Penn State Scandal

In a matter of a few days, legendary Coach Joe Paterno went from being a beloved icon, to an outcast and an embarrassment. Under Coach Paterno’s watch, an Assistant Coach had sexually molested several young boys, some even on Penn State’s campus. Despite having knowledge of these heinous actions, Coach Paterno failed to discipline his Assistant and inform the authorities. While he did tell the higher ups at Penn State, there was still a lot more the Coach could have done to ensure justice was upheld. This story just goes to show that the media has one job, and one job only; provide the general public with a story, regardless if all the facts are available yet or not. While the acts of Assistant Coach Sandusky were disgusting, the media was quick to turn on Coach Paterno after years of adoring him, despite not hearing his side of the story yet or gathering all the facts and doing necessary research. I am in no way defending JoPa, just stating that before he is crucified by the public and media, it is important to remember that this case still has a lot more information involved that has yet to be discovered or revealed.

The most popular and compelling stories the media can report on the ones that involve prominent athletic figures and acts of deviance. As soon as word of an athlete getting into trouble, the media is quick to report it, regardless if all evidence is found and presented. While I believe it is important for the public to hear about these stories, I also think it is important to know all information about an incident before casting judgments and “painting pictures”. America loves football, and America loves controversy, and this story has a lot of both. It will be interesting to see how this all unfolds over the next couple of months, and how the media reports it. Will Paterno’s legacy be forever tarnished, or will new information come to light that clears his name?

I think social media can be both a positive tool and a negative one. Social media can provide an invaluable tool which makes it relatively easy to exchange information and articles, but at the same time can prove to be a distraction or harmful. When used the right way, it may be one of the greatest tools ever invented, but when used in the wrong way, it can lead to inappropriate or private matters being revealed, or worse, promote or lead to illegal activity.

-Dan Lewis-KIN 577