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Fair Or Foul? The Internet Is Divided Over Whether This Local Reporter’s Comments To Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen Were Appropriate
Isn’t the media supposed to be unbiased?
Ok, I’ll give you a minute to stop laughing as we dive into this latest controversy surrounding not CNN or Fox News or whatever MSNBC is calling themselves these days, but a local reporter from the Jacksonville Free Press.
The Jacksonville Jaguars managed a pretty impressive turnaround this season after going 4-13 last year. First year head coach Liam Coen, who came to Jacksonville after previously serving as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, managed to lead the Jags to a first place finish in the AFC South and a wild card berth in the NFL playoffs.
The Jags proved that their playoff appearance wasn’t a fluke yesterday when they nearly took down the Buffalo Bills, who managed to take the lead on a Josh Allen touchdown with just a minute left in the game. Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence then took the field to attempt to get his team into field goal range, but threw an interception that ended up sealing the win for the Bills.
After the game, Coen addressed the media on his team’s season, and received some words of encouragement from Lynn Jones of the Jacksonville Free Press, a local weekly newspaper:
“I just want to tell you congratulations on your success, young man. You hold your head up, all right? You guys have had a most magnificent season. You did a great job out there today. So you just hold your head up, okay? And ladies and gentlemen, Duval. You the one, all right? You keep it going. We got another season, okay? Take care and much continued success to you and the entire team.”
Just a heartwarming interaction between a reporter and a head coach, right?
Well the exchange has stirred quite a bit of discussion online about whether it was appropriate for a credentialed reporter to praise a coach or a team like that. On one side seems to be most media members, who were appalled that one of their own fellow journalists would behave in what the saw as a biased and unprofessional manner during a press conference:
Meanwhile, others are defending it as a heartwarming moment from a reporter who has, presumably, gotten to know the coach and team pretty well through her reporting:
Personally, I don’t really see it as a huge deal. I guess I’m also technically considered “media,” but at the same time I’m a fan of country music (and sports, and everything else I cover) so I understand both the professional obligation to get the story versus the personal feelings and connections that you make with people you cover.
We hear it all the time in our comments when we write something taking one side or the other: “You consider yourself a journalist?” And to those people I say: No. I’ve never called myself a journalist, nor have I claimed that I’m unbiased in…well, pretty much anything I do. It’s not my job to remain unbiased, and if this reporter’s employer doesn’t have a problem with her being a fan in that moment and offering some encouraging words to Coen, then I don’t really see why anybody else does either.The post Fair Or Foul? The Internet Is Divided Over Whether This Local Reporter’s Comments To Jacksonville Jaguars Head Coach Liam Coen Were Appropriate first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
