FerryFor50
Member
http://www.si.com/more-sports/2015/02/23/panel-women-sports-journalism-30-and-under
Interesting part about her toughest moment...
Interesting part about her toughest moment...
Laura Keeley (and panel) on being a young female journalist in SI
- Thread starter FerryFor50
- Start date
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
Interesting. I wonder how much of that is being a "female reporter" and how much of that is whatever her statements were.**
I thought I recalled some teeth-gnashing over her on the boards last fall during football season. Don't recall the nature of it, but I'll bet it's referenced in the next three or four posts.
**to clarify, I'm not doubting her, I'm just honestly curious.
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scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
Having worked closely with Laura back in our Chronicle days, I'm very excited and proud of how successful she's become in such a short period of time. If anyone isn't doing so already, I highly recommend her Duke Now blog, which often includes some really interesting tidbits that don't make it into larger pieces.
Yeah, well, Sarah Kwak '07is pretty far up in the SI print constellation and she hasn't made any public statements (that I can find) about "unprofessional behavior" on the part of any male counterparts she has had dealings with.
Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, of course, it must happen everywhere on the planet, every single solitary day, on and on and on..... but what's Keeley's aim? Is she calling out the unnamed Duke contact or calling out her own experience of being called out or calling out attention to her blog participation?
I'm sensing another 6 page lob and volley here.
Doesn't mean it hasn't happened, of course, it must happen everywhere on the planet, every single solitary day, on and on and on..... but what's Keeley's aim? Is she calling out the unnamed Duke contact or calling out her own experience of being called out or calling out attention to her blog participation?
I'm sensing another 6 page lob and volley here.
scottdude8
Moderator, front page and podcast contributor
I'm guessing that her aim was to answer a direct question as honestly and thoughtfully as she could, especially given the context of the roundtable. To assume anything more seems inappropriate.
sagegrouse
Member
Geez, Duke! Laura is the Duke beat reporter from the N&O and the Charlotte Observer. Those cats buy ink by the barrel. Real or not -- patch things up. She had a good rep at Duke and on the Chronicle staff and has done well with the N&O. I have enjoyed her articles. This should not become a cause celebre!
You know what Laura Keeley's aim probably is? To argue that as a woman in a male dominated field she encounters sexism, and here's a specific example.
I also don't see the point of bringing up the experience of some other person who was not in the room who hasn't commented publicly on something that happened to someone else.
I read Laura Keeley's pieces all the time and I think she does some of the best coverage of Duke sports out there. She also asks some of the best and most interesting questions - and it's clear Coach K thinks so too, because we all have seen how he responds when he gets asked what he thinks is a stupid question. She rarely gets that treatment.
So, all in all, I take her at her word, find it unsurprising that this happened, think it isn't unique to the Duke experience, and would hope that not many people affiliated with Duke athletics would act that way,
I also
Dev11
Commissioner of Statistics, DBR Podcast
She backed up a Adrian Wojnarowski assertion that Team USA basketball only benefits Coach K to the detriment of the players and the NBA at large.
I agree, some of the teeth-gnashing was about her opinion rather than her being a woman, but I can also envision how it would be more intimidating to be the only woman in the room, not to mention the youngest, when she and her bosses met with whatever Duke brass addressed the issue. On the bright side, if that's the toughest situation she's been in, it means she hasn't really had to deal with the nastiest stuff that people like Erin Andrews seems to run into a lot.
I think Keeley does a good job on the Duke beat and I enjoyed the interview. Dietsch does a good job keeping the pulse of issues like this in sports media.
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nocilla
Member
I think she was just answering the question presented to her. Her blog is about Duke athletics, so when asked about her toughest moment it would inevitably involve Duke. Her most enjoyable moment coincidently also involved Duke. (a story she did on Jabari Parker last year.)
She also made fun of the IC crowd because her co-worker Andrew Carter (who covers UNC in an equivocal role) wore a red sweater to a Syracuse-UNC game and they had a 7 page thread about it being orange.
