Tomase's reasoning behind his article

[Lloyd_Christmas]

We don't know if it is wrong yet. Walsh may say "yeah, we taped the walkthrough...i just don't have a tape". The real source also could have been telling the truth.

The league reported that their investigation into the Rams walkthrough revealed that the cameras rumored to have been used to tape that walkthrough were inoperable at the time of the walkthrough because the power had been cut off to them by the stadium. Furthermore, the battery packs necessary to use them without power were left in NE by the Patriots because they knew they wouldn't need them.

Unless you think Matt Walsh was hiding in the stands with Sony hand held with the zoom maxed out, then there was simply no way that walkthrough was taped.

The bottom line is that TomatoAzz F'd up by publishing a story with an unidentified source and no real evidence to back it up. Nothing Walsh can say is going to excuse the actions of the Herald and their staff.

 

[Manzana]

A writer writes the story... if he had some source that said he had a tape of the walkthrough, then make sure you see it... pass your story in... I can not believe the Editors did not ASK the question about the tape.."How credible is your source?" "Have you seen the tape?" . This whole mess is a result of not just JT not doing his job, but the editors who also did not do THEIR job. It is their responsibility to not only check for grammer mistakes, but to make sure **** is legit.

 

[patchick]

This whole mess is a result of not just JT not doing his job, but the editors who also did not do THEIR job.

Plenty of fault to go around. Even if you're under pressure from your editors, do you let an article hit the front page with your name on it if you have no evidence to support it? I'm sure he was feeling the heat, but HE made the choice. He didn't protest, or it wouldn't be under his byline.

 

[shmessy]

Plenty of fault to go around. Even if you're under pressure from your editors, do you let an article hit the front page with your name on it if you have no evidence to support it? I'm sure he was feeling the heat, but HE made the choice. He didn't protest, or it wouldn't be under his byline.

I have to disagree with you there, Patchick.

That's why they call them "Editorial Decisions" and why it is the verb "To Edit".

Writers write and Editors judge what should go in and what should be cut. There are several layers of Editors at major newspapers (Assistant Editors, Sports Editors, etc.). This story made it through all of them.

Further, every major newspaper has a Legal Standards Department. Let's not forget that the Herald management kept the story up on its website throughout and never took it down. Obviously, they discussed it after publication/posting and made the decision (with the benefit of time - not rushing) to keep it up and stand by it.

Yes, Tomase is at fault, but I would have to say the Herald Management is at a much larger fault.

 

[Pats726]

A writer writes the story... if he had some source that said he had a tape of the walkthrough, then make sure you see it... pass your story in... I can not believe the Editors did not ASK the question about the tape.."How credible is your source?" "Have you seen the tape?" . This whole mess is a result of not just JT not doing his job, but the editors who also did not do THEIR job. It is their responsibility to not only check for grammer mistakes, but to make sure **** is legit.

I think that is an understatement..it's not just JT...but the Herald management that is at fault..Obviously they really did not care what untruths went out..it was journalism at its worst! There was a time when investigative journalists would be SURE about things and go to great lengths to be insure that when they went out on a limb, they had strong reasons. It seems JT went out there without that insurance...whether he was pushed out there by the editors or that he wanted to get the scoop and crawled out there, the limb has coime crashing down.

 

[Pats726]

"Mr. Walsh has never claimed to have a tape of the walkthrough," Levy told The New York Times. "Mr. Walsh has never been the source of any of the media speculation about such a tape. Mr. Walsh was not the source for the Feb. 2 Boston Herald article."
_______________________

Levy is Matt Walsh's Lawyer.

Now to your second point:

If there is another "real source" then Tomase must have gotten real confirmation from him/her between waking up on Friday morning (on WROR, he claimed the story wasn't even on his radar when he woke up that day) and publication of the story the next day. Tomase claims he had heard rumors of it since September but hadn't been able to "nail it down".

So, for 5 months he can't nail it down, but he wakes up in Arizona on the Friday before the Super Bowl, reads the NYT article and Specter's news conference and "VOILA!" is able to confirm something he couldn't for 5 months within a 24 hour period. And the management of the Boston Herald (Editors, Legal Staff, Fact Checkers, etc) all sign off on it.

Nothing is impossible, but Arlen Specter would call that a "magic bullet".

I think THAT is quite interesting..and what does that say about JT??? Opportunistic is ONE place to start.

 

[TripleOption]

It's an interesting twist on a journalist's responsibility toward his confidential sources. Do you have an obligation to shield the identity of a source who lied to you?

No, you absolutely do not. No journalist will protect a source that lied.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

No, you absolutely do not. No journalist will protect a source that lied.

Tommy Boy's source(s) were likely his buddy Felgie, possibly Borges and maybe just maybe some disgruntled BB hating NFL GM all echoing the same rumor throughout the media canyon. He's not gonna turn on his next job references which he'll desperately need.

 

[godef]

"It's not my job to keep stuff out of the paper"

"My job's not a popularity contest - I have to write what the news is"

These quotes are ridiculous.

The whole issue is whether is was "news" to begin with.

What is it they say? "News that fit to print" or somesuch.

 

[rainmaker]

It's an interesting twist on a journalist's responsibility toward his confidential sources. Do you have an obligation to shield the identity of a source who lied to you?

Maybe it was Mangini? - that would be sick. But the distraction from this article may have influenced the big game. Even the remote chance of this, means he should be fired.

 

[NEPatriot]

"It's not my job to keep stuff out of the paper"

"My job's not a popularity contest - I have to write what the news is"

"New York Times and ESPN seem like they're close to something that we had heard - so we have to start digging and when you find something, it has to go in the paper"

Dear Tomase

I'm interested in knowing who was your source for Ram video walkthrough when Walsh's lawyer said that his client was not the one. If you can't put up, you definitely need to shut up. Citing 'anonymous source' doesn't cut your BS.

