more certain Brian has to be with his sources.
Good to re-read. I think the problem is there is so little new news, and I have gone to this site too much. Probably going to need to cut back on coming here to 2-3 times a week until practice starts in August.
Regarding what Brian posts, my only concern is that posting damage the team in some way. If a potential recruit (or potential recruit's parents) are ticked off because of a post or posts, it ultimately hurts us all.
I personally am less interested in getting breaking stories than I am in getting smart-assed analysis.
Rumors also tend to feed the ZOMG WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!!!!?!!!! mentality you see all too often on the Internet. A good chunk of rumors are going to turn out to be false, too. I don't think it's worth it.
I think it is a mixed bag. The advantage of a blog is that it allows for user generated content to be published. It allows us to read rumors that may be big stories that haven't broken yet or rumors that never come true. The advantage we have is that there are no publishers controlling what gets published besides Brian. During the coaching search, plenty of rumors were whirling around it was good to read it here b/c you felt like you were getting some inside information with opinions regarding that information that could never be published in the mainstream media.
As MgoBlog has grown in popularity it seems that Brian has toned down his publishing of juicy rumors and waiting for more solid information before posting. I think MgoBlog allows him to do this successfully b/c he can afford to wait before publishing something but the news trickles out through the MgoBoard and allows us to discuss our thoughts on said rumor. When Brian publishes it a day later he has a base level of confirmation that satisfies him and we can take the information as pretty solid.
Brian's judgement is obviously good or we wouldn't all be reading the blog and enjoying it so much. I'm sure he will be on the money most of the time and occasionally wait too long in the interest of veracity. He is only human. If we want rumors (which can be fun too) they can come from our fellow posters with their own "contacts".
If Brian wants to wait for confirmation, that's his call.
Pure speculation here, but I think Brian feels an obligation to deliver to us, his fans... but he also feels the responsibility to the program, and not create an environment that only throws mud on its windows. Sometimes this site feels like a vortex of negativity and I'm thinking that's not what Brian envisions his site to be. So there's a happy balance there, between giving credible insider info without compromising the sanctity of Schembechler Hall. That's how I see it.
Not only a responsibility to the program, but also this: It seems to me Brian sees the blog (the format, not only this one specifically) as a form of legitimate new media to be taken seriously, as evidenced by his complaints about how the old media treats blogs in general. So in trying to stay legit (it's a living, after all) a certain amount of scoopage is sacrificed.
Plus, the forums serve a nice purpose for this. With the forums, Brian can say the blog itself remains as legit and up-and-up as ever, and people will still come (i.e. rack up the hits) for the rumors, whatever the veracity, because they can get those on the forums.
Running this site responsibly gives him the license to criticize the 'Sports Section Approach.' He's not going to give that up now, nor should he. But we can still get the dirt because someone's wife's uncle's niece's sister's former boyfriend's roommate heard something on campus today.
When it comes to recruiting, I don't really pay attention to Brian's stuff, as most of his posts comes from eiter ESPN, VB, or things recruiting fanatics post on the Mgoboard.
If you want breaking news, look at the board on the right. The readers usually post things before the owner does.
This one was weird because it wasn't even a rumor, IMO, but it existed on the premium section of the sites. OTOH, the guy is a relative and not a mod or even a regular insider. I do think I could have mentioned that Wermers was probably going to transfer based on the LIBlue post as long as I phrased it as a rumor likely to be true.
I'm willing to let myself get scooped if I'm not sure, as that's preferable to being wrong in my spot. The McGuffie thing was harrowing and we had three impeccable sources... at points I was actually hoping he'd leave just out of selfishness, which is a really crappy position to be in. I'd like to avoid that in the future and am trying to be careful about things that are news, but only as long as someone doesn't change their mind.
Six Zero's totally right, too: there are two competing impulses. One is to make readers happy in the short term by providing news. The other is to make them happy in the long term by respecting the program, and not searching about for cheap hits. I won't always be right, but as long as I admit errors and try to learn from them I think most people will stay with the site.