The media's coverage of the Steroid Saga has been overdone and annoying.  They have constantly regurgitated something that has brought a negative light onto the game.

It can be argued that the media's job is to report the story, regardless of what the story is.  I can agree with that to a certain extent, but the national media -- particularly the national baseball media -- love nothing more than to grab hold of a juicy story and do nothing but pound the topic into the ground.  With the steroids issue, they have done just that, and in the process, they have annoyed many fans.

Let's think about a timeline of media coverage.  What has been the consistent ingredient to the media's PED coverage?  Information about how the drugs could affect the human being?  Mildly.  Information about how baseball has dealt with the issue?  More than mildly.  A crazy desire for large names to fall into the vacuum?  Absolutely.  Think about this: the most coverage about steroids has been Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and now Alex Rodriguez (and don't forget about Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco).  They want a story. They want big names to fill their headlines.

This isn't about the soul of the game and it never was.  Half of those writers are brainless twits who vote for non-rookies for the Rookie of the Year award (Volquez finished fourth in the NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2008; only problem was that Volquez was not a rookie). But people believe what they read. They always have. Many totalitarian governments used that to their advantage.  "If it's on the TV you can't trust it, but if it's in your newspaper, by God it's fair and balanced."  That's tomfoolery of the highest order. 

Do. Not. Believe. What. You. Read. Without. Question.

But people pay for their newspapers, and that funds this sort of “journalism.”  Even if you just buy Newspaper A for the classifieds, you're also unintentionally throwing your support behind the newspaper, who will then continue to employ their B.S. writers.

The steroids saga, while “bad,” I guess, is a nearly 90% media creation that has grown to incredible levels.  I shouldn't be angry about this. It happens literally all the time.  But, it will forever bother me that people will read about steroids and assume it's this God-awful crisis that could kill baseball. 

Some truths: We've inducted several proud cheaters into the Hall of Fame, including Gaylord Perry and Whitey Ford. Gatorade is a PED. Cheating, sadly, is a part of baseball and a part of life.  Is it okay?  No.

Do I give a darn?  No.

By Daniel Paulling

Major League Baseball cannot police itself. Bud Selig, through his knowledge of steroids for much longer than MLB has had drug testing and his reluctance to do anything about it, has proven that point.

The Player’s Union only cares about bringing in money. It compared steroids to cigarettes, downplaying the need for drug testing while players got huge and signed bigger contracts. The Union agreed to drug testing a few years too late, only after heavy demand from Congress and the public.

And this is why the media are necessary. In 2003, the names of players who tested positive were supposed to be anonymous. Through great investigative reporting by Selena Roberts and another SI reporter, Alex Rodriguez’s positive test was uncovered. Writers like Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams wrote Game of Shadows, which presented evidence that helped indict Barry Bonds in the minds of the public. (To be fair, Bonds was probably already recognized as a steroid user before then.)

The media have uncovered so many names that wouldn’t have been released. Do you think Rodriguez would’ve admitted he used steroids after his playing career was over? Before then? He was more than happy to keep everyone in the dark about the entire thing. And that is why fans should be grateful for Roberts and reporters like her.

Now, do the media go too far? Considering that big names like Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Rodriguez and Bonds have been tainted as steroid users, I don’t think so. These are just five players. Who were the other 103 who tested positive in 2003? Who else has abused steroids since then?

The only way we’re going to reliably find out is from the media. We know MLB and the Union can’t be trusted to do what’s right.

Do the media go too far in reporting upon the steroid era? Let you comments be heard below.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites