Commentary: Painter Story Exposes Poor Reporting

The Boiling Point: Desire to be frontrunner on big story lent itself to some unfortunate reporting practices.

It didn’t take long for the talk about Missouri wanting Purdue’s coach Matt Painter last week to turn into a guessing game. With Missouri courting Painter, who was on vacation in Florida, and little information being shared with anyone, different media outlets searched for possible updates as the process progressed. Finally, on Wednesday, Painter agreed to a new contract with the Boilers and his coaching future was put to rest.

But there was a giant problem as the story progressed. People with no sources were sourcing second-hand information and those still new to the spread of news on Twitter were throwing around speculation as fact.

Initially, it was bearable. But by Sunday, reporters were throwing out their best guess based on sources and inside information and all of the information contradicted itself. For some reason, St. Louis-area media and those covering the Missouri program were overwhelmed with confidence throughout the process. It led to the ridiculous “reporting” move by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Bernie Miklasz on Wednesday to declare his source said Painter had called Missouri’s athletic director and accepted its offer. This is what he had to say a little before noon eastern time after tweeting (@miklasz) it was “looking VERY GOOD” for Missouri.

"It looks like this will be a happy day for Mizzou fans.Not official; nothing announced.But a source that I greatly trust tells me that Painter is in … it’s my understanding that Alden recently got the call.Hopefully there will be an announcement relatively soon. And then you can officially celebrate.Likely news conference later this afternoon.Don’t be surprised to see Painter at Busch Stadium Thursday to be introduced before the game."

Well, Bernie was dead wrong. Either he made something up to be the first person through the door with this story or his “source” was grossly mistaken. Either way, he’s being raked over the coals by consumers and he should be. He’s supposed to be a reliable reporter for a major publication and he misinformed plenty of people. It’s moments like Bernie’s that add fuel to the misinformation reporting many try to avoid in today’s Internet and Twitter way of spreading news. He also perpetuated a stereotype of being an old media curmudgeon not being able to handle that.

Bernie’s, obviously, sorry for misuse of information.

"If my information on Painter was wrong, then all I can do is wear it. Any or all criticism of me is justified.  I take pride in my reporting and my cred, so if this has blown up on me, then all I can do is apologize profusely. And I know that isn’t good enough for many of you. But my embarrassment is profound. Something changed and I have no idea what it was. Thanks for listening."

But the damage is done. While Bernie and many others felt like they had to source someone to give an answer of “Yes, he’s heading to Missouri” or “No, he’s staying at Purdue” other responsible media members were providing updates of “There is nothing new to report.”

It’s that simple. Rumor, speculation and conjecture isn’t reporting.