I have no inside info on how all this will turn out. Nor do I know personally Dave Biddle, NevadaBuck, Herbie or anyone else involved in this current episode of 'possible wrongdoing'. I have no axe to grind with anyone involved -- whether their involvement is real or imagined.
However, I do know a little about journalism and the ethical standards on which the profession of journalism depends for its credibility. The purpose of this post is to discuss journalistic ethics as they apply to this tattoo story. If the ethics of all this doesn't interest you, stop reading here.
We all know that in America we have the right to say or write anything we choose ...almost. We can excoriate our political leaders, we can write gossip columns about celebrities going into rehab, we can preach the gospel from a soapbox on a street corner. But we can't scream "Fire!" in a crowded theater. That causes panic, which can lead to a stampede, where people get hurt -- seriously, physically hurt, perhaps even killed.
What Dave Biddle did earlier this week was pefectly ethical from a journalistic standpoint, at least technically. He stumbled upon a story that he knew would interest his readers and the national sports media; he got verification of the 'story' from two different un-named sources, who he claims are usually reliable; and he wrote the story up with enough earnest caveats to protect his hind-end. Sourced + confirmed + caveated = ethical (technically).
But the bone I have to pick with Biddle is this. It's December, the Sugar Bowl is just around the corner, the story is potentially very explosive -- as has been proved by the national attention the story has now received -- and Biddle knew all this perectly well when he decided to go public with this very, very thin 'story'.
Dave Biddle screamed "Fire!" in a crowded theater.
And the predictable panic of other 'journalists' [like Herbie] ensued, which led to the equally predictable stampede of 'reporting', the result of which, again predictably, has been that tOSU and some of its players have been hurt. Make no mistake, when the media cyclone hits, as it has here, the folks who are unlucky enough to be in the eye of the storm get hurt. Their reputations are tarnished. For some, the damage is not great and will fade over time. For others, the damage will leave an ugly, visible scar -- a tattoo of sorts -- that they'll have to suffer for years to come.
Of all people, Dave Biddle, who lived through the Clarett era and saw the damage unfounded accusations can cause, should know this! I have to assume that he did know, but went with the irresistible story anyway for the benefit of his career. I'll never think of him quite the same again.
