Spare us the speculation

As an Indiana alumnus, a graduate of the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism and a working journalist, I’m a little disappointed by what the IDS chose to run in its Feb. 25 paper in regards to who would be the next head of Indiana’s basketball program (“Who will IU basketball turn to next?”). Instead of going out and doing some reporting, Matt Dollinger has decided to join the pack of talking heads posing as journalists (see ESPN’s Andy Katz and Pat Forde) and just randomly throw out names of coaches who he thinks IU should go out for. None of them, mind you, have been officially contacted regarding the position, and Dollinger has sourced positively no one saying that any of the aforementioned coaches were interested in the job or that IU was interested in hiring any of them. The column was no better or no worse than some wildly speculative Internet blog post or running thread on a message board, and to give rumors credibility by appearing in your paper hurts the reputation of the IDS as a credible, accurate news source. A little actual reporting next time, Matt, regardless of whether or not you’re writing a column. Call it what you want – speculation is just a fancy word for wild, unsubstantiated guessing, and that has no place in a newspaper with the reputation of the IDS.