It was right after Paul George suffered that gruesome broken leg while playing in a nationally-televised intrasquad scrimmage for the USA basketball team as part of their World Cup preparations. Among other things, Wojnarowski claimed that someone from USA Basketball had snapped a picture of K hugging George in the hospital afterwards, then circulated it just to make K look good. Jim Boeheim went off on Wojnarowski and confirmed that it was George's parents, not a USA Basketball employee, who took the picture and allowed it to be made public. That's why folks were so mad at Keeley -- she gave what appeared to be an uncritical endorsement of Wojnarowski's "perspective" without taking the time to figure out and understand just how off-base his criticisms were.
Still, if what she described in the SI interview is true, that was indeed unprofessional behavior by someone at Duke.
Wonder if it was Coach P. Just kidding! Just kidding!
Treating anyone this way, whether they are male or female is unprofessional. If the motive behind it was sexist, that's unprofessional. If the motive behind it was disdain for the person in the room, it's still unprofessional. And even if it WASN'T sexist, it still doesn't invalidate how she felt by being treated that way.
It irks me that someone represented the university that way, regardless of how slanderous the article, the intent, or the sex of the writer.
conmanlhughes
Member
Generally I support her writing, but that article was atrocious. Obviously I have a disagreement with her in terms of opinions, but I thought it was ment to grab attention and nothing more. She is a much better writer than that article, in my opinion.
I agree though, most of her articles are some of the best about Duke that I read.
(By the way, I love that K takes slack for coaching USA basketball for recruiting reasons, but look at Calipari for the national Dominican team. He essentially just coached them to lamd Karl Anthony-Towns!)
You are assuming the way she represents the encounter/meeting is accurate - and maybe it is, we just don't know. I'm not a big fan of her backhanded shots at K or the university and personally don't think she's that talented as a writer. But I will agree, even if she was unprofessional in the meeting, the Duke official should not have turned his back on her.
Dukehky
Member
I don't like the Duke Chronicle.
Keeley gets good access as a local beat writer and writes some good stuff. It feels to me that she goes all contrarian every now and again primarily to show range as a writer because she doesn't want to work for the N O much longer.
She obviously has an okay relationship with Coach K. I have no idea who called her in for that little interview. I know that Kevin White would never behave that way, and doubt K would either, but who knows.
I doubt it was a sexist sentiment and can guarantee that if Adrian Woj were in there, he would not have received a handshake. It seems, since this is what keeley said was the "low point" or whatever, that Duke doesn't normally behave this way, so, one time thing, not really worth getting all worked up over.
Keeley gets good access as a local beat writer and writes some good stuff. It feels to me that she goes all contrarian every now and again primarily to show range as a writer because she doesn't want to work for the N O much longer.
She obviously has an okay relationship with Coach K. I have no idea who called her in for that little interview. I know that Kevin White would never behave that way, and doubt K would either, but who knows.
I doubt it was a sexist sentiment and can guarantee that if Adrian Woj were in there, he would not have received a handshake. It seems, since this is what keeley said was the "low point" or whatever, that Duke doesn't normally behave this way, so, one time thing, not really worth getting all worked up over.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
I would posit that Keeley is the one who gets to decide if it is something to get worked up over.
Huh.... Keeley writes something Duke objects to, they call her and two of her editors in for a meeting to air their grievance, and the atmosphere (as Keeley herself puts it) is "contentious"...
If I worked in an industry that was in dire straits, and had upset an important business partner to the point where they called me and two of my superiors in for a meeting, I'd probably look for an out, too.
Editor1, post-meeting: "You know Laura, for the near future, you really need to make sure you are buttoned up when it comes to fact-checking and one of the highest profile programs in the country."
Keeley: "Wait, this isn't my fault! You saw them refrain from shaking my hand at the end of the meeting! They're clearly sexist!"
If I worked in an industry that was in dire straits, and had upset an important business partner to the point where they called me and two of my superiors in for a meeting, I'd probably look for an out, too.
Editor1, post-meeting: "You know Laura, for the near future, you really need to make sure you are buttoned up when it comes to fact-checking and one of the highest profile programs in the country."
Keeley: "Wait, this isn't my fault! You saw them refrain from shaking my hand at the end of the meeting! They're clearly sexist!"
Why? I'm assuming you weren't one of the five other people there, so how would you know?