Here is the link to an affidavit that swim journalist, Craig Lord, gave to the attorneys defending USA Swimming and Mark Schubert in the TYR vs. USAS and Mark Schubert lawsuit.
There is nothing scandalous in this document; (save for that stupid comment about short course meters), and the rest has already been mentioned at the Swim News website several times over. To his credit he never used the word "shiny suits" therein..
However!
When you are a journalist, it is a requirement to become amoral. One cannot take sides. You cannot offer support, you cannot be an advocate, and it is your responsibility to be nothing but a trusted observer. Like it or not, that is the "Cardinal Rule" for a journalist. Journalist and photojournalists in Haiti, Chile, Iraq, or Afghanistan must document tragedy or success and never take part no matter what the circumstances or face getting fired for being partisan.
In my opinion he became a partisan.
Here is Craig Lord's declaration:
[Link]
10 comments:
What's the big deal?
I don't see partisanship. Craig Lord is simply re-stating what everyone knew to be true at that time: The Speedo LZR was about 2% faster than any other suit on the market in 2008.
How's that advocating anything?
The big deal is that he offered a affidavit without being ordered to, on his on volition so as to assist one side in a lawsuit over the other. A lawsuit he is covering for the TIMES online I believe?
I don't care what he said, I care that he, ipso facto, forfeited his journalistic citizenship, and picked a side. He is officially an op ed blogger now.
If I wanted to be a prick and send this document to the editors of the TIMES online they would have a serious one-on-one with him and say he can't cover this case whatsoever because now the TIMES online would have a "dog in the fight"
I grew up with this stuff when my Dad ran a paper in Hollywood called the Citizen News and when he was the International Editor for the Hollywood Reporter. (Isn't it amazing I can barely write or spell.)
Journalist can't assist anybody in anyway when they are covering a story. It creates possible civil court issues as well.
What exactly does he mean, "based on my experience long-course events attract the very top-level athletes"?
That's BS. The problem with that statement is the word "athletes". Simply put, swimmers that perform better in a short course pool would typically be better "athletes" because of their ability to spin, twist, react, and explode off the wall. Long course swimmers aren't necessarily better athletes. While they may be better "swimmers" because of their LACK of overall athletic ability, or how good their strokes are... the start and turns are still a major part of being an "athlete".
If he only wanted to cover the "top-level" "swimmer"... he should only focus on open water.
I like how he slips in, "non-textile" after he talks about 2008. Very tricky.
So this is totally unsolicited by the court? He did this simply to support Schubert and Speedo and he considers himself a journalist?
Once you put "opinion" in your articles, you're no longer a journalist, you've become a blogger. Lord would take offense to that, as he sees bloggers as his nemesis, but following trends... who's going to be the last to survive in this day? Journalists, or bloggers with no vested interest in the story.
He states in item #1... he's a paid writer. Well... currently.
It was unsolicited by the court. Nice observations about short course meters.
I prefer to race LCM probably becasue SCM is harder and more technically driven.
Neither The Times nor The Times Online have touched this story. Nor have I been asked to file that story, nor have I offered it. It is an American story that holds no interest in Britain, nor indeed in Europe. Stop fibbing and repeating falsehoods Mr Austin
They covered it Craig, in fact your name is on the byline jackass!
Here is what you wrote in the TIMES Online"
"... The sound of empty cash registers rang out from rival manufacturers. Nike released its swimmers. Adidas stuck to its guns but had only one big success, Germany’s Britta Steffen winning the 50m and 100m freestyle. TYR, which spent three years and several million dollars developing its Tracer Rise suit, filed an antitrust lawsuit in California in May, accusing Speedo, USA Swimming and its national team head coach Mark Schubert (who said in support of the LZR that swimmers had a “black-and-white decision: the money or the medal”) of conspiring to block competition. ..."
I am going to make this a post since you accused me of being a liar.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article5258021.ece
You are a fibber, no other way of saying it ... that story mentions the case in passing... the story is about the chaos in the sport and the divisions because of suits...the theme of the story and reason for it was adidas's threat to leave the sport, along with the other sports equip giant, Nike...
No story on the TYR case was ever offered to them times, times online, nor did i ever write one for those two outlets...
What you suggest is entirely false.
You can qualify all you want, reality is not a multiple choice option, Mr. Lord. The quotes, the screen shot and the link speaks for itself. Your denials are demonstrably false.
You are a liar. Plain and simple. Enjoy your little blog and your 15mins
...and you, Mr Lord are amazingly self-destructive.
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