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The ongoing dispute between quarterback Deshaun Watson (who wants to be traded) and the Texans (who want him to stay) will be some of the biggest news in the NFL offseason. And if there is no real news to report, the news can be made.
This is the recent lesson from ESPN, which has run wild with the rumor that the Panthers will offer Christian McCaffrey’s running back and three first-round choices for the Texans for Watson. The conversation goes back to ESPN reporter David Newton, but Newton did not report that this would happen.
Instead, Newton included him in a list of bold predictions for all 32 teams published by ESPN.com. The article to which Newton contributed brought a disclaimer, “remember that these are bold suggestions of what can happen”.
But this disclaimer did not stop the trade conversation from taking off on Twitter. Newton tried to contain the story by tweeting a reminder that it was “a bold prediction and not a report, ”But it soon became the biggest topic of conversation on ESPN.
Forgive the interruption made McCaffrey-for-Watson change its main story today, and programs like Rise and First take have similarly emphasized history.
But it is not a story. It was just a reporter’s “adventurous suggestion” of something that could happen.
Turning a forecast into a report provides a lot of content during the off-season, but it doesn’t do much to inform the public about what is really going to happen with Watson.