Sportswriter eavesdrops, Times defends
by February 8, 1999 12:00 am 82 views
After an article that apparently got Arkansas Razorbacks Head Football Coach Houston Nutt in a bit of trouble with the NCAA, the Northwest Arkansas Times, in a Feb. 2 editorial, defended the sportswriter involved.
The Times said “we admire” Joe West’s reporting initiative, referring to the ensuing questions from the NCAA as a “romp in a thimble.”
West apparently overheard a conversation between Nutt and Athletic Director Frank Broyles concerning Cedric Cobbs, a football recruit from Little Rock. Under NCAA rules, coaches aren’t allowed to speak publicly about recruits until after they sign with a team.
Normally, a journalist who overheard a private conversation would ask those involved if they would speak on the record about the matter, or the reporter would try to get the information from other sources. Instead, West apparently quoted Nutt in a Jan. 31 article as though the coach had made the comments directly to him or in a public forum.
Cobbs quoted Nutt saying, “Now you can see why everybody wants him. Now you can see why he’s a Parade All-American.”
The Times editorial referred to it as “the NCAA’s problem with free speech and coaches.” And Nate Allen, a sportswriter for the Northwest Arkansas Morning News, came to West’s defense in a Feb. 3 column, saying “one has seen several older writers … make similar gaffes” concerning recruiting coverage.
Regardless of how strict the NCAA is concerning recruiting, reporting an overheard conversation in a misleading manner is unethical journalism whether it’s in sports or any other section of the newspaper.