schililng blogs to circumvent media

i'm a big baseball fan. i must admit. it becomes difficult to follow professional sports with all of the time and energy put into the 'image' and the salary. only God knows what good changes could happen if 10 professional baseball players put there hearts and finances together to accomplish some needed change in this world. so sometimes i have a difficult time blogging about stories in professional sports. however, this one has really caught my attention as a blogger. curt schilling, the ace of the boston redsox staff had started blogging a couple months ago in an attempt to circumvent the media and get the entirety of his interviews to the public, instead of just soundbites. in his latest post, he states his purpose for blogging in relation to a story picked up on by the media...

"So for one of the first times this blog serves one of the purposes I’d hoped it would if the need arose. The media hacked and spewed their way to a day or two of stories that had zero basis in truth. A story fabricated by the media, for the media. The best part was that instead of having to sit through a litany of interviews to ‘defend’ myself, or my teammates, I got to do that here."

the story being referred to is the infamous 'bloodied sock' from game 6 of the 2004 world series in which schilling had a tendon sutured to his tissue in his ankle in order to pitch that evening. the media picked up on a blood stain in his sock and ran with it.

he then shares his views on working in the media...

"If you haven’t figured it out by now, working in the media is a pretty nice gig. Barring outright plagiarism or committing a crime, you don’t have to be accountable if you don’t want to. You can say what you want when you want and you don’t really have to answer to anyone. You can always tell the bigger culprits by the fact you never see their faces in the clubhouse. Most of them are afraid to show themselves to the subjects they rail on everyday."

schilling finishes out his post by questioning why the media don't use their positions to report on things that could potentially inspire readers...

"Instead of finding this kid and writing a story that truly matters, something that would and could truly inspire people, the media chose to focus on a story that was over two years old and a completely fabricated lie. What a job."


a couple questions...

1. are there other blogs you're familiar with that are used to circumvent the media?
2. do you believe that the blogging community has lessened the necessity for reporters in general? do you know of any examples you can point to where this is happening?



(story in boston herald)