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Crossing the line: media took the Davis incident too far

By Daily Bruin Staff

Oct. 21, 1996 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, October 22, 1996

BASKETBALL:

The press abandons ‘watchdog’ role to feed public curiosityA
couple of days after the Los Angeles Times published the story on
the "Baron Davis incident," I wrote a column that criticized
certain members of the media for displaying a lack of
professionalism. In retrospect, however, I believe that I was
mistaken.

After all, those writers for The Times were just doing their
job, right?

Exactly.

But as I sat in Monday afternoon’s press conference, I found
myself wondering what Jim Harrick’s private life was like.

Private?

Yeah, right. The poor guy can’t even go to the bathroom without
a reporter checking to see if he remembered to zip up his fly.

"Sometimes there is a line with the freedom of the press,"
Harrick said. "(Whether) they crossed it or not, I don’t know."

The truth, however, is that the writers for The Times didn’t
cross anything that our society delineates as beyond the realm of
honest journalism. The proverbial ‘line’ has been projected well
beyond the bounds of the public sphere.

The result, I believe, is that the ‘watchdog’ role of the media
has deteriorated. True, The Times did have a duty to report their
discovery that Baron Davis was driving the now-infamous Blazer to
school. But did they need to go to the public with that information
before reporting it to the NCAA?

What we have is an incessant need on the part of the public to
know anything and everything that goes on around us. Sometimes,
though, it’s just none of our damn business.

As it turns out, there was no violation, and now it is The Times
that looks foolish rather than Harrick. Undoubtedly, Harrick
deserves a slap on the wrist for neglecting to inform athletic
director Peter Dalis of the situation. But the sanctions that are
likely to take place will be internal; something that the entire
investigation should have been from the beginning.

It is written in the United States Constitution that the media
will perform the task of keeping the public informed. Fine. But
timing is a factor.

Think how much smoother everything would have gone if The Times
had simply informed the UCLA athletic department, the Pac-10, and
the NCAA of the situation, then sat back and waited for the true
story to come out. Violations? Yeah? OK, now bring it to the
public.

Instead, the Harrick family (not to mention the entire athletic
department) was unfairly subjected to embarrassment and undue
criticism.

In performing its proper role, the media should be careful to
take into account both the right of the public to know, and the
right of the individual to be treated fairly. It’s a balancing act,
and as journalists, we can do better.

Brad Zucker

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