Quite Disgusting: A Writer's Perspective

As a fellow writer.. it has been my concern about those who practice the art of journalism and use their very position for the sake of injecting their felling within the work they commit. Even though there are times when some people may disagree with ones written opinion and it may irk that writer.. that does not, in anyway, justify actions such as this by SteelersDepot's Dave Bryan;



http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/09/steelers-film-room-lb-lawrence-timmons-actually-suck-bad-think/




How this came is obviosuly set in stone from the beginning by Dave. A blogger on the site by the name of "StarSpangledSteeler" had disagreed with Dave's assessment of the quality of play by Lawrence Timmons. That in itself is a journalistic no-no. Placing a blogger on the spot is not something writers do. The worse aspect of this, however.. is when Dave himself critiques every one of Star's points. Going back to what I had alluded to in the beginning, writers need to uphold self-discipline for the betterment of not only themselves, but for their fellow writers and the staff; the website as a whole no less. Anything antipode of this equates to a very immature cavil representation of that person, their fellow writers, and the site.



The absolute most sickening issue of this is that Dave is the owner of the site. As such.. anything he does will be put into the light from those who may have an interest in engaging within their community.




Ultimatley though, this does not just show a lack of maturity or even a showcasing of strong arm tactics. This article is a primal example of what little is left within the world of journalism: integrity. Said term is either dying out or is dead in some aspects. This phenomenon, however.. is most rampant in the sports world of journalism. No longer are writers interested in creating a topic of discussion, but rather a headline to generate "The Bayless Factory" of controversy, vent about something that is not even remotely related to the topic, or use their platform to "critique" others; more often than not berating them outright. What Dave did to this blogger tells me he is more interested in defending his own opinions than he is creating a forum board for discussion.



In the end though, being a former user of the site myself.. I had doubts about Dave when coming in given his history of his conduct towards others. Yes, that is his site, but he should want to engage with his fellow bloggers in a more constructive way as opposed to placing hia opinions first and only so. As insidious as this is going to sound... I am now wondering if what we have just read is either bordering or is essentially a God-Complex. Again.. as arrogant as this sounds.. there are fewer ways I can put it.



This may not deter some of you from entering SteelersDepot. It may not even matter to you what Dave does to his fellow members. To me, however.. this is just another sadistic episode of a series that involves something that meant something back in my younger days dying off due to one thing:


Narcissism; a poison that has been killing off journalistic integrity for far too long.



Well guys.. that does it for me for now. What are your thoughts on Dave's actions? Do you believe Dave could have conducted himself better? How would have you approached the topic?

 

Seems a bit unnecessary.

Take the comment as a way to start the article, and then develop the point from there, leaving the comment alone after that, would seem a better approach.

Unless there's some history between those two?

 

Interesting thing is Thig.. there is not. This is the way Dave behaves to the majority of the users on the site (me being an eye witness to it all). I understand that is his site. I also understand that he had an opinion like anyone else.


My issues are from how he portrays himself and the site as he is the main representation of it.

 

That guy Dave Bryan is a idiot, one time after a Steelers loss he tried to make a joke about fans if they want to put a gun in their mouth on Twitter. I called him out on it, then he blocked me good riddance.

 

Yeah, I basically agree. It was a bit odd, a bit unprofessional, a bit petty, but disgusting isn't how I saw it either.

Journalistic standards are pretty low across the board these days, and that's not an encouraging trend. But after all, the topic is sports not something more serious. And the author is writing for 'Steeler Depot' not the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal. Not that this excuses the lack of Standards, but it might explain them.

 

The blogger that owns the site should be above trolling behavior like that. I mean, get over it... somebody disagrees with you. It's not like the Dave Bryan guy is a coach or an "X's and O's" guy lol

Idk. To me it just makes the site look bad because the owner of it got butt hurt that somebody disagreed with him so he tried to put him on blast. Idk if it's disgusting, but it definitely shows a complete absence of professionalism.

