Opinions

Former Syracuse men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine. (Jim McIsaac - GETTY IMAGES) The Syracuse Post-Standard reported this morning that Laurie Fine was ready to sue ESPN for libel over its airing last year of sexual molestation allegations against her husband, former Syracuse University assistant men’s basketball coach Bernie Fine.

The legal action names ESPN as well as reporter Mark Schwarz and producer Arthur Berko as defendants, alleging that they “ruined Laurie Fine’s reputation by maliciously publishing false and defamatory factual accusations.”

At the time of the Post-Standard report, ESPN hadn’t yet reviewed the complaint. It told the paper: “We haven’t had the opportunity to review the complaint. We stand by our reporting.”

Well, it has by now apparently eyeballed the 44-page document, and what a change! “The suit is without merit and we stand by our reporting,” the network says.

In case you missed it---NBC’s just fine with David Gregory giving a keynote address to the National Federation of Independent Business, a group that leans decidedly Republican. Key point: Gregory’s not taking any cash for the engagement. Just talking.

Also: Tom Brokaw is “not crazy” about the White House hand-picking its interviewer. Not particularly opposed to it, either.

Elsewhere:

*CNN’s Ashleigh Banfield is generating lots of commentary with her supposedly tough stance toward Obama aide Ben LaBolt regarding the campaign’s negative ad against Mitt Romney over his Bain days. Problem is, Banfield stumbles at the start and has to concede a key point to LaBolt. Then, then! She screws up the Washington Post fact-checking Pinocchio system.

*Rob Curley, Web news evangelist and PowerPoint master, is departing the Las Vegas Sun.

*Current TV’s Bill Press talks to Mediaite about his work with the network and about Keith Olbermann.

*CNN’s Lizzie O’Leary gets on “Jeopardy!” — and live-tweets it. More from Mediabistro: Atlantic has signed up Martha Stewart for its May 24 Food Summit. Let’s just hope her contributions don’t overshadow those of Chris Novak of the National Pork Board. Those Atlantic people know how to do confabs, huh?

*Poynter writes about how new USA Today publisher Larry Kramer will now get to apply all the cool thoughts he’s been generating for some time now, including this one:

Forget the newspaper industry. Let’s launch the News Industry. Say hello to News Inc. Let’s do what every industry does: Identify consumer demand and meet it.The good news is that consumers are just learning all the new ways they can get news and are still figuring out what works best for them. There is still time for those of us in the news industry to work with them and find out at the same time.

More on Kramer from The Washington Post’s Steven Mufson, who wonders why this guy — already really rich, already really accomplished — would take on the job of shoring up this “thin” and “troubled” paper. Because “this is like a Gutenberg moment,” responds Kramer.

Journalist David Gregory, left and actress Charlize Theron attend the Bloomberg Vanity Fair White House Correspondents’ Association dinner afterparty in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Saturday, April 28. (Joshua Roberts - BLOOMBERG) Liberal site ThinkProgress doesn’t approve of David Gregory’s plans for Tuesday. The “Meet the Press” host is listed as the keynote speaker for the Small Business Summit of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

The problem? NFIB is a player in national politics, with a heavy prejudice against government regulation and in favor of Republicans. Among its initiatives in defense of small business is spearheading a legal challenge of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.

NBC talent and an organization like the NFIB don’t mix, contends ThinkProgress: “[A]llowing the NFIB to raise money for its political mission using his name, reputation, and celebrity appears to be at odds with journalistic ethics.”

A few points here:

1) High-profile journos love these appearances: In recent weeks alone, we’ve seen how Gwen Ifill emceed an event of the Whitman-Walker Health clinic, at which Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was feted. Then there was Luke Russert’s mastering the ceremonies for an event sponsored by the The Recording Academy and co-sponsored by the Recording Industry Association of America, a group with manifest interests in Washington politics. Nothing like a nice, live audience of notables to feed the egos of America’s big-name journalists.

