Denver Post bans predictions by beat writers

Rosenthal, Chicago Trib, 11/8/09: "There was an awkward radio moment the other day out West when guest Mike Klis, who covers pro football's Broncos for the Denver Post, was asked how he thought that week's game would go and

• Klis said he couldn't say. Really. He couldn't.

Klis told the hosts, according to Denver's Westword, that the Post had decided that allowing its news and sports beat writers to prognosticate might lead readers to question their objectivity, so

• the paper was banning their predictions....

Now, one can argue whether a prediction of who will win a football game is analysis, which is allowed, or opinion, which is verboten. The distinction (Post Editor Greg) Moore makes is:

• "Analysis is an informed and reported explanation of an event or development.

• A prediction is almost like placing a bet on the outcome. It's having a dog in the race, and you have to cover the race."

But assuming all that's being gambled is the writer's reputation for knowing what he or she is talking about, the only real risk is of looking like a dunderhead when wrong. There's an old saying:

• He who lives by the crystal ball learns to eat broken glass."...

from Phil Rosenthal column, "Predictions Policy Quiets Denver Post Writers," Chicago Tribune, via Radio Daily News

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