A Plea For Integrity In Cycling Journalism in 2010

[pmcg76]

Well as I mentioned in another thread, in his otherwise good book A dog in a hat he had a pop at Paul Kimmage even though Kimmage had no relevance to his story and their paths rarely ever crossed. I just thought WTF, is he trying to appeal to the Lance fans by slating Kimmage or what. Having read that article, I might not have been far of in my appraisal.

 

[CiclismoDeCalifornia]

I hardly doubt Versus is done with their Let's slander Alberto Contador campaign. Just read what good ol' Bobke has to say: http://www.versus.com/nw/article/view/84981/?tf=bob_roll.tpl

If this is the kind of rubbish we'll be reading and hearing during the tour come July, by all of Versus' bias pro-Lance commentators we are in for another boring tour de lance repeat.

The state in which sports journalism is in is a shame, specially in cycling.

good thread theswordsman

 

[Francois the Postman]

The division within Team Astana never became apparent during the Tour and Contador was supported by the strongest team in the Tour. It was not until after the Tour de France that the simmerring animosity that Contador felt for his teammates came to light. It was no surprise there after that Alberto Contador was not included in the Radio Shack roster.

Damn, I thought we had a clear winner for stupidest comment in 2010. You can't top it, so on January 5 saw the height others have to live up to. Well, sink down to. January 6. And it's a tie.

I can't even begin to think how you think you can pass yourself off as a perceptive expert and get stuff like that on paper. If you didn't see it during the Tour, which shack did they lock you into?

Versus is gonna be comedy gold if they keep this up.

The really weird thing is that there is a link on the right that takes you to an interview with Contador on the same site, who gets asked "what was your worst moment in 2009?", and instead of letting rip, shows that he is a natural champion at taking the high road, on and off the tarmac.

 

[Francois the Postman]

What's the expression again?

You're entitled to your own opinion. Your not entitled to your own facts.

It's what separates quality journalism and op-ed pieces form - well - fiction.

 

[Ferminal]

Are they on the payroll, or are they just trying to do whatever they can to appeal to the ignorant masses?

 

[Hugh Januss]

Bob Roll, in my opinion has just taken the step from quirky and offbeat (and a little confused) to giant horse's rearend.
But you know what? It will work, by next July probably 65% of tour watchers in the US will hate Astana and Contador for what they have done to cycling and Lance.

 

[Publicus]

Are they on the payroll, or are they just trying to do whatever they can to appeal to the ignorant masses?

It's all about building up the epic battle between Lance and Alberto. Come July, they will have millions convinced that Lance actually held back on Alberto at the 2009 TdF and that he's going to crush him in the mountains with his high cadence and scouting of the stages. Oh and that Alberto hates kittens and apple pie.

This is just an extension of the on screen love affair they've had with him (Lance) this past year. I expect Bob Roll will pop the question any day now.

 

[Anonymous]

Step Back

It's all about building up the epic battle between Lance and Alberto. Come July, they will have millions convinced that Lance actually held back on Alberto at the 2009 TdF and that he's going to crush him in the mountains with his high cadence and scouting of the stages. Oh and that Alberto hates kittens and apple pie.

This is just an extension of the on screen love affair they've had with him (Lance) this past year. I expect Bob Roll will pop the question any day now.

Please. That is "Buffoon Day France" Roll you're talking about whose lips have been attached to LA's rear end so long they have become one, who thinks hyperbole is the same as eloquance... and Versus whose idea of high quality programming includes "Samurai Bass Fishing" and "Professional Bull Riding". You might as well insist on "journalistic integrity" from a stand-up commedian. That's not in the job description $.02

 

[Anonymous]

Here's a fun one. These are the title and subtitle of an article at Versus. The "Headlines" link I clicked to get to the article also said it was an interview. (Edit: On the 5th they sent a tweet from their @vscycling account with a link claiming it was an interview.)

