On Tuesday, October 30th Assistant General Manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, Gord Ash, came in to visit #loweclass #sports. Gord Ash has been involved in sports journalism for over thirty years.
Gord first started off by saying that journalists who he feel did the best jobs were overall fair. He used and emphasized this word a lot throughout his presentation. He says they credited the Milwaukee Brewers when they did bad and good, not only one. He explains that finding a balance between the two is very important.
Gord brought up a very interesting point that was mentioned by our last presenter, Sharif Durhams. Gord explains that the big issue now is being first. For example, being the first network to have a story. This sort of coincides with what Shariff Durhams thought. Durhams explained that if your right, that is the ultimate value to any news organization and also readers. In his opinion, it really does not matter who's first. I would have to agree with Durhams because one could be first but still have the wrong information. It is always better to be dependable and to have the correct content.
Professor Lowe also asked Gord about the Ryan Braun situation with steroids. Gord says that he or anyone else did not for sure know if Braun was tested positive. He says that it happened in more of a public fashion than it should have and that he himself had no inside information. Gord explained that their is no such thing as "off the record," because it will eventually show up somewhere, sometime.
One of the biggest issues and battles faced in sports are over injuries. Gord says that it is worse to try and keep a secret and that it is best to give as much information as possible. He then follows with the comment that they can never lie, but do not have to tell all of the truth. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that feels this way, but that's quite similar to telling a lie. "Information is our currency, and we try to keep that private as possible." said Gord Ash. He also added that when asked a direct question, that many tend to "say something without saying anything." This is something that is relatable for me and I've seen this happen quite often particularly in political debates.
Finally, I learned that promoting is in each players' contract. Players are encouraged to tweet but are monitored to distinguish what is appropriate and inappropriate. A lot of time is also spent giving players media training. An example of proper technique for interviews would be not sitting while being interviewed, etc. These type of things were interesting to know because I was not aware of all of the time and effort that is put into things like this.
Gord first started off by saying that journalists who he feel did the best jobs were overall fair. He used and emphasized this word a lot throughout his presentation. He says they credited the Milwaukee Brewers when they did bad and good, not only one. He explains that finding a balance between the two is very important.
Gord brought up a very interesting point that was mentioned by our last presenter, Sharif Durhams. Gord explains that the big issue now is being first. For example, being the first network to have a story. This sort of coincides with what Shariff Durhams thought. Durhams explained that if your right, that is the ultimate value to any news organization and also readers. In his opinion, it really does not matter who's first. I would have to agree with Durhams because one could be first but still have the wrong information. It is always better to be dependable and to have the correct content.
Professor Lowe also asked Gord about the Ryan Braun situation with steroids. Gord says that he or anyone else did not for sure know if Braun was tested positive. He says that it happened in more of a public fashion than it should have and that he himself had no inside information. Gord explained that their is no such thing as "off the record," because it will eventually show up somewhere, sometime.
One of the biggest issues and battles faced in sports are over injuries. Gord says that it is worse to try and keep a secret and that it is best to give as much information as possible. He then follows with the comment that they can never lie, but do not have to tell all of the truth. I'm not sure if I'm the only one that feels this way, but that's quite similar to telling a lie. "Information is our currency, and we try to keep that private as possible." said Gord Ash. He also added that when asked a direct question, that many tend to "say something without saying anything." This is something that is relatable for me and I've seen this happen quite often particularly in political debates.
Finally, I learned that promoting is in each players' contract. Players are encouraged to tweet but are monitored to distinguish what is appropriate and inappropriate. A lot of time is also spent giving players media training. An example of proper technique for interviews would be not sitting while being interviewed, etc. These type of things were interesting to know because I was not aware of all of the time and effort that is put into things like this.
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