I enjoy reading some of the stuff on his site. Most of it I don't. But hey, I've gotta have a certain amount of Steeler intake during the season so I read a lot of it anyways hahaha that's why tsf.com is so awesome and why I enjoy you all so much. It lets me nerd out on the steelers with fellow crazy fans so I don't have to with people who don't care as much as I do. This way I get to keep both my sanity and my girlfriend haha

 

I like Steelers Depot... Mostly the podcast though.

I've noticed the site has become a little "click baity" in recent months.

I sort of agree with Blast Furnace.

 

Wasn't Dave Bryan part of the SNR broadcasts last year?
Either way it didn't seem that big of a deal to me.

 

Unecessary is the term I would have used had this not have been Dave's first time. As I stated however, this is not his first time at all.



In addition, my views on "disgusting" are more predicated from a journalistic standpoint. It is not about how Dave reacted... but the way he did. A writer (an owner of any site no less) needs to hold himself to a higher standard and strive to create discussion as opposed to cherry picking a user and putting him full blast for not agreeing with his opinions.

 

To answer your first question, no. He is the owner of the site.


Towards your second statement, yhat is fine if you believe it to be that way.


To my eyes, even if the user was asking for it, Dave needs to have a greater level of self-discipline upon himself. If he intends to engage himself within his own community this way, this will look not only bad for him and his writers.. but the site as a whole.

 

Bolded is one of the main reason this act is repulsive; narcissism being the other. Dave has admittedly stated he is a fanboy of Lawrence Timmons.. as shown here:


http://www.steelersdepot.com/2016/0...g-hope-deal-can-get-done-steelers-linebacker/




... Such a statement; headline no less, should put other users on alert about his feelings for said player. Furthermore.. this also devalues the amount of integrity of Dave and puts his credibility into question. While he does point out flaws within Timmons game time to time.. much of everything else is intuitive; a journalistic no-no.

 

Even though your first bolded statement is true... this does not give Dave any right to act narcissistic towards others about an opinion.



For your second statement... even if it is sports, writers, regardless of the medium, need to have a higher standard of how they conduct themselves. Acting antipodean to this incites ignorance in the form that other writers like Alex Koroza are the same due to how the owner of the site carries themselves (this case being Dave).



Again.. I am not going to change your mind from stating it was otherwise petty. My views stem from a journalistic standpoint... hence my choice of said adjective.

 

Not to mention that beyond the fanboys there are many that take anything said on there as the gospel truth. I can't remember how many times I have had people come back at me with "well I read this on SteelersDepot and I agree." so automatically then that must make it true.

 

Your expectations while noble are a little too much to ask from a fan owned and operated site. I don't frequent the site that often, basically only when someone here links to a game walk through because I want to see the gifs on several plays so I will take you at your word in terms of his behavior towards anyone who disagrees with him on a regular basis. However in this case it didn't look bad to me as others have said he was asked and responded. It seems a bit much given the outlets he has available but heck why not make it a blog but perhaps tone down the snarky so it sounds like a more well reasoned debate.

 

I didn't realize Timmons sucked that bad. About as bad of tackling you'll ever see from a LB.

 

I can understand his fans acting like that though. I once slapped a grown man for accusing you of tomfoolery.

 

oh my

 

I see no issue. Star called out Dave and challenged him to respond and post the clips. Dave did and star responded with a thank you.... It seems you have more issue with him than star does.

I like the site but take it for what it is. Just like this one and others.

Cajun

 

First bolded point does not add up. Why create a topic based on a childish challenge such as that one.


Two, Dave has been already on the record of stating that he is a Timmons Fanboy (please see above)


Most importantly three, is the way Dave handled the situation. That is my issue with this fiasco. Again, I understand that you may not see it this way.


From a writers perspective however, what Dave did draws up far too many red flags...

 

The guy who tried to pass off psparq/Waldo/twitch measures as his own... Is starting threads on journalistic integrity of others?

Hilarious

 

What would you call Dave's actions then?