"Interview With Alberto Contador Of Team Astana"
"Interview With Alberto Contador As He Prepares For 2010 Season"

I got excited, thinking Alberto had done an interview that I'd missed. But in real life, it was just a press release copied and pasted from Contador's official website - he does them in Q & A format, I believe with his press agent asking the questions. No one actually took a writer's credit, but if you happen by the website, you're led to believe that someone from Versus made the effort to contact Alberto with questions of their own. Lots of news sites around the world printed it & credited it as a press release, but Versus seems to take credit for the work. There's no mention of where they got the photos from either, so it looks like they had an in-person interview and brought a photographer along.

http://www.versus.com/nw/article/view/84995f=epiccycle_video.tpl

http://www.albertocontador.com/prensa.detalle.php?id=279

Actually, let me correct that. I knew something was off with the translation. The Versus version isn't identical to the official Contador site, but to the fan site Alberto Contador Notebook. They do their own English translation, and the six or eight paragraphs I compared matched perfectly down to punctuation. It's plagiarism.

http://albertocontadornotebook.info/

 

[Anonymous]

This one is a question of accuracy and knowing what you're talking about before posting a story to the Associated Press that will be repeated all over the world.

Today Contador's people circulated a press release regarding the upcoming Astana camp and a number of other topics. They used their normal question and answer format. Specialized posted a nice translation on their website.

http://iamspecialized.com/road/news-article/alberto-contador-and-astana-training-camp-at-calpe

Here's a fairly standard version of what publications are printing from the Associated Press. It's short, which is fine. There were partial quotations from four sentences of the original release, and a bit of interpretive paraphrasing.
The writer decided to share their knowledge with:

He has not ruled out the Giro d'Italia or Spanish Vuelta, but said his priority is the Tour de France.

There was no mention of either race in the press release. It's too early to know about the Vuelta, but it's been widely stated that the Giro belongs to Vino, and that Alberto will follow pretty much the same preparation that he did last year. He pretty much said after the Giro course was presented that it was nice but he wouldn't be there this year.

This version of the release was ten abbreviated sentences, so naturally one of them mentioned Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer, even though they weren't part of the release either.

Please take ten seconds to read the link below, then see the Specialized version and decide if there was anything there that really cried out for interpretation. Wasn't there something left out that could have been included instead of misinformation about the Giro, or maybe they could have published the entire sentence about the Astana team instead of adding something about LA and LL? I just think the wire services owe cycling fans way better than we're getting, and that a bit more care should be taken if you know an article will be repeated hundreds of times. Cheers.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_astana_contador

 

[Anonymous]

Armstrong Brushes Aside Contador Taunt

WAtoday.com.Au "breaking news"

Lance Armstrong has brushed off a taunt from arch-rival Alberto Contador that the Spaniard's increased popularity was thanks to the seven-times Tour de France winner.
Before their racing year even starts, the war of words has started between the former teammates in the lead-up to the July Tour de France.
Speaking at a Thursday media conference, Armstrong said he had seen the quote from Contador.

"With the precious help of a few people, I resisted the pressure," Contador says of the Astana tensions in the latest edition of RIDE Cycling Review magazine.
"The public was also a great help, I felt most of the crowd was in my favour.
"After all, Armstrong has made me popular."

Armstrong has not always enjoyed great popularity in France, but felt he had a better reception there during last year's Tour.
"Popularity is a funny thing, popularity has to be viewed and judged on a lot of different levels - on a local level, a state level, a national level, an international level," Armstrong said.
"Certainly he (Contador) is very popular in Spain, but based on the way I ride around in the US, I don't think he's very popular in the US.
"It's not really important - the whole world watched the Tour last summer and watched how that unfolded, watched how I think we acted as true teammates and true gentlemen.
"Regardless of whatever the polemics were, we did what we had to do to get him the yellow jersey."

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-...side-contador-taunt-20100114-m8om.html?page=1

 

[B.Rasmussen]

It really is sad the way the press allows itself to be used, both in sports and in general.

 

[thehog]

Here's a better one:

Lance Armstrong pledges $250K to Haiti


and then the truth:


"On behalf of Livestrong (Armstrong's cancer charity) we'll be donating $US250,000 ($270,000) to several organisations that are doing a lot of work down there, one of which is the Clinton Foundation."

- What??!!! Is not even his money !!!!

 

[Publicus]

Here's a better one:

Lance Armstrong pledges $250K to Haiti


and then the truth:


"On behalf of Livestrong (Armstrong's cancer charity) we'll be donating $US250,000 ($270,000) to several organisations that are doing a lot of work down there, one of which is the Clinton Foundation."

