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<\/a>USA TODAY\u2019s Erik Brady wrote an opinion piece<\/a><\/strong> Friday that raised a lot of eyebrows, suggesting that Brett Kavanaugh should \u201cstay off basketball courts for now when kids are around.\u201d That turned a quiet weekend into a shouting match on social media.<\/p>\n The Blaze<\/strong><\/a> summarizes what happened:<\/p>\n A USA Today sports writer incited outrage Saturday after he suggested that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh should never be allowed to coach children\u2019s sports again due to the \u201ccredible\u201d accusations of sexual misconduct against him.<\/p>\n The suggestion ignited a firestorm of controversy.<\/p>\n The writer, USA Today sports reporter Erik Brady,\u00a0said Kavanaugh should never<\/a>\u00a0coach girl\u2019s basketball again absent an FBI investigation into sexual assault allegations against him. It\u2019s a possibility that Kavanaugh himself lamented during his opening statement before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. Senate may yet confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but he should stay off basketball courts for now when kids are around,\u201d Brady wrote. \u201cThe nation is newly vigilant on who coaches and trains its children given recent scandals in gymnastics and other sports.\u201d<\/p>\n Brady goes on to interview Edward McFadden, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Washington. McFadden told Brady that Kavanaugh underwent an extensive background check in order to coach his daughter\u2019s basketball team. And because Kavanaugh has a clean background and no criminal record, he remains eligible to coach.<\/p>\n \u201cBut should he?\u201d Brady questioned. \u201cThe nation is deeply divided. Sometimes it feels like we don\u2019t agree on anything anymore. But credibly accused sex offenders should not coach youth basketball, girls or boys, without deeper investigation. Can\u2019t we all agree on that?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The Daily Caller<\/strong><\/a> adds:<\/p>\n A Friday USA Today article stating that Judge Brett Kavanaugh \u201cshould stay off basketball courts for now when kids are around\u201d was re-edited the next day and the original tweet to the piece was deleted.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. Senate may yet confirm Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, but he should stay off basketball courts for now when kids are around,\u201d USA Today sports reporter Erik Brady\u00a0wrote in the piece which has since been changed to an opinion column.<\/p>\n \u201cA previous tweet contained a statement that has since been edited out of a sports column,\u201d tweeted USA Today on Saturday. \u201cThat tweet has been deleted. The updated opinion column and editor\u2019s clarification are here.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The clarification<\/a><\/strong> now introduces the re-edited column:<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh has told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee he loves coaching his daughters\u2019 girls basketball teams, but said in testimony Thursday \u201cthanks to what some of you on this side of the committee have unleashed, I may never be able to coach again.\u201d\u00a0 The intent of this commentary was to address that question. The column was re-edited to more closely reflect that intent and labeled to reflect it as the writer\u2019s opinion.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The newspaper this morning printed an explanation<\/a> <\/strong>of what went wrong:<\/p>\n We published Friday night a column about Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh after the judge testified last week that all the scrutiny cast on his past could impact his ability to coach youth basketball.<\/p>\n The column set out to answer the question Kavanaugh raised:\u00a0Could he still coach<\/a>? However, the story\u00a0and social media post connected to it could be construed as implying more.<\/p>\n Our sports writer wrote a column on the\u00a0accusations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted Christine Blasey Ford while they were in high school and how that could\u00a0now possibly impact his ability to coach young athletes. In the author\u2019s opinion, he thought it\u00a0best to wait for the investigations to be concluded before Kavanaugh resumed his role, should he get the green light.<\/p>\n The writer said he never intended to\u00a0malign\u00a0Kavanaugh.\u00a0But the way a sentence was written could be read to imply that the judge needed to stay away from children.<\/p>\n The column was shared thousands of times on Twitter.