My ears perked up the other night while watching one of my favorite programs, "30 Rock," that I had banked on demand, there is a scene where the main character is talking to his journo girlfriend who makes a comment something to the effect of "This is the 24/7 newscycle, we don't have time for fact-checking, get it out there!"
The satirical program is right on target, except they took aim at my profession. Even worse, I can't fully defend my field. That's becoming more true as the days, weeks and social networking sites pass.
The Web has created an immense rush to publish the news as soon as you get it. But just as easily as we can post the news, we can post a correction. That seems to be the mandate these days and it's concerning. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
I handle it myself by posting tidbits on Twitter here and there during games, but it's difficult to double- and triple-check things while you're in a rush to beat the guy two seats away on press row.
The Indianapolis Star reportedly jumped the gun last night, calling Butler the victor of the NCAA tournament championship game. Unsure how that happened and I didn't witness it myself, but it doesn't even surprise me one bit.
It's a different landscape than even the one I was brought up in ... five years ago. Hopefully, we can all keep our credibility as we race for the scoop.