At 06:04 PM 12/11/96 -0500, Dave Wollstadt wrote: >Why is Joe McLaughlin such a sourpuss? I don't recall reading any column by >him that didn't sound like it had been written after someone stepped on his >toe, or some other part of his anatomy. This true. To date, I haven't seen a postive column written by Mr. McLaughlin, especially in relation to the hockey program (not that a lot of people are writing good columns about the hockey program). >First, all Cronin said (at least as reported by/complained about by >McLaughlin) was that Hannigan had become a friend and that he had kept his >confidences. Honorable people keep confidences; dishonorable people accept >information given in confidence and blurt it out to friends. (They're called >rumormongers or backstabbers.) Honorable reporters keep confidences; >dishonorable reporters accept information given in confidence and put it into >their news stories. This is central to how I feel, and that is that a good reporter tries to make friends with as many people as he/she can. The key for the reporter is not to stay away from making friends, but make as many as you can without compromising your objectivitity. Friends is a loose term. It could mean that a reporter is amiable with someone on a given beat, or that they talk off the record about issues on a given beat and that person is telling sensative information. If the reporter then stabs the party in the back by reporting on that information, sure he'll have a good story. The Supreme Court has been very wishy-washy on how binding the term "off the record" is (is it a contract or just a promise made to be broken?). However, one good "scoop" will also turn into a bunch of dead-ends if the reporter tries to get information from that source again. I wonder if Larry Mahoney, the hockey beat reporter working under McLaughlin, is "friends" with Cronin and/or Shawn Walsh. After all this time, I'd find it hard to believe that Mahoney doesn't have his own secrets about the Maine program that he's elected not to print. >Second, Hannigan is not a reporter--at least that's not his primary role in >relation to Cronin and UMaine hockey. Hannigan is a play-by-play announcer >for the radio station that covers the Black Bears. I certainly don't expect >him to adopt an adversarial role in announcing the games, or in interviewing >the coach and players before and after the games. I don't expect him to be a >cheerleader for the coach or even for the team, but I see nothing in Cronin's >comments that indicates that Hannigan didn't do his job as a play-by-play >announcer properly and effectively. Hannigan is the play-by-play man, which isn't necessary journalistic in nature, but he also does "Hangtime" show on WZON, which is more journalistic in nature and thus I think can be considered a reporter, or certainly a member of the mainstream media. --- Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])