2) Audiences love high-profile journos. Even the lamest little anecdotes about behind-the-scenes Washington justify the prices of admission for keynoters like Russert, Ifill and Gregory. What did Newt say to his aide in the green room? Does Romney fidget during commercial breaks? It’s easy, guffaw-producing material.

3) Cash corrupts. There’s one key question for any journalist that speaks in front of an industry group: You getting paid? In this case, says an NBC spokesperson, Gregory was “not compensated” for his remarks. The absence of cash takes a great deal of the stuffing out of the argument for any sort of ethical malpractice here. So long as Gregory speaks for free to other groups over the course of his career, the potential for abuse and favor-trading behind a no-fee appearance is not the occasion to wag the Erik Wemple Blog Ethical Scolding Finger.

4) Talk, NBC! When Paul Farhi approached Russert about his master-of-ceremonies gig with the recording people, this is what happened: “Russert declined Thursday to comment on his involvement in the music-industry event. He referred a reporter’s call to MSNBC spokeswoman Lauren Skowronski, who said Russert’s participation ‘was within the NBC News standard.’”

I asked NBC a few questions about the Gregory commitment and received this response: “David finds it constructive to speak to and take questions from a variety of audiences. He was not compensated.” If all of this is so, okay then, don’t react as if you’re addressing the issuance of an indictment against your star anchor. Officiousness suggests defensiveness.

(© POOL New / Reuters) Tom Brokaw said this morning that he’s “not crazy” about the notion that President Obama could reach out and choose which network star would interview him on gay marriage. That’s what happened last week, as the White House was looking for a personal way to share the news that the president had finished “evolving” on this controversial issue. It selected ABC’s Robin Roberts.

So is Brokaw on the Erik Wemple Blog bandwagon, irate about this abdication of editorial independence? Dying to vent about this breach of integrity by his profession.

Absolutely not. “We all played the game over the years,” says Brokaw, noting that the White House often manages a rotation of interviews among the networks; everyone gets a turn. “It’s the reality in which we live,” he said of the White House’s level of control.

This blog caught the NBC eminence after he filmed a video on Watergate at the Washington Post building. On his way to a 15th Street cafeteria, Brokaw repeated his disdain for the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, alleging that the impact on middle America is magnified when you “put it on television and put on Kim Kardashian and Lindsay Lohan.”

Meh. Allowing the White House to choose its interviewer reflects a deeper problem for American journalism than does a once-a-year party, though the ills could well be connected. Those who party with the White House, after all, may be more inclined to play ball with it.

NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos and his assistant put together some information on the outlet’s coverage of last week’s big news on the same-sex marriage issue. Some numbers, that is. Over eight days of coverage, they found “34 interviews with supporters of gay marriage versus 22 opposed and five uncommitted.”

As Schumacher-Matos notes, that’s a 3-2 edge for pro-gay marriage forces on NPR airwaves. Crisis? Scandal? Evidence of bias?

Nah. One thing that both sides agree on is that President Obama’s revelation to ABC’s Robin Roberts was a historic moment — and given its magnitude, there’s nothing irresponsible about giving an edge to the folks who are celebrating or applauding the occasion. Consider, too, that the mantra of the opposition has been seared into our media subconscious by 20-plus presidential debates: I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman.

NPR Deputy Standards Managing Editor for News* Stuart Seidel tells Schumacher-Matos that obsessing over equal time “is to miss a core responsibility of journalism.” Seidel says this “core responsibility” is to “seek a multiple of perspectives and to present them fairly, with the nuance and complexity that all these stories deserve.”

Another “core responsibility” is to make the coverage bearable or even enjoyable. And if you’re too busy bean-counting the worldviews of your interviewees, you’re likely shirking it.

*Correction: Article originally identified Seidel as “Deputy Standards Editor,” when in fact he is Deputy Managing Editor for News as well as the standards and practices editor.