What, Exactly, Did Detroit News Columnist Do Wrong?
The circumstances aren't in dispute: After the Detroit Lions got whupped by the score of 42-7 by New Orleans, Detroit News columnist Rob Parker asked a question of Lions Coach Rod Marinelli: "Do you wish your daughter would have married a better defensive coordinator?" You had to know something about the team to get that one: Marinelli's daughter, indeed, was married to Marinelli's top defensive coach, Joe Barry. And Barry has been stinking it up for some time now, giving the NFL a cellar-dwelling defensive unit.
That all went down on Dec. 21.
Since then, Parker has left his job at the Detroit News. In officialese, he resigned, but his editor, Don Nauss, talked about how to interpret that bit of news: "We said we were taking the matter seriously and we would deal with it. Draw your own conclusions about what transpired. I have to emphasize Rob submitted his resignation and we accepted it. It was a voluntary action.''
How 'bout this for a voluntary action, Nauss: Why don't you get a new job?
Think about it for a second. A columnist–which means, in news terms, a person who's entitled, and indeed encouraged, to push opinions into the public realm–asked a person in authority an edgy question. And a great question. The facts show that the coach hired his son-in-law to be defensive coordinator, and said defensive coordinator ends up stinking up the arena for two seasons straight.
Now, wasn't it time for a question about nepotism from your hard-hitting columnist, Mr. Nauss? Isn't that exactlythe sort of inquiry you want coming out of his mouth? But you, Mr. Nauss, insist that the question was unprofessional, perhaps prompted by Marinelli himself, who took objection to the question, saying, ''Anytime you attack my daughter, I've got a problem with that.'' (Just to set the record straight, coach: No, the columnist wasn't attacking your daughter; he was attacking your hiring acumen. No wonder you've been fired.)
I suppose none of this would have happened if Parker had been more bland with his phrasing: "Sir, you hired a defensive coordinator who's also part of your family. Do you regret that decision, and did that fact that he was part of your family influence your decision to make the hire?"
But the difference between that question and the one that Parker asked is a dash of attitude, of panache–just the stuff, in other words, that we seek from our columnists. Just tick off the negatives here: Parker wasn't being: 1) biased; 2) racist; 3) inaccurate; 4) insensitive; and 5) he wasn't twisting quotes, making up facts, or otherwise misrepresenting himself or failing to disclose a conflict of interest, or any of those other journalistic misdeeds.
This was just plain good journalism.
2:39 pm
Can you explain how you these two questions are the same?
“Do you wish your daughter would have married a better defensive coordinator?”
“Sir, you hired a defensive coordinator who’s also part of your family. Do you regret that decision, and did that fact that he was part of your family influence your decision to make the hire?”
The first question is asking Marinelli about his daughter's husband, not about his defensive coordinator and how it affects his family life. There is a huge difference there. To ask about someone's professional life in relation to their personal life is acceptable. Ask Tom Coughlin. If Parker had meant to ask the second question, he would have. As you pointed out, he's a columnist, so I'm fairly certain he's able to discern the differences between those two sentences. This story is clearly lacking any understanding of the situation. Parker apologized after he asked that question and admitted it was wrong to ask. Have you actually watched the press conference? How was Parker not being insensitive
Also, your final sentence is a little lacking. After all your talk of practicing good journalism, you think you would expand on what it actually is.
3:34 pm
Erik, are you aware that Mr. Parker did make up stories in the past? Despite your insistance otherwise, the question was insensitive, and it was an attack on his daughter. Most of the Detroit News customers saw it that way, and that is why Mr. Parker is out of a job. He made up stories, reported them as facts, and then a few months later dragged a coach's daughter into a story. People in Detroit saw that as crossing the line. You do not see it that way. That is fine, you are entitled to your opinion, but so are the Detroit News customers, and they disagreed to the point that the paper needed to act.
3:50 pm
Actually, if you followed Parker all season, you'd see it was poor journalism. He hammered Marinelli for most of the season with the same question: Why is Joe Barry still the defensive coordinator? It's a very pertinent question, considering the Lions' miserable defense.
However, Marinelli ALWAYS responded the same way: "Because Joe Barry is teaching the defense EXACTLY how I want it to be taught." He said that multiple times throughout the season, Erik. So what does this lead us to believe? Well, either Marinelli wants poor defense to be taught, or the Lions' players simply aren't executing what they're being taught by Barry. If Parker was a good journalist, he'd use some logic and come back at Marinelli with a question based on the aforementioned conclusions.
Furthermore, Parker said he was trying to make light of the situation. "Making light" of a situation is not the job of a professional journalist, regardless of whether or not you're a columnist. Nor is it a journalist's job to try to get someone - players or coaches - to laugh at their historical failure.
3:59 pm
Parker was definitely justified in asking the question but he should have asked Wemple's version of the question: “Sir, you hired a defensive coordinator etc."
By posing the question as he did, Parker put Marinelli in a position of being pitied. Marinelli certainly doesn't deserve any pity, not after accomplishing the greatest feat of incompetence in the history of the National Football League.
If Parker had asked his question straight - instead of grandstanding for the TV cameras in the press room - he might have actually received an answer from Marinelli. Giving Parker the benefit of the doubt here, isn't that what he was looking for? How does it benefit Parker, his newspaper and his readers to alienate his sources with unnecessary dickishness?
4:56 pm
As a displaced Detroiter, I can smell this above the Marathon refinery fumes from South I-75. This stinks.
The Detnews continues to go from bad to worst.
it's a conservative rag anyway (and now they're only publishing three days a week)...
11:13 am
The question that Parker asked was unprofessional beyond any measure. He came off as a guy who wanted to draw attention to himself for being so clever and daring, but really, he just made an ass of himself.
Should he lose his job over it? Probably not, if that's the only mark against him. But if I was his editor he would get some sort of punishment. He behaved like a megalomaniacal ass while representing the company, and his intentionally rude behavior made national news. He disgraced his paper.
Should he have been fired? Not necessarily. But anyone who would defend his behavior is dead wrong.