CBS finally let go its sports blogger Adam Jacobi following the Paterno debacle, Jacobi himself announced today on his Twitter account:
As you may remember, CBS Sports wrongly announced the death of the ex-Penn State American football coach Joe Paterno – who had recently been blamed for not doing enough to report child sex abuse.
As Paterno’s sons soon pointed out, the information was incorrect – although terminally ill, their father only passed away hours later.
Following the misstep, it emerged that Jacobi’s report was based on a sole source he initially didn’t bother to name: the Onward State. A local online news outlet run by students targeted at Penn State College community, it had erroneously reported JoPa’s death on Twitter.
This is how CBS ended up sharing the blame with Onward State’s managing editor Devon Edwards. According to Poynter, the student’s wrong information was itself based on a false email and other incorrect allegations.
Had Jacobi mentioned his source, he may had kept his job following public apologies. Instead, CBS seems to have hesitated for a few days before deciding to let him go. Jacobi had been working for CBS Sports for the past 17 months; according to his LinkedIn profile, his job title was College Football Blogger.
Jacobi himself insists he’s not bitter about CBS’ decision – not only with the above-mentioned apologetic messages, but also with this clarification an hour later:
Jacobi and Edwards know it too: source attribution and fact-checking are mandatory for quality reporting. These are two tasks anyone involved in print and news has to perform, no matter if they call themselves ‘journalist’ or ‘blogger’, ‘student’ or ‘senior’.
Still, some consider CBS’ decision to be harsh on Jacobi. Says US blogger Erik Wemple:
CBSSports.com could easily have kept Jacobi right where he was. Just issue a statement expressing commitment to further training and be done with the issue. But a firing sends a message that CBSSports.com cares more about its credibility than it does about one employee’s job security.
Not only does CBSSports.com put on notice its employees that multiple sourcing matters, it puts on notice the entire industry.
For journalists and bloggers alike, Jacobi’s sacking is certainly frightful: one article goes wrong, and we could lose our jobs. Yet, this whole debacle also serves as a reminder that we should always maintain our standards. Despite deadlines and newsroom pressure for scoops, let’s keep in mind the damage bad reporting can do.
Do you think CBS’ decision was fair?
Is it fair? I bet I know what Joe would say.......forget about it.....its not important.
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LikeNo, it is not fair. The fact that JoePa died within hrs of the report means it was not a mistake wildly unmoored from reality. The error caused no harm as I doubt that it accelerated the decline of JoePa's health as CBS was surely the last thing on his mind in his final hrs.
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Likeligaso I'm sure his family and friends were hurt though.
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LikeAnna Heimligaso
Perhaps, but I bet probably more shocked. you have to remember that this man was a legend. I will bet more people than not know who Joe Paterno was, you didnt have to be from PA, you didnt have to attend PSU, he was an icon. We all knew how sick he was. His last interview was given and at the end of the article it was mentioned that he was on his way back into the hospital. It was widely reported that he was in grave condition, we all knew it was coming. We all just hoped that he would bounce back....he was such a strong man, in every sense of the word. Im sure his family wanted us all to know the truth, that he was still with us. You see, our prayers change...when living I pray for strength, comfort and peace. In death I pray that God swings open the gates for him to fun through just as he ran through the Penn State gates at the statium every football game. I wonder Anna....did you know who Joe Paterno was before you wrote this article? I didnt go to PSU, and I didnt grow up in PA (Im a Vt girl), but I knew who Joe Paterno was, and I knew what a great man he was, and I liked him because he was genuine.....and after all of this has happened I have even more respect for him, and his selfless gifts he gave to so many.
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LikeAre you kidding me Anne.......you added one word.....coach Joe Paterno – who had recently been accused of covering child sex abuse. He didnt cover it up at all. He reported it to the campus head of police and the AD. It has been stated by the Grand Jury that he met his legal obligation.....at issue is a moral obligation. Morals....as set by whom? Now lets take this further. Sandusky was not on the Paterno staff, he had left the school a few years prior to this. So Joe Paterno hears from a staff member that he saw something in the showers....this is second hand information that was given to Joe a day after it occurred. Joe in turn goes to his superiors to report this information. If you have ever worked in a large company, organization or school you would know that there is a procedure for reporting, and Joe did just that. But you must remember Joe had no authority to take any action against Sandusky, he couldnt fire him, he was not on Joe's staff, and he no longer worked for the school. So he went to the proper authorities within the school. The head of the campus police dept. Did you know that it is typically protocol to go to the campus police prior to the local police. This is typically an agreement between local governments and universities. The campus police are full police officers, with all and often more/better resources at their disposal. The only thing that Joe is accused of by the media, who only want to sensationalize this into a big story and some negative people who think they would do something different, which one would never know until placed in that same position is that he had a bigger moral obligation.....from Joe's point of view he reported it. His superiors investigated, and Joe asked McQuery if he felt comfortable with how it was handled. McQuery said yes. Now remember Sandusky doesnt work for the university any more and has not been on Joe's staff since 99. If and I say a big IF Joe had gone back and asked for a status or update (and who knows maybe he did) what would he be told. I can tell you......he would be told that it was being handled and it would be none of his business what was done. There are confidentiality issues here. Personnel information cannot be shared with anyone asking for an update. So Joe is not accused of anything by law. Now if you want to write about something why dont you look into this. Sandusky was a world class coach, in his prime, courted by nfl teams, and other college teams....and he walks away from football all together. I believe that the BOT at PSU had full knowledge that issues about Sandusky had risen. I believe that they wanted to get him the hell out of there and spare the university any bad press. They gave him emeritus status.....and Im sure that is not something Joe can bestow on someone. It must be approved by the university. I will bet that the university told him to walk away and never coach again. They gave him emeritus, and Sandusky walked away and never coached again....that just doesnt jive, he could have gone anywhere to coach and make lots of money, especially in the nfl. Something very fishy. Please Anne, I ask that you go and read up on the Joe Paterno story. I usually dont post on these blogs......but this was so blatantly wrong that I just had to. I find most of the negative blogs funny because I believe they are just sour people who would never live up to such an amazing man as Joe Paterno, that they cut him down to make themselves feel better. REminds me of jr high and highschool. After you read the facts about this case....then perhaps you can write your story. Perhaps you will still feel negative, however, at least you will have the facts right.
