Media do not deserve ‘fake news tag’... just ask the Dubs
GAA journalism knows its lowly place in the grand scheme of things but even so it seems that there are some more than happy to tar us with the ‘fake news’ brush.
Former Dublin player Ciaran Whelan cited last week’s report of Jason Sherlock’s departure from the Dublin camp as ‘fake news’ while his former teammate Senan Connell demanded the journalist responsible should be held ‘accountable’.
Although the two gentlemen have been working in the media game for quite some time, let us introduce them to the basic rules of our business.
When a journalist hears of a credible story from a source he trusts, good practice demands that confirmation is made by contacting the party directly impacted.
All of those rules were followed in the reportage of the Sherlock story, but Dublin ignored the calls from the journalist, which pretty much sums up their media strategy for the last five years.
They also apparently ignored calls from other media outlets in the follow-up before Sherlock made his first appearance this season stepping off the Dublin team bus last Saturday night.
But then we should not judge them too harshly given the statement issued by Croke Park this week on the final estimate bill for Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
Apparently that review was prompted by the figure of a final cost of €110million which entered the public domain after it was ‘attributed’ to Croke Park stadium boss Peter McKenna in the Irish Examiner.
No, it was not ‘attributed’ to McKenna, that is actually what he told a journalist.
When it comes to fakery, it would seem we have a lot of ground to make up on our side of the house.