I think that’s a big part of it.
Traditional media has been chiseled away over the years. And anyone can jump into that void and make things even more murky. And when I say anyone, I do mean anyone.
I think to way back early internet, very late 90’s/early 2000’s. I know myself, this site, was problematic to SOME, not all local media and it wasn’t my fault. They weren’t really on the Net back then, they still relied on print and that would happen at 5 am or so. So we were “first” with a lot of stuff through no fault of our own, it was just technology. I remember Bayno’s firing. Well, we had it at 9 pm or whatever it was. The print didn’t have it until next morning, so it was “old news” to anybody on the internet. I know it caused issue at the time.
Plus, we had a wider allowance, we had no guardrails and they did. We could openly discuss rumors and such. We had access to so much more than they did in our niche, like telephone numbers and video of recruits, national contacts with people who had first hand knowledge. And if you were able to establish a decent relationship with a staff, you just had much more stuff.
And no, even though we were “media” for awhile, I really didn’t consider ourselves that. I mean I did, but it was different and I wasn’t at all comfortable with the label. The press box stuff was cool and all, they treated you well, UNLV was cool with us, never had issues. But the elite club of “real media” rubbed me the wrong way. Some I got to know were super cool and very helpful showing the ropes, but many were just snobby and had resentment because I wasn’t “real media”, I didn’t care but it was an atmosphere I didn’t like. And then there’s the whole professionalism, you can’t cheer for your team, which is absolutely a good rule - but I had trouble sticking to it, especially when the BYU media openly cheered and it was “ok” more or less. There was too much elitism, too much hypocrisy … I just didn’t mesh with it.
But now anybody, no matter their age, their level of knowledge or experience, their work ethic and level of personal standards … can get a following and say what they want, no guardrails. Citing “sources” when there are none, they’re just guessing, they can get away with it. A lot of times it ends up becoming a pissing contest and there’s bad blood to start with anyway.
I’m not knocking it necessarily, it’s just the way it is right now and for the past decade or so. I can understand where the salaried media working for a real outlet has problems with the others, “termites” as one journalist used to call them/us. Makes their job more difficult, more frustrating. Remember, it used to be a job held in higher regard, some level of nobility, media that is. And it’s been completely wrecked beyond recognition.
