In defense of a colleague
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In defense of a colleague
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
This is a baseball blog, and I generally try to keep the conversation steered toward that topic. But this is also a Daily News and Philly.com blog, and when the honor of our matriarch needs defending, I will not hesitate to pick up the shield.
Dorothy Mantooth, after all, is a saint.
Sometime yesterday evening, Howard Eskin -- or somebody using a Twitter account under his name -- publicly accused Daily News football writer Paul Domowitch of lifting an interview of Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo from 610-WIP and passing it off as his own. For those of you who may not be familiar with Eskin, he used to host a popular sports radio talk show in Philadelphia. If that still does not ring a bell, he's the guy you will occasionally see holding a microphone behind Andy Reid on the sidelines at Eagles games, the one who bears a slight resemblance to something you might get if Chewbacca and Conan O'Brien produced a test tube baby.
Anyway, Eskin was on radio row in Dallas at the Super Bowl on Friday when former Eagle Ike Reese and he interviewed Spagnuolo. If you are unfamiliar with radio row, it is essentially a giant tent where celebrities, coaches and players provide psychological affirmation for hundreds of talk show hosts from around the country, sitting down for 15-minute interviews while making each broadcaster feel as if he or she is the only reason said celebrity, coach or player chose to drop by.
That same Friday, Spagnuolo granted an interview to a group of sports writers, one of whom was our Paul Domowitch.
Eskin -- or somebody using a Twitter account under his name -- read Domowitch's story on Philly.com and immediately accused him oflifting Spagnuolo's quotes from the WIP interview, apparently believing that Reese and he were the only media members with the foresight to talk to a former Eagles assistant coach about the decision to elevate Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator.
Now, journalism etiquette holds that if you use quotes that were obtained by another media outlet, you cite that media outlet when re-hashing those quotes. The only problem is that Domowitch was using quotes that he personally obtained from Spagnuolo in a separate interview.
Here are the quotes that appeared in the Daily News and on Philly.com:
"I thought it was a great move by Andy. The thing about Andy, Andy’s a football junkie. Juan’s a football junkie. Andy recognizes that he’s a good football coach. Juan knows football. Anytime I was around Juan for the 8 years that I was there, he didn’t just talk offensive line football. He was always talking football in general. We had a lot of conversations late into the night that made both of us better. I think he’ll do a good job.
"In this league right now, we all know that there are a lot of passes thrown," he said. "And we all know that if you’re going to throw the ball, you gotta protect the quarterback. So if you know how to protect the quarterback, you should have a pretty good idea of how to attack those protections. I’m sure Juan will come at it from that standpoint. When you’re putting together a (defensive) gameplan and want to pressure the quarterback, you find your way into the offensive line coach’s office and pick his brain. So Juan will already have that advantage."
And here are the pertinent quotes from Reese and Eskin's interview with Spagnuolo, which is archived on the web site of parent company CBS:
"I think it's a great move by Andy. What Andy has always recognized in there in the whole time he's been there is he recognizes good football coaches, and he puts them in the right spot, just like they do with players there. Juan has been a football junkie ever since I've known him since I got there in '99 and he's always studied everything. It wasn't just offensive line. So I just think he's got a wealth of knowledge of defensive football. He played it. He coached it earlier in his career and I'm sure he'll take a lot of things that have already been done there and keep them the same. So I think there will be some continuity.
"When you know the other side of the ball so well, and remember that's what your going to be defending, offenses and protections and what not, so I think it can be a big help."
Now, we can see where the confusion lies. Certainly, only the most skilled of interviewers can talk to a man about a personnel move made by his former boss and elicit a response like, "I thought it was a great move." What are the odds of Spagnuolo providing such illuminating insight on two separate occasions?
Still, the quotes in question -- those that appeared in the Daily News and those that were broadcast on WIP -- are clearly different.
I probably didn't need to address this situation. I like to think that readers of this blog are discerning enough not to trust Twittered accusations from the account of a man who apparently needs a press credential to get within a foot of a beautiful woman (here and here). And I'd like to think that Paul Domowitch is a reporter whose track record speaks for itself.
But ethical reporting is the number one priority for any legitimate journalist, and I think it is important that the public have a crystal clear understanding about who is on which side of the line.
I'm not an Eskin hater, I just think he blows smoke up peoples privates just to provoke dialog on his show. IT GETS OLD. He's not a reporter in the true sense of the word. He's a commentator. Anything he says that I believe is true I take with a shot of whiskey. The Inky and Daily News writers are professionals.— therefump- Ice cold, Dave. But wouldn't a Chewie/Conan combo be kinda awesome? I think the werewolf/grain of sand in you eye is more accurate.
- No one gives a rat's behind what Eskin thinks anyway. No talent, no listners ... no problem.
- Eskin still has a radio show?— kmcclos99
- Don't understand why Eskin still have a job covering sports. He's a weasel with no class and ethics.— EL Zorro
- Funny how just months ago Eskin was making fun of Tweeters and Tweets; now he's using it for self-promotion. (Pot/Kettle comes to mind)
- No I don't really excuse your column. Too many DN stories are about the profession of being a reporter. 3/4 of the negative articles relate to a team not making it easy for the press to know all of the inside and personal details of their organization. Most of these articles demand that the team reveal all of the different scenarios it is considering before making a decision. Asking for an explanation after a decision is valid but basically it comes down to reporters not wanting to do any investigation(i.e. work) It's nuts and none of the readers want to read this stuff anymore.
Think about this:
As weak as 99% of the drivel vomited out on The Bleacher Report, the other 1% blows away anything any of the paid reporters for these two newspapers produce and you have inside access. A complete embarrassment.— ccheung - i feel bad for those who listen to eskin.— main liner
- I respect your piece David. The problem is that Eskin only has a HS diploma and has always felt insecure around journalists who had a degree. Those who know Domo knows he wouldn't do something like that. I'll never forget the night at the Spectrum when they asked Eskin to stand underneath the rim as the Sixer mascot would trampoline over him and dunk the ball. Little did he know that Pat Croce set it for the Mascot to fake the bounce over Eskin and actually bounce right into Eskin's gut. What a sight. There was Eskin crawling around on the coury at halftime in front of a packed house gasping for air. What a wonderful memory. He's a jerk plain and simple.— greenflyer
- Howard was a lot easier to take as a fat know it all - his nouveau-celeb "famous people who have met me" act has worn thin. One thing is certain: he won't apologize. Just ask Charlie Manuel.— Ed3
- Good work Murph! Eskin is a complete joke. I just can't take a man who wears a fur coat seriously. That guy has serious issues. Paul Domowitch is 1000 times the journalist that Eskin is. In fact, Charlie Manuel really won me over when he offered to take Eskin out behind the woodshed.— phink
- I thought Eskin was dead. Shame.— Bartleby
- Dave, Between Domowitch and Eskin, its Dom everytime. Not a concern. Eskin has zero credibility.
— Colombia - If Dommo did an interview, I am sure he has a tape ... maybe he did lift the story and change it around just a little .. wouldn't be the first lazy alleged journalist from the DN ... that said I do believe Dommo has more class than to steal from the lowest form of life, Eskin ...— FatBoy90
- There is no way any of us can know who is right or wrong. I think it is admirable that Dave is sticking up for a collegue. However all to often what comes from the DN runs a parallel to the movie "Absence of Maliace" in which hear say is NEWS and given credabilty. One thing I do know is that TRUTH has an uncanny way of getting out and so I wait for that before making any decisions of right or wrong. Thanks for one side of the argument Dave.— Wally 24
