Quote:
Originally Posted by Ashasx
The best journalists talk about what the feel. How others feel. I can't imagine wanting journalists just to report facts without any commentary. |
I don't think that's true. Rick Westhead is one of the best and only journalists to dig deep and cover all of this and he seems to be patiently waiting without throwing too much judgement Calgary's way. Bad journalists don't do the digging and make outrage statements to garner clicks. People don't actually know the details. "The best" journalists don't know any of the inside details regarding Calgary's statement. The Flames post doesn't look great from the outside, but Dube was the first to take leave and likely said it was for his mental health. He probably knew he was being charged, but it's just as likely that he didn't disclose that information to the Flames. The Flames would have had an inkling that this was related to the charges, but if it wasn't charge related and they denied the same treatment that Kylington had received, it would be a terrible look for the organization. It's also possible that legal action could have then been taken against the Flames. I'm not positive, but I think Dube is the one who put the Flames in this tough position and they then chose the route that made the most sense legally.
I can think of scenarios where the Flames statement would make sense. If Dube had a nervous breakdown at a practice and the team didn't know that he had just received word that he was charged, the right thing to do would be to get him in touch with specialists while granting him a mental health leave. If he made a suicidal threat in the vicinity of the team because his world felt like it was crashing down, the best course of action would be to get him in touch with health professionals while making a statement about his mental health. It could also have been Dube's lawyers telling him that a statement like that could help him in court. Who knows? I don't. I think the flames probably felt trapped by Dube's request. If they knew he would eventually be charged, only a stupid person could truly think that the Flames organization believed they would gain reputation from the statement they made. For what? A few days? It just doesn't make any sense to waste anger on something we don't yet know much about. I'm not even sure the Flames will ever be legally able to disclose the information many people want.
The saddest thing about the outrage against the Flames is that within the context of the internet it doesn't look much different than the outrage against the 5 who are accused.