Vine assignment for CreComm

So this week we had to do a funny Vine post promoting a product that we enjoy.

My idea was Warrior hockey sticks. And who else is best suited to promote them than the Ultimate Warrior.

Ethics, integrity and journalism

By Scott Billeck

Debates are always fun.

This past week I was sitting in press row at the MTS Centre waiting for the Winnipeg Jets game against the Detroit Red Wings to begin. It’s thrilling.

A colleague of mine sent me a link from an article from the Pittsburgh Tribune, a place I have worked for in the past. It was a column from Rob Rossi, an accomplished writer and columnist who covers the Pittsburgh Penguins for the newspaper. My fellow press buddy said I’d notice something after I read the article, which is here for your convenience.

It’s a great piece by a guy who knows the team inside and out. Superb journalism, I think.

I say ‘I think’ because I wonder if it blurred the lines between biased and unbiased reporting. Ethics. Journalistic integrity.

The second last graf is where I got the hiccups.

“I so badly wanted to hear Dupuis crack a joke. That’s how I so often know all is right in my world.”

Some context: Pascal Dupuis is a veteran NHLer and a long-time player and leader for the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was diagnosed with a blood clot in his lungs and will miss a significant amount of time. He is well liked, I am told. Highly respected among his peers and by reporters alike.

My issue isn’t with any of that.

My issue isn’t an issue with Rossi or his writing, or even the choice he made publishing this.

My issue is with my own understanding and how I need to be as a writer.

I am in my second year covering the Jets, I’ve been to a lot of games and covered a bunch of other sports here in Winnipeg. I have listened to a lot of people. Like a sponge, I have taken every morsel, analyzed it and tried to apply it to my craft. I’ve wrestled with many topics.

“Is this professional?”

“Can I step here, can I say that?”

It’s an honest dilemma I have some days on the job and in some sleepless nights.

With that said, where do those couple of sentences Rossi wrote land in terms of ethics in journalism?

Can you be friends with players? What about politicians?

It’s an interesting and fair point.

Does being a friend affect your ability to accurately report the facts without any bias toward said friend?

In sports, and especially in the Winnipeg hockey market, fans clamour for stories on players at every turn. They want to know these guys like they know their mom or their spouse. They mean a lot to the community, to the city and to their identity.

I can see why fans would have no issue with my dilemma. I can also see why my peers might.

My reputation is everything in this business. I have the unique opportunity to cover the upper echelon of sports in Winnipeg while learning to become a journalist at school.

But it also comes with a lot of questions. Are news media and sports media different? Do the ethics of journalism change between the two?

Perhaps.

The thought of a juicy story with insight no one else has, such as Rossi’s, is quite appealing, especially as an up-and-coming writer with the aspirations I hold. Granted, Rossi has years of experience on me. He’s been able to foster a relationship with a player who he has seen at his highest and his lowest. That isn’t my experience at this point.

It’s an interesting dynamic.

The phrase, “Don’t shit where you eat” comes to mind.

I’ve been wrestling with this since Thursday night.

I don’t have the answer. Maybe it’s not a big deal at all.

Proud or something

By Scott Billeck

Theatre has never been my thing and after Wednesday night my stance remains unwavered.

Bear with me as I tell you about my school assignment. About going to a play, my first since the last time I was made to go to one, likely in elementary school.

Let me preface: I have nothing against theatre or the actors, directors, writers, etc., which make it possible. It’s an art form that isn’t my cup of tea, but nevertheless I respect it. Writing the Canstar Fall Arts Guide this summer opened my eyes to a world I had not ventured to before.

With that said, I didn’t care too much for the production.

It was called Proud, a Michael Healey-written production put on by Theatre Projects Manitoba and directed by Ardith Boxall. I had never been to the Rachel Browne Theatre, but I found it to be quite pleasant, aside from there being no debit machine to pay for my ticket.

First world problems, I know. Pita Pit saved the day.

Right… the show.

The Theatre Projects Manitoba website sums up Proud like this: Shortly after the Conservatives win a majority government in the 2011 federal election, the prime minister discovers a secret weapon in his caucus—Jisbella Lyth, a single mother with a limited understanding of her role as an MP. Using her ignorance to his advantage, the PM hatches a plan to have Jisbella front and centre in a campaign of misdirection and distraction. Humorous and clever, Proud explores the corrosive nature of the politics of division.

The dialogue was actually superb for the most part, apart from all the needless swearing. More on that in a bit.

The story itself was predictable: Make fun of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The mundane, excruciating dull Stephen Harper who has managed to become the second longest tenured Conservative Prime Minister Canada has ever seen. I get it, he’s and easy target.

Say, why not make fun of Taliban sympathizer, the late Jack Layton? Perhaps too soon? If we don’t want to stick with politics, take a shot at Nickelback. I’d pay 1,000 pennies to see that show.

Alas, I guess everyone aims for you when you’re on top.

And then there was the language. I said the dialogue was good above, and I stand by that. But the needless swearing was excessive. Shock value, sure, but how many “motherfuckers” do you need, or “cunts” for that matter.

I get that plays should be entertaining, but sometimes they try too hard.

The acting was great. Ross McMillan, who played Harper was spot on with his rendition of the 22^nd Prime Minister. Daria Puttaert, who played Jisbella Lyth, did an admirable job as well. There was certainly a lot of chemistry between the three main actors.

I felt the show was over-sexualized and perhaps a little over-produced. They say sex sells, and for $10 I guess it does…? It fit the narrative, I guess…?

Was it funny? If you laugh at swear words and still giggle at the word penis then sure.

Satire, in the end, “is what it is,” to steal a quote from Winnipeg Jets’ defenceman Dustin Byfuglien. The target was just too easy, too safe.

Being able to hear the actors speak about their parts after the show was interesting. I am fascinated by how a role in a production can consume someone to the point they never break character.

I didn’t leave the play a new man, I never expected to. But I did leave thinking about this quote from the show, “Beliefs are what you serve when you have power.”

So there is that, right?