<\/p>\n Early Saturday, USA TODAY Editor Nicole Carroll called a group of us \u2014\u00a0including Sports, Visuals Desk and Digital Team \u2014\u00a0to review the opinion piece. We all agreed\u00a0the language used went further than the intent of the column, and it\u00a0needed to be updated. As a rule, we avoid taking stories down. Instead we add an editor\u2019s note atop the digital story to tell the reader that the story has been updated.<\/p>\n Carroll asked that\u00a0two lines be removed from the column plus the tweet that used the most unclear line from the story, along with a photo of Kavanaugh with a team of girls that he coached. We felt the team photo wasn\u2019t appropriate for the topic of the column.<\/p>\n Our veteran sports writers\u00a0also occasionally write opinions. However, we were not clear in letting readers know that. Nor could you tell from reading\u00a0the reporter\u2019s\u00a0Twitter or Facebook profile\u00a0that he occasionally writes columns.<\/p>\n To be transparent, we removed the photo, removed two lines from the column, and made it clear in the headline that the column was opinion. We also deleted the original tweet. Then we disclosed these actions to our readers\u00a0on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and in the\u00a0column\u00a0itself<\/a>.<\/p>\n And today?\u00a0Members of our team have been threatened on social media. We have had to notify law enforcement.<\/p>\n As journalists, we know what we sign up for. We seek truth and\u00a0consider threats part of doing our job.<\/p>\n We get it right more often than not, and I write this because when we miss, you need to know that, too.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n This morning, one of those quoted in the column, Ed McFadden from the Archdiocese of Washington, weighed in on Facebook:<\/p>\n So I spent part of Saturday dealing with USA Today on this column after it was published. They were unethical on a couple of levels. How? First, the reporter I spoke with never told me my comments would be used for an opinion article (I never spoke to the actual op-ed writer, but to a sports reporter who likewise wasn\u2019t told what his reporting would be used for). Had I known, I certainly would have had a different view on the issue and whether I cooperated. Second, they misquoted me on at least two occasions. Knowingly. Third, they misled readers about The Archdiocese of Washington\u2019s child protection policies despite my giving them accurate information. Because the information didn\u2019t fit with the author\u2019s narrative he simply ignored it.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It took me half a day to get them to correct the record. Meanwhile, they were dealing with their own issues for having portrayed Brett Kavanaugh as a pedophile. When you have to revise an opinion article four times, you should know you have an issue.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, this has been the quality of journalism I have had to deal with for the past three months.<\/p>\n *Addendum: the sports reporter I spoke with was apologetic and cooperative. He felt he was taken advantage of by the op-ed department. That said, he should have been transparent and never should have surrendered his notes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Meanwhile, I can\u2019t help but notice that nowhere in the USA TODAY statement, explanation or clarification is there any expression of remorse, regret or anything close to an apology.<\/p>\n And journalists wonder why so many in America hate them.<\/p>\n As someone who has spent most of his life toiling in the news business, for better or for worse, let me just say: that sucks. All of it. USA TODAY can and should do better. Insinuating that a public figure may be a pedophile \u2014with absolutely no evidence \u2014 is no small thing.\u00a0This morning, the newspaper should be serving its staff a breakfast buffet of crow, with generous helpings of humility and free refills of shame.<\/p>\n And while threats on social media should never be taken lightly, when a publication engages in the irresponsible near occasion of slander, the last thing it should do is play the victim card.<\/p>\n Journalism in 2018. Heckuva job, USA TODAY. Heckuva job.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" USA TODAY\u2019s Erik Brady wrote an opinion piece Friday that raised a lot of eyebrows, suggesting that Brett Kavanaugh should \u201cstay off basketball courts for now when kids are around.\u201d That turned a quiet weekend into a shouting match on social media. The Blaze summarizes what happened: A USA Today sports writer incited outrage Saturday […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":291225,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1],"tags":[11926,11178],"class_list":["post-291216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-media","category-uncategorized","tag-brett-kavanaugh","tag-journalism"],"yoast_head":"\n\n