Ombudsman Criticizes ESPN for 'Seriously Misleading' Michael Vick Scoop

Published: September 8, 2007, 5:45 pm

Tags: espn, michael vick, michaelvick

Filed under: NFL Media WatchLe Anne Schreiber, the ombudsman for ESPN, has finally written a column about the Worldwide Leader's coverage of Michael Vick. Her chief complaint is the ESPN report from the night before Vick filed his guilty plea, saying Vick would not admit to killing dogs or gambling. The scoop was seriously misleading, if not dead wrong, which is always the risk one takes with a single anonymous source, especially when the source has a vested interest in how the news is presented. And when such a risk is taken, it is important to be as forthcoming about it as you can. I wish the original news story had described the source as "close to Vick's defense team," as I was later told he was, and not just "close to the case," so viewers and readers could surmise spin motives for themselves. I wish the story had carried a byline, not just a "told ESPN" tag, which makes everyone and no one at ESPN accountable for it.I don't get why, to this day, ESPN still hasn't named the

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