I think one of the issues going on here is that, while we appear to be talking about institutionalized corruption, in the core activity of that institution, in an activity that society holds in very high esteem, the general public's outrage meter for institutional corruption is still out of whack from Penn State.
I think another issue going on here is that, as the writer of the linked story described, this story hasn't jibed with the media's prevailing good-guys/bad-guys sense of the world. Plus, it's complex and still unfolding.
So, you have an audience that is not ready to receive the news and a media that is not quite yet believing or understanding the news. I'll bet there's a bunch of stories like this that have just simply never turned into a lesson learned or historical episode because of similar timing, sense-making stuff.
It should also be noted that ESPN has said almost nothing about this story, and it's hard for any sports story to get traction if it's being ignored by ESPN.
You have to give some credit to the University. They have handed all of their internal findings over to the NCAA and fired the people involved. At least on the surface they appear to be doing everything possible to not only clean up the problem, but expose all the dirt themselves. To me that's the smartest move to make.
I've been following this story from the inside and have been a bit surprised that it hasn't gotten more attention than it has.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the issues going on here is that, while we appear to be talking about institutionalized corruption, in the core activity of that institution, in an activity that society holds in very high esteem, the general public's outrage meter for institutional corruption is still out of whack from Penn State.
ReplyDeleteI think another issue going on here is that, as the writer of the linked story described, this story hasn't jibed with the media's prevailing good-guys/bad-guys sense of the world. Plus, it's complex and still unfolding.
So, you have an audience that is not ready to receive the news and a media that is not quite yet believing or understanding the news. I'll bet there's a bunch of stories like this that have just simply never turned into a lesson learned or historical episode because of similar timing, sense-making stuff.
It should also be noted that ESPN has said almost nothing about this story, and it's hard for any sports story to get traction if it's being ignored by ESPN.
ReplyDeleteYou have to give some credit to the University. They have handed all of their internal findings over to the NCAA and fired the people involved. At least on the surface they appear to be doing everything possible to not only clean up the problem, but expose all the dirt themselves. To me that's the smartest move to make.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear.
DeleteNC2A.
ReplyDeleteNo one ever said life was fair.
Delete