Storyboarding

On Thursday morning, I heard an interesting report on my sports talk radio station while driving to work.  Washington Redskins quarterback, Donovan McNabb, was asked several times, in several different ways, for his opinion of the quarterback change in Philadelphia from Kevin Kolb to Michael Vick.  As you will all remember, McNabb was traded to Washington to make room for the future franchise QB, Kolb, and now after only 2 quarters of uninspired football as a starter, Kolb has been demoted.  The press was salivating for the "I told you so, Philly" quote, but McNabb, ever the savvy veteran in the pocket and in front of the podium, said nothing.

Nothing.

He refused to take the bait, refused to comment on the situation, and returned the focus to the 'Skins upcoming game against St. Louis.  His refusal to make news was the news.  Now, having lived in DC for close to 20 years, I know that a quarterback controversy is food from the gods, and one is created in this town more often than a political candidate promises to cut wasteful spending or apologize to his family.

The morning radio snippet that "Nothing happened, and nothing was said - film at 11" felt to me like the reporter would continue to promote this angle until a story was actually created out of thin air.  That is, after all, the reporter's job, isn't it?  In the 27/7 500 channel news business, the job is to find stories, but in the absence of one, make one.  "Be bright, be brief, and be gone" as the mantra of the reporter has been replaced by "Be bright, be brief, and create the story".

When the absence of news becomes the news, we're all in trouble.  Not meeting the expectations of the prevailing news cycle is now news.  McNabb, not sticking to a media driven preconceived script that tells the tale of division, revenge, anger and vitriol, is the story.  Perhaps Donovan needs media lessons from his buddy T.O.  That guy knows what to say to create a story!

I only wish this was a phenomenon confined to the sporting world.  It's worse in politics.

From the Washington Monthly:

In (a recent) Rolling Stone interview, the magazine asked about the kind of music Obama's been listening to. The president noted he tends to stick to the stuff he enjoyed when he was younger -- he iPod has "a lot of Stevie Wonder, a lot of Bob Dylan, a lot of Rolling Stones, a lot of R&B, a lot of Miles Davis and John Coltrane" -- but an aide has also exposed him to some more rap, so there's "a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne" on his playlist, too.

Fox News responded with this headline: "President of the United States Loves Gangsta Rap."

Fair and Balanced.