Media talk

The fallout from the Nery Castillo tirade seems to have been overwhelmingly in favor of Castillo among the supporters. It seems the Mexican media is very low in the minds of many.

Now, I don't know what journalism is like in Mexico and what standards it follows. It's a different game there, so to speak. But the thing that bothers me is this idea that the media should support the national team and should be positive with the national team.

It's not the media's job to support. That's PR, public relations. The media's job is to report on what happened, report the major storylines, the minor storylines and everything in between, to cover a game or event or whatever from as many angles as possible so the reader or viewer or listener or whatever can get the full story.

The media's job is not to support or trash, it is not to give atta-boys or pats on the back, pick-me-up columns or fluff pieces. That's PR, marketing, whatever. Not media. Sure, you cover and deal with players you like on a personal level and other you don't care for on a personal level. But you have to be true to the job and the profession and remain objective. Media members aren't cheerleaders, and it seems that's a major complaint about the Mexican media, that they aren't supporting the national team.

The team has played like shit. What do you want the media to do? You want Mural to run a cover that says "Don't Worry Tri, Next Time You'll Win" if they lose on Saturday? Should that have been the headline following the US-Mexico game?

Now, there is an element of tabloid and sensationalism that goes on there and that part I can't speak about. I despise tabloids in general and if those are the basis of the complaints, I guess I can't really blame them.

Anyway, here's the Futbol Picante crew talking about the Nery situation.