Why do beat reporters appear to be wrong about everything?

[Dynasty DeLorean]

I'm being a little facetious, but shouldn't these people be the most plugged in? Some of their calls are hilariously bad. Like how they would be "shocked" if Hoyer didn't start game 2. Or how Andre Williams was going to take Rashad Jennings starting job. All sorts of wacky things.

[Telperion]

If you remember that the primary goal of all news media is to generate traffic which drives advertising revenue, there's little incentive to be accurate.

[ericanadian]

There's more incentive to be outrageous than accurate.

[Cameron Giles]

It's easy. Coaches do not reveal their gameplan to reporters, yet websites like Rotoworld frequently pretend in their blurbs that they do. Reporters are guessing just like the rest of us, except they're in position to make a more sophisticated guess. It's still a guess either way and those predictions can come with a hidden bias, since we have no idea what each reporter thinks of a player.

[thebeast]

Clicks and followers are king. If you call it before it happens people remember that and follow you despite all the misses.

[Dynasty DeLorean]

If you remember that the primary goal of all news media is to generate traffic which drives advertising revenue, there's little incentive to be accurate.

Yeah I guess sometimes I forget that.

[snitchinsider]

Because people can be good at their job or bad at their job. Some just report facts. Few watch college game tape and scout out players, because that's not their job, their job is often to just regurgitate information given to them or inferred from practices.

[Phaded]

There's more incentive to be outrageous than accurate.

And this is why I don't trust the word of beat reporters.

[Kierke]

Also, beat reporters jobs are dependent upon their access to staff and players. Therefore, they are incentivized to say whatever it is they're told by the staff/players.

[ninotoreS]

This is one gripe thread I'll join in with.

The locally based reporters for like half of the NFL's teams seem to be no more clued in than the average internet random. Noticed this for years. It bugs me a lot.

I've come to the conclusion that the journalism profession, particularly when it comes to entertainment (i.e. I include sports in this category), has a really low competency floor. Communications isn't a very challenging college major, and unfortunately it shows.

[Rye300]

Depends on the beat reporter for me. When Jim Wyatt was the beat reporter for the Titans he always have great info and blurbs. Usually was spot on. Some just aren't as good as others, that's life.

[HereForTheComments]

I think it just depends on the team and how open they are to the public. I am sure being the beat reporter for the Cowboys is pretty easy since Jerry Jones loves to talk. On the flipside, I would hate to be the beat reporter for the Patriots..... that is a true guessing game lol

[dynastyninja]

Journalism as a whole has declined. When I was younger (don't worry about how long ago that was) a journalist's primary job was to present the facts in an accurate way through thorough fact checking.

Nowadays there is a much heavier focus on opinion and speed. Whatever gets people watching. First Take is a perfect example of what has happened to journalism. People only want outrageous statements that they can tweet and agree or disagree with.

Is Trent Richardson the worst running back ever? Obviously not, but First Take is glad whoever it is said that. That generated a lot of buzz for them and made them more money.