- What??!!! Is not even his money !!!!

I'm all for the donation, and normally I wouldn't question this (because face it Haiti needs all the help it can get), but why would he take money from LiveStrong's work on cancer and give it to Haitian Relief? Wouldn't it have been better to have personally donated the money? Again, this isn't about Lance so much as understanding the notion of taking money from one charitable organization and its cause, and giving it to another for an unrelated cause. Seems counterproductive to me.

 

[thehog]

I'm all for the donation, and normally I wouldn't question this (because face it Haiti needs all the help it can get), but why would he take money from LiveStrong's work on cancer and give it to Haitian Relief? Wouldn't it have been better to have personally donated the money? Again, this isn't about Lance so much as understanding the notion of taking money from one charitable organization and its cause, and giving it to another for an unrelated cause. Seems counterproductive to me.

But to issue a press release? “Armstrong pledges 250k”? It should read "The Livestrong Foundation pledges". The worthiness aside why does it need a press release that Lance Armstrong pledges? He really can't help himself.

 

[bianchigirl]

Because a chunk of it's going to the Clinton Foundation - nothing like buying yourself a few friends in high places when you're thinking of running for political office

 

[theyoungest]

Again, this isn't about Lance so much as understanding the notion of taking money from one charitable organization and its cause, and giving it to another for an unrelated cause. Seems counterproductive to me.

If you're a Haitian cancer patient I think you're happy with all donations to the country, at this moment. One way or another, it will eventually be helpful for them as well, for instance in rebuilding hospitals. It's certainly not counterproductive, that doesn't make any sense.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

If you're a Haitian cancer patient I think you're happy with all donations to the country, at this moment. One way or another, it will eventually be helpful for them as well, for instance in rebuilding hospitals. It's certainly not counterproductive, that doesn't make any sense.

Are you Bob Roll, or is he just coaching you?

 

[theyoungest]

Are you Bob Roll, or is he just coaching you?

I barely know who he is, so no.

 

[thehog]

What wonderful article: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/metime-is-kneetime-for-armstrong-and-max-20100115-mcec.html

Contador hates kids.

 

[Anonymous]

I barely know who he is, so no.

Roll: Big dufus with gapped teeth, salivates when anything LA related is mentioned, used to always say "Tour Day France", thinking he was being clever.

Most journalists covering Haiti on The Box seem interested in body count more than anything else.

IMHO, anything that can help anyone in Haiti is a good thing.

 

[bianchigirl]

What wonderful article: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/metime-is-kneetime-for-armstrong-and-max-20100115-mcec.html

Contador hates kids.

Few people see this side of him unless he arranges a full on press call just when he's sharing this precious 'intimate' time - jesus christ do journalists really think we are a) stupid and b) salivating like a Pavlovian dog for every little detail of the PR wh*re's life?

And who are this 'all' who are 'convinced' he'll beat Contador this year because, of course, he was really convincing in never challenging him once in the race last year.

Lance Armstrong, the Jordan of cycling. The Australian press, the Heat magazine

 

[Publicus]

What wonderful article: http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cycling/metime-is-kneetime-for-armstrong-and-max-20100115-mcec.html

Contador hates kids.

Wait, he invited in a reporter to witness his tender moment with Max? What parent does that????

 

[thehog]

Wait, he invited in a reporter to witness his tender moment with Max? What parent does that????

"It is the moment the Herald witnessed yesterday in Armstrong's suite at the Adelaide Hilton, before he joined the other riders in his new team, RadioShack"

- I wonder if the other RadioShack boys got to stay in the "suite" as well or was it only reserved for the King?

The rooms look fit for a king:

 

[Anonymous]

"Armstrong to sacrifice Tour record for cycling team"

That's the title. Maybe I should have pleaded for integrity in titles. The one on the Juliet Macur New Year's story had changed when I clicked a week ago. Another journalist explained to me that the titles aren't always written by the writer (or apparently anyone who understood the story). But some people don't get past titles, and I'm pretty sure Lance is still talking about winning for himself.

http://sports.inquirer.net/breaking...ong-to-sacrifice-Tour-record-for-cycling-team