For years I've watched the deterioration of the journalism profession. Once regarded as one of the few pure bastions of truth, today journalists are regarded the same as a used car salesman. Listen to what they say, but don't believe any of it. To be more exact, sportswriters in many cases have forgotten the principle for which their profession was founded - writing the truth. Sports broadcasters aren't much better because they've become sheep. They read what's written and then without checking the facts, repeat and even inflame what might be wrong in the first place.

A couple of examples: I just read Nebraska football coach Tom Osborne's book On Solid Ground. In it he defends and explains his actions in the Lawrence Phillips incident and lays out the facts and information about that and other widely reported incidents involving Nebraska players. Whether you agree or disagree with how Osborne handled the cases is secondary and inconsequential to the facts in those incidents and how they were reported by the media. Especially by the national sports and news media.

In the Lawrence Phillips incident, Osborne laid out the inconsistencies in the witness' stories about what happened. One of the facts reported by the media was that Phillips beat the head of the woman he attacked against the mailboxes after he dragged her down three flights of stairs. Dragging her down three flights of stairs was bad enough, but reporting the slamming of her head into the mailboxes took the assault to a higher level of indignation, disgust and anger by those who read or heard about it. In reality, all the facts and witnesses point to Phillips crushing the mailboxes with his own hands out of anger and frustration, instead of with the woman's head. Instead of waiting and checking out the facts, the media went with this and other unsubstantiated details.

In the ongoing media coverage of the Nebraska program, Osborne painstakingly lays out details and facts about how the media sidestepped factual information in all the Nebraska incidents and instead reported the latest rumors. In one case, a national network television news magazine broadcast an untrue story on the Nebraska program, even though they were told the facts and had corroborating evidence. Simply put, the facts got in the way of a good, titillating story. Osborne's book, witnesses and the facts show how journalism, principles and good judgment were subjugated for a hot story.

Another example appears in a recent edition of Sports Illustrated. Writer Austin Murphy wrote about sports talk radio. He chose to focus on one aspect of the sports talk radio audience, the shock jock sportscasters and sports stations who feed off of and appeal to the so-called "get a life" sports talk listeners. His article looked at sports talk radio from purely the entertainment, bombastic, sensationalism, say anything, tabloid side of the format. I have no problem with what he wrote about. The problem is he failed to balance his story by stating this is only a part, and it's a small part, of the total sports talk audience. It's like saying that two and two is the only way you can get to four.

Having spent eight years hosting Sports Byline USA, I've found a majority of those who listen and participate in sports talk, talk intelligently about their teams, the players and what's happening. They're articulate, insightful and emotional. The vast majority have meaningful lives and don't represent the few that were portrayed in Murphy's article. It was another example of not letting the facts get in the way of a good story. Writers come up with story ideas and then get facts and use quotes that back up their story, disregarding the bigger picture or presenting a balanced report of the situation. Every night I walk into the studio, I remember what a woman in Boston told me when I asked her why she listens to the show. She said, "I look up to what you say, but you don't talk down to me."

Times have changed. Fans have a growing appetite for sports and information. Reporting on what happened in a game is almost secondary to reporting who did what after the game. It's hard to tell whether you're reading the sports page or a page in a grocery store tabloid. There's little differentiation between fact and fiction. The media makes heroes so they can tear them down. While I'm not naive enough to believe the media is going to change or become more responsible, I can only hope sports fans will become more discerning and demanding about getting the facts. As for the media, they better start remembering arrogance and inaccuracy will lead to the ultimate death - loss of credibility.

I'm Ron Barr.

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