Did a video on the Kansas City Star Web site intentionally poke the University of Missouri faithful?
Or are Mizzou fans just looking for an opportunity to be offended and feel a conspiracy against them is always in the air at the McClatchy-owned paper by staffers who are University of Kansas alums?
The truth might be somewhere in the middle.
It all started with a pretty tame story by the Star’s veteran sportswriter Blair Kerkhoff in the Sunday newspaper titled “Mizzou is ready to dive into SEC’s football culture” where he discussed some of the differences Missouri will experience by playing football in the Southeastern Conference.
But it wasn’t Kerkhoff’s story that raised the ire of the Mizzou faithful. It was a short video narrated by Kerkhoff accompanying his story developed by Star video producer Monty Davis that pushed some fans over the edge.
The 1:34 clip was a compilation of photos of the Missouri football team over the years taken from the Star’s archives. But towards the end of the video a few photos appeared that seemed unusual.
There is a picture of former embattled basketball coach Quin Snyder looking manic. Then there’s a photo of a Kansas basketball player going up for a layup against MU. There is a picture of football coach Gary Pinkel standing at a podium looking perplexed.
And then there was (since removed) a photo (below) of Mizzou’s disgraced basketball player Ricky Clemons walking out of the Boone County Jail. To add insult to injury, above him was a banner ad for the University of Kansas.
The Mizzou nation went ballistic, and their famous TigerBoard blog site went into high gear (LINK) blasting the Star for taking cheap shots at the school.
A reliable source at the Star claims the whole thing is much ado about nothing and notes, “Those message board posters aren’t known for their calm, rational discussion.”
The source admits there was a single image of Clemons taken from the Star’s archives and that he was wearing a white t-shirt, and not prison garb as many posters have noted. When it was learned it was Clemons and complaints rolled in the video was quickly re-edited. Reportedly no action has been taken against the video producer.
The Star’s Public Editor addressed the controversy today on the paper’s Web site.
“The editor who assembled the video montage isn’t much of a sports fan, and didn’t recognize what one of the many photos in The Star’s MU collection depicted: MU senior guard Ricky Clemons, whose troubles with the law were chronicled by the media closely almost a decade ago,” he noted.
Was it an honest mistake or a poke at Mizzou? Or was it just some rivalry humor? You be the judge…
BALANCING THINGS OUT
Almost without exception the people around the long wooden table, former Star folks, are of the feeling that Missouri has had more than its share of favorable publicity since the decision was made to bolt from the Big 12 and join the SEC. In fact, the coverage has bordered on overkill. I’d say that if anything, MU must have some friends in high places down at the newspaper office these days.
NOT BUYING IT
I’m not screaming conspiracy here, but the Star’s explanation doesn’t do much for me. 1. I find it hard to believe a Ricky Clemmons photo would be accidentally inserted into a video like this. 2. Why would a picture of Snyder, who hasn’t been at MU for more than six years now, be included with a story about the culture of the SEC?
Instead of owning up to this mistake, the Star elected to basically say, “Message boarders are crazy! We did nothing wrong.” So long, credibility.
MF
Muck Fizzou!
MF 2
Good point, Bill.
Just two things:
1. There are plenty of Missouri people at The Star, and
2. The KU/MU discussions on kansascity.com do indeed border on the insane.
A THOUGHT…
I checked the great scheme of things and this incident doesn’t show up.
TWO POINTS
1. Yeah, message boarders are crazy. That’s not the point.
2. No, this isn’t important in “the great scheme of things.” But I still take issue with a newspaper — that claims to be completely objective — not owning up to a mistake like this. Just say, “We effed up. Our bad.” It’s childish to act so defensive when someone catches your mistake.
WHO CARES?
Who cares. Geez, the Star is running a 14-part series on the SEC. I agree with Rick — the whole Mizzou thing is overkill. What a waste of space. That news hole could be filled with what’s going on with area colleges. Let ‘em whine.
A newspaper ducking accountability is significant. If you don’t get that then you don’t understand journalism.
ACCIDENTS HAPPEN?
Sometimes accidents happen in newspapers … Photographs of John Wayne Gacy sometimes appear next to whimsical captions that say “It’s a rule. You MUST celebrate Clown Week.” No harm is intended …
MIZZOU WHO?
Who is this “Mizzou” you speak of, and, what concern are they of the Greater Kansas City Metro?
INSULTS DON’T HELP
OK, if it’s an accident then admit it’s an accident. That’s not what they’ve done.
Lobbing insults really isn’t adding anything to this discussion, but I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.
STAR EXPLANATION ‘WEAK BEER’
I’m a Missouri fan, but I find that Mizzou fans are overreacting to this.
However, The Star’s explanation is weak beer. Just admit you screwed up and apologize instead of this dog and pony show about accidents happening and complaints about too much coverage in sports. There’s also no Mizzou clothing on Clemons’ photo, which means in my opinion that it wasn’t a little slip.
THE POINT
That’s my point too, Nick. Glad someone else sees it that way too.