I read an article today on the Huffington Post of yet another NFL player in trouble for an alleged domestic violence claim involving an assault against his wife. It is no secret that the NFL has faced quite a bit of controversy lately in regards to it's players and charges of domestic violence and assault.
The headline stated "Arizona Cardinals Running Back Arrested on Aggravated Assault Charges". The article goes on to detail the information of the incidents that occurred in July of 2014 and what lead to the charges being filed against Jonathan Dwyer, who is a running back for the Arizona Cardinals. There are many sources listed in this article including a link to a local Arizona news website which has this story listed as the top news story. The news article was also published across the AP to various news organizations opting to run the story or not. The CBS Evening news also tweeted information about the story including the charges Dwyer faces.
Being this story was released from the AP and published by CBS news and many other mainstream news sites it can be deemed to be credible. Also detailed information from the police report was released as well, which was compiled into the news report backing up the claims made in the story.
If this news was reported and released from un-vetted news sources even more significant damage could have been done to Dwyer's character as a person and could end his career. If the information was published out of speculation from personal websites instead of news and journalistic websites and turned out to be inaccurate lawsuits and defamation of character claims could be made by Dwyer. This is because if this information and allegations proved to be false the damage done to Dwyer's character could ruin the rest of his life. However, being that the sources are vetted and firsthand accounts of the story exist this does not seem to be what will happen.
Today is another sad day for the NFL as another account of an alleged assault has surfaced with credible evidence released to back up the story. It seems that the actions of this player may lead to a suspension or even further punishment from the NFL as the trend in domestic violence continues to be brought to the forefront of what is happening in the lives of some NFL players.
-Betsy Devillier
References:
The Huffington Post
CBS Evening News
AZcentral.com
Betsey,
ReplyDeleteWonderful job, and you made a great point about defamation of character that I think gets overlooked. My sons and husband follow professional football very closely. Yesterday Brandon Marshall (Chicago Bears) conducted a press conference regarding his past allegations of domestic violence. The press conference consisted of Marshall blasting ESPN for airing an old documentary featuring his journey to becoming a star player for the NFL. The documentary also unveiled the violent relationship between Marshall and his former girlfriend which resulted in charges of abuse and restraining orders. In my opinion, the re-airing of the documentary was a divisive move on ESPN's part. Sometimes the way footage is edited and packaged can sway the initial intentions of the interviewer and interviewee. In this case I think that the timing, on ESPN's part was a great way to boost their ratings, but an awful way to draw in an audience over an old event. They certainly know how to straddle the line of credibility! Marshall openly admitted the domestic violence allegations but he also talked about coupled his struggle with mental illness, which was downplayed. When a source uses credible information to defame, taint and ultimately destroy a persons brand and image, the audience has to be careful when they are consuming "news" from them because the news could be biased.
I've included some links of the E:60 episode, the press conference and the news article if anyone wants to check them out.
http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2014/9/18/6422879/brandon-marshall-domestic-violence-accusations-espn
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/chi-brandon-marshall-espn-20140917-htmlstory.html
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=11549543