Fanboy newspapers?

I'm guessing yesterday was a dark day for some folks who work at The State newspaper.

The State's publisher, Henry B. Haitz III, penned a piece explaining the newspaper's shift to a premium content model with its coverage of the hometown Gamecocks.

After bragging about the newspaper's professional, respected and authoritative coverage of South Carolina, the publisher closes with this gem:

Go Cocks!

Let's set aside, for a moment, the fact that the newspaper just abandoned any pretense of balance in its coverage of the Gamecocks and their rival, Clemson.

(That ship set sail over the winter, when the paper cut its Clemson bureau position. But the partisan parting words from the publisher essentially told Tigers fans: Go get your Clemson news somewhere else.)

The real news to me here is that The State, in its desperate attempt to retain a foothold as the newspaper industry spirals, is not only thumbing its nose at an entire fan base as it tries to pander to another. It's also thumbing its nose at the fundamental journalistic principle of impartiality.

The State is a shell of what it once was (and it used to be a darn fine newspaper), but there are still reporters employed there who do fine work. You have to think those reporters cringed when they read their publisher's words.

I have to admit I chuckled yesterday when I first saw this article. It's kind of depressing for those of us who still value newspapers and their crucial role in society, and even in democracy. But it's also kind of funny for those of us who work for team-specific web sites -- or "fan boy" web sites, as some in newspapers like to call them.

People who work at exalted newspapers are great at looking down their noses at mediums they deem inferior while ignoring their own conflicts and hypocrisy. For years, they've dismissed sites like these as mere booster organs for the teams they cover, derided them as incapable of practicing actual journalism.

To be fair, some of this reputation is deserved. The institution of team-specific web sites has come a long way in the credibility department, and Rivals.com and Tigerillustrated.com are firmly in that category. But there's still a long way to go. There are still bozos in our industry who are nothing more than professional fans, and it's embarrassing. The line between fan and reporter is more blurred now than ever, and it's something that even the schools are having a tough time deciphering as they determine who's worthy of a press pass and who's not.

For years, Bart Wright of The Greenville News has regularly bemoaned the existence of this industry and its practice of preying on poor little 18-year-old boys who are being recruited by big-time programs.

Now The News is using the precise blueprint of team-specific web sites in its premium coverage of Clemson. And, as we learned yesterday, The State is doing the same thing.

Kudos to these two papers for finally grasping something that folks like Rivals.com grasped a long time ago: That fans are obsessed with every part of the football programs they follow, and you seal your own demise if you ignore that obsession.

Maybe boosterism is the smart thing for newspapers to do as they try to carve a niche in this crazy media climate. Maybe the "Go Cocks!" thing will result in a few more subscriptions for The State, though you have to think it'll result in some lost subscriptions from Clemson fans who realize the newspaper is fully on the Gamecock bandwagon (as if it wasn't already).

This much is certain, though: In this battleground for the hearts, minds and wallets of fans, newspapers are losing the professional and ethical high ground.

They can't point the finger at us anymore.

Moving on to some Friday linkage...

Big trouble in little Chapel Hill.

This Raleigh columnist says the academic fiasco could make a mess of Butch Davis' future.

The most fascinating part of this is the sterling reputation Davis fashioned while cleaning up Miami's program.

But as colleague Paul Strelow of Clemson247.com noted yesterday, you lose the benefit of the doubt when you hire someone like John Blake.

Gonna go ahead and stick with my prediction of North Carolina finishing fourth in the Coastal.

Auburn's secondary has a new look with the return of some veteran safeties.

Coach Tommy Thigpen came to Auburn last year with big plans for his safeties, but what he really needed were crutches, a neck brace and lots of aspirin.

Injuries wiped out his starters.

"Last season,'' Thigpen says, "was a debacle.''

Thigpen has welcomed all the injured players back, plus a few freshmen, and he says now he has real competition for starting assignments.

"Now, you've got numbers. You're two deep at positions, and you've got young guys trying to compete for jobs.''

In Tallahassee, Taiwan Easterling is occupying the starting WR spot vacated by Jarmon Fortson.

In other FSU news:

Your two kick returners: Greg Reid and Lamarcus Joyner. That’s a scary combination, folks. Who do you kick to, if you’re the opposing team? For those wondering about how good Joyner is, he’s basically a copy of Reid. The two are very similar players.

And then this:

No real news on how the indoor practice facility is coming. I asked Fisher for a status update and he turned around at the practice fields and said he couldn’t see the indoor facility yet.

Dan Hawkins has compiled a 16-33 record at Colorado, yet he says a contract extension is the answer to the Buffaloes' woes.

Dan Hawkins would like a contract extension and he's not afraid to say so.

In a meeting of head coaches in the Colorado athletic department earlier this summer, a senior staff member asked the Buffs` head football coach if there was one thing the department could do to help his program succeed this season, what would it be? Multiple sources in the room that day told the Camera Hawkins responded by saying the school could give him a contract extension.

Hawkins confirmed the story after practice Wednesday. When asked why he chose to answer the question the way he did, he said, "Just the continuity, stability."

Who does this guy think he is, Tommy Bowden?



LW