Globe says surgery will NOT effect Maroney's season

[spacecrime]

Spacecrime, I think this is the crux of the issue for those who are defending Tomase's approach to reporting. You assume that Reiss didn't know about the injury and Tomase simply discovered it first. Others look at the access Reiss has and his general diligence and timeliness in covering the team and figure he probably did know, but didn't report it because the team wouldn't like it.

And you asssume Reiss did know. Doesn't make either of us right or wrong. Be an interesting spot to be in if he knew. "Do I go for the scoop and lose my source for many other stories, or let someone else break the story and maintain my pipeline for future information?" Michael Holley must have been in the same predicament while researching his book. If I were Reiss, I guess I would wait until I had a killer story, and risk losing my sources breaking that. I wouldn't break it on a story that said a guy had an off-season operation that not affect his play next year. Cripes, Brady had shoulder surgery twice, didn't he?

Just to clarify once more: I'm not attacking Reiss, I'm defending Tomase. I really don't get the vitriol against him in this forum.

And I'm not attacking Tomase. Sorry if it seemed that way. I like him better than some of the other Boston media fools.

Tomase doesn't need defending here. He broke a story. Evidently it was a couple months old, but still, he was the one to break it. But Reiss doesn't need attacking, either, because he followed up on the story. And he gave credit to a rival reporter on a rival newspaper for the initial report.

This whole injury thing is silly anyway. I don't understand people who get so inflamed by not being told immediately what the injuries are exactly and when the team guesses the player will return. (Not talking to you specifically, here, just in general the folks who say the fans have a right to know what the team knows.)

I noticed a while back a bunch of bonehead yapping against Tomase, personal insults and all that, and you're right, it did re-surface here. If I seemed to fall in line with it, I apologize. I was more against those who thought Reiss was somehow wrong for providing follow-up info, and it kind of put me on the wrong side of the Tomase thing. I should not have lumped him with Felger, though. He is much better. He is a reporter, not a Fleger-ish hype and controversy generator.

 

[Bella*chick]

Michael Holley must have been in the same predicament while researching his book.

Didn't he step down from his role as reporter as a condition to writing the book?

 

[patchick]

Be an interesting spot to be in if he knew. "Do I go for the scoop and lose my source for many other stories, or let someone else break the story and maintain my pipeline for future information?"

Walking that tightrope has to be the trickiest part of a beat writer's job. It's really a predicament, when you think about it: to do your job well, you have to cultivate long-term relationships with the very people you're supposed to be objectively reporting on. Each writer has to strike his own balance on this, and I think there's a broad range of reasonable balances. That's why I'm so glad to have both Reiss and Tomase on the blog beat for different approaches.

And I'm not attacking Tomase. Sorry if it seemed that way. I like him better than some of the other Boston media fools.

Tomase doesn't need defending here. He broke a story. Evidently it was a couple months old, but still, he was the one to break it. But Reiss doesn't need attacking, either, because he followed up on the story. And he gave credit to a rival reporter on a rival newspaper for the initial report.

Totally agree.