I'M THE POSTER CHILD -CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

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http://www.news-sentinel.com/opinion/One-good-hit--and-so-long--reputation
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One good hit, and so long, reputation

Accuracy is sacrificed to speed in today's news

Tuesday, December 29, 2015 8:01 AM

Today’s lesson in the modern media reality comes to us courtesy of current Denver Broncos and former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and the Al Jazeera news organization.

Manning, Al Jazeera said, first online and then on the air, was one of several athletes who got human growth hormones, classified as a banned performance enhancing drug by the National Football League, from the Guyer Institute in Indianapolis. And the drugs were shipped to his home in the name of his wife so his name was never attached to the shipments.

All this was in an “explosive” new “documentary” by the news organization with information supplied by a “pharmacist” named Charlie Sly.

“It’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke,” was about the mildest thing Manning said in vehemently denying the story. And almost as soon as the story hit, Sly, a pharmaceutical intern, denied everything. He said he had made the whole thing up, either to impress the “undercover reporter” or to test his knowledge — he was just a little bit unclear on his motive.

In a case like this of an explosive accusation and an unequivocal denial, it is, of course, best to wait for all the facts to be in before making a judgment call. But, given the way the news business operates these days and given what we know of Peyton Manning’s character, we’re going to go ahead give Manning the benefit of the doubt.

In journalism’s more halcyon days, when print was still at the top of the pyramid, editors insisted that reporters have more than one source to consider a story’s facts verified. Deadlines were never an excuse to sacrifice accuracy.

But today, the rush to be first trumps everything. No rumor is too wild, no speculation too unfounded, to be thrown out for public consumption. And then the story is picked up and run by everybody. And when the accused issues his denial, that’s the excuse for absolutely everybody to pile on. They can report his reaction, then repeat the initial story, no matter how thin it is, and not feel a whit guilty.

By the time the dust has settled, and we finally know everything, it really won’t matter whether Manning is guilty of anything or not. That story will always be around now, and a certain number of people will believe it, and Peyton Manning’s reputation will never be quite the same.

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