More reporters cover Red Sox than the Pentagon, WaPo writer laments

"Let's see if I can do this without insulting either baseball fans or bloggers. Blogging baseball fans, I ask for your forgiveness preemptively.

• I went to a Red Sox game on Saturday, and up above home plate I couldn't help but notice the press box: five, six, seven tiers of desks, filled with print, radio, television and who knows what other media all reporting every move and anomaly. It dawned on me that there are more reporters covering the Sox, just one baseball team, than cover the Pentagon.

I couldn't help but notice that the baseball aficionados felt quite confident about their knowledge and views. Everyone had an opinion on the game; everyone was an expert."

(Truer words were never spoken). sm

• "For the super-fans who can actually afford to go to the games, or who commit their lives to the Sox, the professional reporters are hardly the enemy."
• (In the case of the Sox, I don't get the impression this is entirely true). sm
• "These are people who can't get enough news and analysis. They depend on the news media for commentary and amplification and insight; they study and memorize the statistics.

I've often thought if we could cover the military like sports, with transparency and intimate knowledge and a play-by-play that was both affectionate and unsparingly critical, we'd have a healthier debate. Interest and knowledge on the part of the typical American in foreign affairs and national security would actually increase."

• From Washington Post article by William M. Arkin, "If Only War Reporting Were More Like Sports Reporting, 5/22/07. The author writes about National Security issues. Via Poynter.org/Romenesko

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