Fairness in NASCAR Media: A Defense of Jack Roush

by Charlie Turner

I'm Charlie Turner co-host of the syndicated, mostly NASCAR radio show On Pit Row. Thanks for stopping by OnPitRow.com and the Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie blog. Oh yeah, Steve is an idiot. Follow me on Twitter @onpitrow

January 26, 2010 10:44 pm CST 3 Comments

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We had some stirring NASCAR discussion during and after tonight’s On Pit Row broadcast. A good chunk of it centered on responses to one particular question from our Fast Lap segment.

“Was Jack Roush correct in blaming the media for overly influencing fans negative opinions of NASCAR?

Steve and I debated it. Steve was strongly against the idea that media is to blame for NASCAR’s problems.

Special guest Terry Blount, veteran ESPN.com NASCAR writer was vehement in his disagreement, if Roush was blaming the media for almost anything. Blount’s main point was that he and the others on the NASCAR beat are journalists - not cheerleaders.

I took the other side. And I don’t often take the side of the Cat in the Hat. But, taking the Fast Lap question as presented, I said that I could see where the media does its share of dissing on certain aspects of NASCAR.

I do think that the media makes too big a deal about TV ratings and attendance. Those topics have little to do with the sport itself. There are too many stories that start; “Ugly COT the Cause of Sinking NASCAR TV Ratings”. That isn’t journalism. It’s speculation. And it is negative.

Then, tonight, I Googled Jack’s comments and found the original article by Joe Menzer on NASCAR.com. Most of Roush’s points were directed at “the communications box, the TV box” as Roush refered to them. And specifically to certain types of reporters…

“The complaints have come from reporters and the media that has maybe a vested interest — if you look at [announcers and former driving champions] Darrell Waltrip and Rusty Wallace and all the ex-drivers and ex-crew chiefs that are out there. It’s not unreasonable to say they’ve got some ax to grind over something that frustrated them in their careers when they were on the firing line. We need to reel that back in”

Jack Roush isn’t really attacking the media here. The guys he’s complaining about aren’t journalists. Roush may look at them more as “traitors to the cause” than as rogue media.

So I want to apologize for the way the question was framed during the show. The topic was ripe for debate and that was good. But Jack Roush didn’t really say what we inferred.

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Filed under: NASCAR, NASCAR & the Media, On Pit Row The Fastest Two Hours on Radio

Tagged with: Jack Roush

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Comments

3 Responses to “Fairness in NASCAR Media: A Defense of Jack Roush”

Marc on January 27th, 2010 7:53 pm

The question may have been framed incorrectly, but his point is still the same.

The ex drivers and ex crew chiefs are playing journalists on TV. As such they “should” be as non partisan as possible, but in many cases they are far from it.
Charlie Turner on January 27th, 2010 9:33 pm

Yeah, I think that that is Jack’s complaint. And that isn’t really the same issue as what we - including Terry Blount - were taking Roush to task for. I agree with Roush that the ex-NASCAR participants may be expressing agendas. That isn’t the same thing as Jack calling “the media” too negative.
Steve Wronkowicz on January 28th, 2010 9:13 am

Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett and the rest of the ex-participant group that now work in the media are not journalists. They are commentators and as such they comment on the happenings in their sport. As commentators they use the media; radio, television and/or internet as the conduit for their opinions. Therefore, they are part of “the media”.

But for every negative “axe-grinding” comment made by these guys, fans take to task others for being “shills” for NASCAR. As Terry Blount pointed out; the fans are smart enough to know what is happening in the sport they love well before someone in the media gives their opinion. Blount, a other journalists are charged with reporting facts and how those facts affect those involved.

Maybe Blount is more upset with the blurring of the line between journalist and commentator, the perception of who is who and the inability of fans, drivers and car owners to distinguish the difference.

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