For the hundreds of student athletes here at IU, the media attention is rightly and justifiably on the on-field performance.
However, when there is undue media attention, sometimes this can spiral quickly out of control.
Journalists can cross lines and go too far when trying to get a good story, and what gets caught in the middle, more often than not, is the privacy of a person and the integrity of the journalist.
The latest case of journalistic overreach comes from ESPN and their reporting on Michael Sam’s showering habits or, more specifically, his teammates proximity to his showering habits.
Josina Anderson, a reporter at ESPN, decided to report on Sam’s shower habits during SportsCenter in a segment when she was expected to be discussing how he was fitting into the team dynamics as a whole.
“Another Rams defensive player told me that ‘Sam is respecting our space’ and that, from his perspective, he seems to think that Michael Sam is waiting to take a shower, as not to make his teammates feel uncomfortable,” Anderson reported.
According to the Rams, she asked multiple team members about Sam’s showering habits — who he showered with, what he did, if he make other players uncomfortable, etc.
As the first openly gay NFL player, Sam gained a large amount of media attention during his time with the St. Louis Rams.
It got the Rams a lot of positive media attention and further de-stigmatized both gay persons in sports and in general.
But Anderson and ESPN apparently saw a cheap story opportunity.
We at the editorial board believe this kind of reporting is not just silly, but it makes a mountain out of a molehill in every sense of the phrase.
This issue absolutely never comes up for any other NFL player.
While we recognize that Mr. Sam is in a unique position in the NFL and the national spotlight, the idea that his showering habits are newsworthy is a horrible example of attempting to use shock value and lasciviousness to gain views.
How ESPN or Anderson thought this would work is absolutely beyond us. This was extremely personal information, but I am not sure what this says about the national fascination of Sam’s football career.
We all want to see him succeed. The fact that he did not make the Rams’ final roster was a little disappointing, but he has signed with the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.
His acceptance says a little bit about the state that the NFL is in at this time.
It is a shame that the focus on showering habits took precedence over the team camaraderie that was building during the past few weeks.
Journalistic overreach is always possible, and it is something that even we at the IDS need to be careful of because it is all too easy to find in pursuit of the next great story.