You failed to do your job miserably and i'm surprised that you are not fired because you did not verify and check your source before publishing your rubbish on newspaper. You are the best example why people dislike and distrust media and you damage the credibility of your newspaper substantially.

You undoubtly wanted to be the first person to break the news when you didn't care about the quality of your source. Perhaps, you could have made up the source to cover your own ass later when thing didn't turn out right.

What happened to your 100% standing behind your article and source.? You have nothing and you are a disgraced journalist.

 

[Manzana]

"My job's not a popularity contest - I have to write what the news is"

This quote tells me that JT is not going to give up his source and that he still very much believes that source still.. He really believes that what he reported was the NEWS and not hearsay or rumor. Of course his reputation is on the line, so it is not surprising that he would try to protect his ass. I read on ESPN that the Herald isn't going to comment on this whole issue. Never can understand this, because it just makes everything worse and their credibility will hit new lows. Maybe they are trying to produce the source's tape? Who knows. But after Walsh meets with Goodell and Specter, I am sure more stuff will come out, especially after he meets with Specter, who just isn't going to rest until he burns Gilette Stadium down. Too bad he wasn't this diligent with the JFK investigation.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

Tomase will be the fall guy behind what has become a complete Boston rag of a paper and the people that run it. They consistently run garbage articles on Brady and Giselle and they expect to be taken seriously as a source of news. Tomase put the article out there but his editors should also be taken to task for allowing the consistent spewing of garbage.

 

[NEPatriot]

protecting the source is the only thing Tomase has. The source is probably himself. I can see him plead the fifth when he appears in court.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

"My job's not a popularity contest - I have to write what the news is"

This quote tells me that JT is not going to give up his source and that he still very much believes that source still.. He really believes that what he reported was the NEWS and not hearsay or rumor. Of course his reputation is on the line, so it is not surprising that he would try to protect his ass. I read on ESPN that the Herald isn't going to comment on this whole issue. Never can understand this, because it just makes everything worse and their credibility will hit new lows. Maybe they are trying to produce the source's tape?

Ummm . . . who else could have produced such a tape? At this point, we basically know it's not anyone who still works with the Patriots, and there aren't all that many people who could have done it back then, either (somehow, I think the Rams would know if, say, Charlie Weis stayed behind to do the taping ). [EDIT: Actually, come to think of it, remember that the Rams played in Foxboro earlier that season. There's a chance that if a Pats employee had stayed behind to make the walkthrough tape, someone from the Rams might recognize/remember him.]

Who knows. But after Walsh meets with Goodell and Specter, I am sure more stuff will come out, especially after he meets with Specter, who just isn't going to rest until he burns Gilette Stadium down. Too bad he wasn't this diligent with the JFK investigation.

There are too many snarky comments I could make here, so I'll just say this--I disagree.

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

Ummm . . . who else could have produced such a tape? At this point, we basically know it's not anyone who still works with the Patriots, and there aren't all that many people who could have done it back then, either (somehow, I think the Rams would know if, say, Charlie Weis stayed behind to do the taping ).

Here's something else to keep in mind. SB 36 was the first one played after 9/11 and security was unprecedented as people saw it as a high profile target. That's why tickets could be had for face value on game day.... Do you think that anyone could have just stood in the stands taping in that environment without being questioned????

 

[patchick]

I have to disagree with you there, Patchick.

...

Yes, Tomase is at fault, but I would have to say the Herald Management is at a much larger fault.

In fact, I don't disagree! I think the Herald editors/managers do bear the largest portion of fault. I just don't think that the reporter who put his name on the article can hide behind that, as Tomase seems to be trying to do. In fact, he's trotting out all the classic not-my-fault lines that every parent recognizes:
- everybody else was doing it too!
- somebody should have stopped me!
As I said, there's enough fault here for everybody to get a hearty share.

 

[miDeuce]

For anyone who's interested I emailed a bit with Tomase when the Spygate thing started and a bunch of us were convinced the Jets were taping the Pats signals in that very same game. I just wrote about ithere...

Kind of interesting he was the only one listening to us at the time...

 

[stcjones]

Check out his comments in the WROR Podcast from Feb 5th:

http://wror.everyzing.com/viewMedia...WROR&start=57&expand=true&match=none&filter=0

go to the 12:20 mark.

While I'm still PO'ed at Tomase, he sounds genuinely bummed out that he had to run with the story. You have to wonder if he is just the fall-guy for the Herald editors.

"It's not my job to keep stuff out of the paper"

"My job's not a popularity contest - I have to write what the news is"

"New York Times and ESPN seem like they're close to something that we had heard - so we have to start digging and when you find something, it has to go in the paper"

F**K that fat piece of sh*t....I hope he chokes on his own vomit after ingesting one two many donuts........this douche is one of the reasons that we lost the SB.........I was watching the footage of GOD-dell talking about how "He wanted to talk to Matt Walsh and see what he had to say"......dated February 2nd!!!!!! One f'ing day before the SB was to be played......with all the controversy swirling around this team....I'm surprised the game was as close as it was....clearly it was on the mind of Brady,.......He just didn't look like himself............SO F' doughboy......his cellulite riddled carcass should be long gone from that rag.....the Herald.....

 

[pats1]

After listening again, I think Walsh really was Tomase's source.

Think about it for a minute.

Tomase said that the New York Times Specter story forced him into publishing his own story the next day, because he felt that the Times and ESPN were probably onto his story too.

What else was in the Specter story?

The first mention of Matt Walsh.

Now it makes sense. The Times had finally gotten through to Walsh and gotten him to talk. Tomase already had gotten what he wanted from Walsh. He beat the Times to it and published his scoop.