T.O. TO’d!

Terrell “T.O.” Owens was TO’d by the news media today. News media, always on the search for “the” sensational story to capture the readers and viewers attention, has once again jumped to preconceived conclusions in quest on “the story”, i.e. ratings. In the process, they have begun to smear the character of a man, whose character is already up in the air, before the facts are even known. ESPN is the major culprit in this case, running the story exclusively on four of its stations.
Edward R. Morrow would be doing somersaults in his grave right this moment, at the irresponsible behavior of today’s news media. Where are the morals and ethics that they so passionately preach about? The principle goal today is “the story” because “the story” leads no to the truth but to increased readership & viewership, which leads to increased advertising sales, which ultimately leads to increased profits.
News reporters are blatantly trying to create a story a story about T.O. supposedly swallowing X amount of painkillers, in a supposed suicide attempt. I am not even going to justify this supposition anymore but rather I discuss the issue of the reporters’ unethical behavior. The reporters covering this T.O. story have all attempted and in fact violated T.O.’s privacy rights, if not personally then medically. Why do they continue to ask police and fire rescue officials private medical questions about the incident? Are they trying to validate their story by hopefully getting one if not both of these officials to slip up?
Don’t they understand that the Federal government, since 2003, has instituted the Health Information Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA), which protect the privacy of an individual’s medical information? “No entity or official in possession of an individual’s health care records can divulge information from said records without the written consent of that individual, under penalty of law.” Health care privacy has become a major issue in political circles. In today’s society, large amounts of money are generated from the exchange and sale of information. HIPPA is the government’s way of further protecting our individual rights, in this age of technology and high-speed information transfer.
At least, back in the day of the good ol’ newsroom that kid of reporting but do behind closed doors. We the people never knew. But what we were shown today, is that we as the consumers of this news information, we who put our trust that the reporters as disseminating factual information to us, their audience, we are no longer considered when delivering these stories. It is assumed that we will blindly eat up whatever stories and information are sent our way. Are we just a mindless audience?
I am shocked and appalled by ESPN’s and the news media’s blatant violation of T.O.’s rights to privacy, forcing a story where there is little factual evidence to support this story, as of yet. Even if the information linked to this story was leaked to the news media, is it not their responsibility to follow the laws and protect T.O.’s privacy until he authorizes otherwise? The issue is not T.O. but the handling of the story and information related to it. If the news media feels that they have the right to violate the privacy rights of a public figure, then what of you or I?
There are no longer any scruples in the news media. ESPN has continued to diminish the value of its news information by selling out to the machine. I miss those struggling guys from back in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Those guys stuck to their responsibility as news reporters, they never sold out for “the story”. My hat’s off to Sal Paolantino, the only reporter who called “for integrity and responsibility, as reporters, to stick to the facts and not speculate and jump to conclusions”. He calls for caution before ESPN continues down the slippery slope of today’s news reporting. TA-DA-DA, TA-DA-DA!