Sep 1 2011

Spanning the Twitterverse: #BruceFreed

Spanning the Twitterverse to bring you the constant variety of tweets
The thrill of the retweet and the agony of the unfollow
The human drama of the twitter timeline
This is CadChica’s Wide World of Tworts

#FreeBruce

A hashtag that has lived since July 14, 2011.

And today, it died a quick death.

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Just like that the sports Twitterverse exploded.

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The whole #FreeBruce saga is one that is probably confusing to most people; fans mostly. Unless you were on Twitter on July 14th, you probably had no idea what was going on. I touched on it in my post the very next day. To get the full gist of it though, I would recommend reading this story by the website that broke the news on Twitter that day.

Feldman did something that his then employer, ESPN, didn’t like; apparently with their full knowledge and approval. When that ‘something’ became a “problem”, ESPN allegedly lowered the boom and ‘suspended’ him. Twitter blew-up that day which I addressed in my post. Based on what I read, reaction thereafter, and Feldman’s near-silence since that day, it’s kind of hard to discount the story. Here was the SportsbyBrooks reaction:

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Here’s some reaction from folks at ESPN:

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I feel like sometimes I wish a story would end sooner rather than later. This one definitely didn’t end quickly. Bruce Feldman went on a “semi”-media blitz this morning. I think only one show is worth mentioning here and that is The Dan Patrick Show. Patrick, himself a former ESPN-er, asked all the right questions; you can listen to it here. Feldman came out on fire toward his former employer. He also touched on the subject in his first article on cbssports.com.

One of the things he said was regarding ESPN’s ombudsman, The Poynter Institute. The Poynter Institute, aka Kelly McBride, wrote about the Feldman firestorm in July. Feldman, to paraphrase what he said on Patrick’s show, said the Poynter response was filled with inaccuracies.

Okay, fine. Here is what I find interesting: ESPN’s Mike Soltys said they’d have no further comment. ESPN’s ombudsman from The Poynter Institute, Kelly McBride, couldn’t leave well enough alone. She wrote the ESPN ombudsman article on Feldman. Naturally, since Feldman said her article was “filled with inaccuracies”, she wants to set things right from her perspective. I get it.

But she takes to Twitter to confront Feldman about his comments. Think about that for a minute.

This is something that would never have come to light were it not for Twitter. That said, who in their right mind as someone in her position, calls someone out using social media. She’s not just a writer or reporter. She represents The Poynter Institute whose mission statement is:

The Poynter Institute is a school dedicated to teaching and inspiring journalists and media leaders. It promotes excellence and integrity in the practice of craft and in the practical leadership of successful businesses. It stands for a journalism that informs citizens and enlightens public discourse. It carries forward Nelson Poynter’s belief in the value of independent journalism in the public interest.

Where exactly does calling someone out on Twitter fit in that mission statement? Maybe it’s the “enlightens public discourse” part. Other than that, what could she gain by tweeting that? As the “ombudsman” for one of the most recognizable sports media companies, shouldn’t one have a better understanding of ‘think before you tweet’? From a sports fan’s perspective, I should hope so.

I can honestly say that I am learning more and more about the media business every day. Some days, are not very pretty. Nevertheless, this story is done. Bruce is “free” to write for CBS. The saga is over. Maybe. We can only hope right?  

But until then, we always have:

TWEET OF THE DAY

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CadChica Sports

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