Elaine Weir tries to be fair in new column

[shaneo69]

Carl's editors must have fell asleep before they got to the bottom of this article. Actually, it looks like they couldn't even make it to the end of the title.

I deleted the first four paragraphs of the article because it was totally unrelated to football. Feel free to click the link at the bottom for the full article.


WEIR: Tired Sctick
Sep 19, 2006, 4:52:09 AM by Eileen Weir

........Here on the home front, the persistent fault-finding of Kansas City Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson serves as among the finest examples of journalistic failure on the pages of our local paper. Artificially staged as a feud between Star columnist Jason Whitlock and the Chiefs GM, the story line is kept alive exclusively by the relentlessness of the controversial columnist. The trumped-up rivalry promoted by Whitlock fails to meet the requirements of a legitimate feud, as Peterson’s reaction to the predictable barbs has been largely one of blanket disinterest. Insistently instigating arguments with an opponent who refuses to join the battle is strikingly pathological.

Irresistably dipping into the shallow pool of insight Whitlock possesses about “King Carl” has become tired shtick. We’ve heard it all, and we don’t care. The columnist’s portrayal of Peterson as a miserly Machiavellian who maintains power over One Arrowhead Drive through an indifference to moral considerations, is both unfounded and has become uninteresting. Designing a persona for Peterson that conjures images of the Chiefs top executive greedily counting parking receipts between scheming to cheat premiere free agents and new-found talent out of lucrative contracts has become such a staple of the columnist’s repertoire as to become hackneyed.

Evident to readers is that Whitlock’s long tenure at Kansas City’s major metropolitan newspaper has gained him no relationship with the town’s most influential and accessible major league executive. Often sighted around town interacting with fans, willingly facing the music each week on his regular radio show broadcast live from popular gathering spots around town, living in the heart of the city, Peterson’s real life as a man about town is a stark antithesis to the press’s public assertions that he is aloof, removed, and apathetic to the fate of the team and the emotions of his supporters and his critics.

Speaking of critics, Peterson has a few.

As the architect of the modern day Chiefs, Peterson deserves the close scrutiny of the local and national press. Contentions that under his stewardship the team has drafted poorly, performed weakly in post-season contests, raised the price of admission following sub-standard seasons, and shown loyalty to chosen employees beyond their usefulness are worthy of debate in the media. He has done himself no favors with some local sports media, often displaying unmasked disdain for prying questions from the Chiefs press corps.

Fans and ticket holders rightfully expect and deserve judicious analysis of key personnel and policy decisions presented by journalists who have extraordinary training, expertise, and access. Unfettered speculation on personality and behavior, unsupported by either close personal contact or documented fact, however, is as non-newsy as it is mean-spirited, best saved for barroom chats and Internet blogs.

Absent a dedication to provable facts and a commitment to supply audiences with unique insight to which they would otherwise not be privy, journalists have little appeal and even less value. A demonstrated inability or unwillingness to provide fresh perspectives and perspicacious observations is insulting to readers looking for an honest and astute voice from a NFL insider.


http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2006/09..._tired_sctick/