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Likegigivermont What I did was put back the word I had accidentally forgotten - sorry about that. It's not my role to try and guess who's guilty and who isn't, but I had to mention that Paterno had recently come under criticism, and I also added a link to the NPR, which summarizes the Penn State abuse scandal.
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LikeAnna Heimgigivermont
Anna, what you did was to say that he had commit a crime, then said he was accused of covering up a crime. He did neither. At issue is a moral obligation only. A moral obligation means something different to every person. We are not punished for bad morals by the law,unless they break a law. No law broken here. I believe that you are an irresponsible journalist in this article. btw, as I read an article, I do not want to go to a other links to find the real story, either write the story in truth or not....dont make me go find the truth and the real story within your article. You are right it is not your role to "guess" who is guilty and who isnt....,..you didnt mention that he had recently come under criticism, you said he was accused of a crime...irresponsible...then you accused him of covering up a crime...irresponsible. Your job is to report the fact in an unbiased way. We have a judicial system to say who is guilty and who is not....he was never under suspicion by the judicial system.....and the DA has stated that he followed the law.
ps....I bet Adam Jacobi wishes he could just say "sorry about that" and be done with it.
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Likegigivermont I agree people may not click on the link, so I added the facts within the article and removed the word "accused" since no charges were pressed - the criticism revolved around his "moral obligation."
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LikeAre you kidding me Anne.......you added one word.....coach Joe Paterno – who had recently been accused of covering child sex abuse. He didnt cover it up at all. He reported it to the campus head of police and the AD. It has been stated by the Grand Jury that he met his legal obligation.....at issue is a moral obligation. Morals....as set by whom? Now lets take this further. Sandusky was not on the Paterno staff, he had left the school a few years prior to this. So Joe Paterno hears from a staff member that he saw something in the showers....this is second hand information that was given to Joe a day after it occurred. Joe in turn goes to his superiors to report this information. If you have ever worked in a large company, organization or school you would know that there is a procedure for reporting, and Joe did just that. But you must remember Joe had no authority to take any action against Sandusky, he couldnt fire him, he was not on Joe's staff, and he no longer worked for the school. So he went to the proper authorities within the school. The head of the campus police dept. Did you know that it is typically protocol to go to the campus police prior to the local police. This is typically an agreement between local governments and universities. The campus police are full police officers, with all and often more/better resources at their disposal. The only thing that Joe is accused of by the media, who only want to sensationalize this into a big story and some negative people who think they would do something different, which one would never know until placed in that same position is that he had a bigger moral obligation.....from Joe's point of view he reported it. His superiors investigated, and Joe asked McQuery if he felt comfortable with how it was handled. McQuery said yes. Now remember Sandusky doesnt work for the university any more and has not been on Joe's staff since 99. If and I say a big IF Joe had gone back and asked for a status or update (and who knows maybe he did) what would he be told. I can tell you......he would be told that it was being handled and it would be none of his business what was done. There are confidentiality issues here. Personnel information cannot be shared with anyone asking for an update. So Joe is not accused of anything by law. Now if you want to write about something why dont you look into this. Sandusky was a world class coach, in his prime, courted by nfl teams, and other college teams....and he walks away from football all together. I believe that the BOT at PSU had full knowledge that issues about Sandusky had risen. I believe that they wanted to get him the hell out of there and spare the university any bad press. They gave him emeritus status.....and Im sure that is not something Joe can bestow on someone. It must be approved by the university. I will bet that the university told him to walk away and never coach again. They gave him emeritus, and Sandusky walked away and never coached again....that just doesnt jive, he could have gone anywhere to coach and make lots of money, especially in the nfl. Something very fishy. Please Anne, I ask that you go and read up on the Joe Paterno story. I usually dont post on these blogs......but this was so blatantly wrong that I just had to. I find most of the negative blogs funny because I believe they are just sour people who would never live up to such an amazing man as Joe Paterno, that they cut him down to make themselves feel better. REminds me of jr high and highschool. After you read the facts about this case....then perhaps you can write your story. Perhaps you will still feel negative, however, at least you will have the facts right.
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LikeThis is how you start this article.......As you may remember, CBS Sports wrongly announced the death of the ex-Penn State American football coach Joe Paterno – who had recently been accused of child sex abuse..........you should be fired......Joe Paterno was not recently, or ever accused of child sex abuse. You are why no one trusts the media. Please get your facts right before you print. this is a just terrible.
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Likegigivermont I've clarified that sentence and added a link.
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