On Thursday morning, long-time NFL reporter Jim Trotter tweeted out an email he got from an NBA reporter, asking for Junior Seau’s contact information in order to get a comment about the NFL investing in the cannabis industry.
(it’s actually $1 million rather than $1 billion, but I digress)
Young journalists, please do your homework before reaching out to potential sources. Google search is your friend. pic.twitter.com/snFud305ht
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) February 3, 2022
Seau, the Pro Football Hall of Famer, committed suicide in May of 2012. His life was even the focus of a somewhat recent 30 for 30!
Amateur sleuths soon discovered, through Trotter’s less than thorough use of the iPhone marker too, that the reporter was Chris Sheridan of Boardroom.tv (and according to his Twitter bio, Maxim and Betway).
When Trotter replied and told Sheridan to Google Seau, he replied that he preferred to rely on his own interviews while also citing his 30 years of experience. Oh dear.
Followup: When I emailed the person and said to Google the name, this is what I got in return. Should I tell him? pic.twitter.com/OhweB56dgK
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) February 3, 2022
Finally, it seems like Trotter let Sheridan know about Seau’s fate.
Final update: just received this response … pic.twitter.com/7dPeHB10dL
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) February 3, 2022
I mean….yeah, you don’t want to get all of your information via Google. But how do you not even Google the interview subject in question and try to find a social media account or website to contact them directly? You go right to Jim Trotter for contact info?
Yikes. Just yikes.
As for Sheridan, his author page on Boardroom is now coming up as a 404 error.
One Google search could have saved everyone a whole lot of time and caused far less embarrassment.
About Joe Lucia
I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.