READING THE FINE PRINT

by Holly Horning

Recent baseball stories have once again reminded me about the state of the media and how well – or poorly – many of them do their jobs.

And it serves us well to remember who signs their paychecks.  Because sometimes that crucial tidbit isn’t openly advertised.

One of the hottest topics among Tiger fans is the local media coverage in the major newspapers.  Most of the writers who are terrified of being critical lest they lose their jobs.

There is the infamous story about someone from Comerica putting pressure on an editor to remove a certain journalist from writing about the team. That newspaper complied.

Other stories where writers knew of significant problems with the team – esp. when it came to Brad Ausmus – and kept quiet.  Only revealing that Ausmus had lost the clubhouse in his very first year after he left the organization.

And yet other stories about how the Tigers routinely use another writer as their PR representative, giving him first dibs on stories, in exchange for glowing articles.

When you become a beat writer for the major Detroit dailies, Comerica gives you a gift basket that includes pom poms and Koolaid.

But the other arenas of baseball reporting aren’t much better.

You’ll see individuals who specialize in writing about one team.  Take a closer look and see under whose umbrella they are operating.  If there’s a tag line that says they write about the Tigers for MLB, understand that the ugly or controversial bits aren’t going to be addressed in that column.

It’s because MLB is their employer and signs their paychecks.

MLB is loathe to see anything in print that doesn’t fully support their organization.  You’re not going to get the unvarnished truth.

So much for print.  But it’s also seen in both radio and tv.

MLB has a monopoly on that, too.  They own both MLB Radio and MLB TV.  And they ensure that butter won’t even melt in the mouths of their broadcasters.

A number of their announcers and analysts have ties to both the radio and tv operations.  And a good number of them also directly collect a paycheck from a specific baseball team, creating a conflict of interest.

Is someone who broadcasts for a team – or works as a special assistant to the GM – really going to be critical of them or give a truthful appraisal of someone who signs their paycheck?

Of course not.  Unless, that is, they want to be unemployed.

You also have to question the people MLB hires to do their radio and tv shows.  There’s a lot of scandal that has been allowed to burrow into the MLB network from the teams that banished them.

A number of them former GMs who will never work for a franchise again.

One who was accused of attempting to trade a pitcher who was injured to an unsuspecting team.  With his next organization, he was accused of skimming bonuses from Latin American players and an identity fraud scandal involving a player.  It was enough to get the FBI involved but his sudden resignation kept the scandals from dirtying MLB.

He now does work for both MLB RADIO, TV and writes for 2 national publications.

Ironically, 1 of his radio partners was also forced from his organization due to sexual harassment.  And when he moved to another team, he was dismissed from there for the same reasons.

Then there are the infamous PED users who were immediately hired by MLB TV to offer their opinions. Note to MLB: When there are a couple of them sitting front and center on tv, it’s not a good look. You have to question their opinions when they spent years denying the evidence.

The bar ain’t very high here, folks.  The days of listening to people you trusted like Ernie, George and Al are loooong gone.

And for those who speak the unvarnished truth like Ken Rosenthal, MLB TV fires you for your honest analysis. Rosenthal is undoubtedly the best baseball journalist out there but there are those in the industry who prioritize keeping secrets over hiring quality.

However, there is 1 bright spot.  Earlier in 2023, well-known analyst Scott Braun was dumped by MLB TV.  He was known to offer honest assessments which were not looked upon kindly by the MLB powers.

He’s started an independent podcast called Foul Territory with 7 former MLB players.  Their tag line?  Baseball the Way It Should Be Covered.

Let’s now return to issues created by an MLB-driven format.

Once you get beyond the dubious character issues and conflicts of interest, there is another troubling trend.

Announcers and analysts who don’t do their homework.

First, it’s a tall order to expect 1 commentator to know in-depth information about each of the 30 teams.   You know what they say, “Jack of all trades master of none.”

It’s just not realistic to expect your analyst to know everything about every team and speak knowledgeably about each one.

Recently, a number of them have been giving me conniptions about their published articles.

One well-known analyst said he can’t wait to see Colt Keith take over as the Tigers’ full-time 3Ber this year.

Another discussed Riley Greene as the Tigers’ CFer of the future.

Yet one more mixed up the names, referring to Austin Meadows when he really meant to write about Parker.

And my personal fave – the writer who put Spencer Turnbull on this year’s starting rotation for the Tigers.

The list goes on but you get my drift.

But one has to wonder if these commentators/writers/analysts simply have job descriptions that are too big to handle on their own or whether they are lazy in doing their research and not taking the time to update team information.

Or whether they are handing off some of their duties to unpaid interns.

Speaking of looooong gone, apparently it also applies to fact checking.

You’ve heard the expression, “buyer beware”?

If you’re a baseball fan, you now need to think “reader beware.”

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