It’s hard to argue with the notion that social media, in the wrong hands, is a cesspool of mean-spirited bile. There are a lot of wrong hands out there.
We might not accept the ugliness of online communities, but we’ve come to expect it.
I’d like to think that the media manage to stay above the fray most of the time, but the Corey Perry mess serves as a warning that, if we don’t watch out, we’re going to be swimming in the same sludge as the bad actors on social media.
Once the Blackhawks’ decision to scratch Perry from the lineup before a Nov. 22 game in Columbus extended to multiple games, it didn’t take long for the rumors to start oozing. The most nefarious rumor was that the “workplace misconduct’’ that led to Perry’s termination involved the family of Hawks rookie Connor Bedard. That’s the nicest, most-sanitized way to describe social media’s version of what happened. That version didn’t happen, but you know what they say: Too late!
The matter would have stayed there had it not been for Yahoo Sports, which ran a Men’s Journal story Friday saying that Bedard denied the specific, unpleasant rumor that, just to be clear, was not true. The story included quotes from Bedard the day before responding to the rumor.
Why was he responding to the rumor? Because several Winnipeg-based reporters had asked him about it while the Hawks were on the road to play the Jets over the weekend.
This was a fire hose pumping gasoline on a blaze that should have been allowed to go out by itself. Bedard’s quotes went all over the world.
Now, what will have staying power — the rumor or Bedard’s response to the rumor?
The rumor, of course.
It’s why the questions never should have been asked of him. He never should have been asked about something that had never occurred. And if the Winnipeg reporters went on to write sympathetic stories that painted the rookie as a victim, it doesn’t change the fact that the stories’ foundation was a false rumor – even if the Winnipeg media reported his response, not the rumor itself. You can put nice wrapping paper around a box of poop, but it doesn’t change the box’s contents.
I’ve tap danced around the Perry/Bedard rumor, and that’s as far as I’ll go. I’m uncomfortable writing the little I’ve written about it here. But this strikes deep at the heart of journalism. We’re supposed to deal in truth. That statement will raise a cry from those of you who believe the news is biased, but it doesn’t change the goal: We’re supposed to trade in facts.
When we know something is false, we shouldn’t ask about it, write it or broadcast it, even if it’s to shoot down the rumor.
Bedard could be the face of the NHL for years to come. Part of the anger over the rumor is the unfairness of an 18-year-old kid having to deal with something like this. But star power gives oxygen to hearsay and innuendo. And, so, here we are, mucking about in a nasty fiction.
There has been no clarity on what Perry did that led the Hawks to terminate his contract. But in a statement, he went out of his way to say it had nothing to do with his teammates.
“I am sickened by the impact this has had on others, and I want to make it clear that in no way did this involve any of my teammates or their families,” he said. “Most importantly, I want to directly apologize to those who have been negatively affected, and I am sorry for the additional impact to others it has created. My behavior was inappropriate and wrong.”
Just because Perry responded publicly and obliquely to the rumor Thursday doesn’t mean it opened the door for reporters to ask Bedard about it the next day. Perry’s statement didn’t legitimize the rumor. It only showed the power that rumors have.
We media members are supposed to be better than this. Men’s Journal never should have written a story using Bedard’s quotes as a jumping-off point to detail what the rumor alleged. And Yahoo Sports shouldn’t have run it. It seems so blatantly obvious. That it wasn’t to more than a few journalists is frightening.
Standards separate the media from social media. Reporters have standards that are meant to keep them in check and push them to be fair. Social media has few restrictions, very little conscience and a snuffed-out guiding light.
If we’re not careful, we in the media eventually will be doing laps in that same cesspool.
