This makes me very angry.
I went to school and earned degrees in creative writing and journalism, and if given a reasonable opportunity, I’d love to cover sports as a full-time job.
It is a privilege to interview athletes, celebrities, and public figures.
It is necessary as a journalist to apply pressure to your subject at times, but an important part in applying that pressure is knowing when to do it.
Giovanni Bernard made a mistake. He even said as much in the clip.
When a subject declines to comment on something, you have a choice to make:
- continue applying pressure
- respect their wishes
These reporters not only applied pressure, but they were insanely rude about it. Bernard quips that the reporters haven’t wanted a comment from him all year, but once he makes a mistake, they’re huddled around his locker like flies to a trash can.
Yes, Bernard made a critical error that affected the outcome of the game, but you know who lost four turnovers on the night?
Quarterback Tom Brady.
The bonafide Hall of Famer equaled his career-high turnover count in a game, a career that is in its 23rd year.
It’s interesting that the usually accurate Brady would be the cause of four turnovers, but when you see reports of Brady having secret offensive meetings with the offense without OC Byron Leftwich and HC Todd Bowles, it starts to make sense.
What we could be focusing our attention on is a white QB going behind the back of his coaching staff and it leading to a lack of performance.
THAT is what we should be applying pressure on.
Instead, we’re getting in a 10-year backup runningback’s face about a botched fake punt call that he inexplicably got wrong.
Make it make sense!
Then, to have the nerve (the audacity!) to say that your subject hasn’t given you much to talk to him about all year???
Shameless. Absolutely shameless.
As I tweeted, there’s a fine line between hard-hitting journalism and plain disrespect, and these reporters chopped the line up and threw at Gio Bernard.
This is how that entire conversation could have gone.
“Hey Gio, tough game out there today. Obviously you were involved in that scrambled special teams play, would you like to comment on that?“
“I’d prefer not to comment, thank you.“
“Okay, thank you for your time.“
*Regarding the botched punt, RB Giovanni Bernard declined to comment.*
That’s it! That’s all that needed to be said!
It physically pains me to watch people do a job that I’d like to do and do it poorly. Salt gets rubbed in the wound when they openly disrespect their subjects.
The entitlement here is immense, and it’s so disheartening.
Instances like these are absolutely why journalism as a whole has been (at times unduly) derided for the last two decades.
You don’t get the answer you want, so you get uppity with the subject?
Obviously, you don’t get in the field to make friends with your subjects, but again, you leave people alone when they don’t want to give a comment.
It’s basic human decency. Common sense. A modicum of respect for your subject.
I don’t know how anyone in that locker room gives those reporters the time of day after this because Gio Bernard is a respected veteran on that roster.
Even if he wasn’t a respected veteran, you don’t treat people like that. It’s that simple.
The Wide World of Dirt 
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