What's Worse, The Controversy or the Coverage?

I'll be honest, I've never been a huge college football fan. But I'm aware of who Joe Paterno is, and how he's been a fixture in college football for decades, and how huge a deal it is that his tenure ended tonight.

Since I don't have a vested interest in the story, I will say this. It's sad that his tenure has to end this way, but given the circumstances, it had to be done. These kids that suffered under Sandusky will never be the same, and you can't help but feel bad for them. At the same time, you know that there needs to be changes due to this. As such, I can not only understand but agree with the decision to let Paterno go.

That being said, a lot of the reactions around the country are pretty bad. I can't blame the gathering of students throughout the Penn State campus, but they need to realize the context of what's happening at the same time. There's more to this than football. Kids' lives have been negatively impacted by what Sandusky did, and by the leniency from Penn State.
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The sports world has changed drastically since JoePa started at PSU in 1950. Back then, you have newspapers that reported on goings-on daily, but TV and radio were just scratching the surface. We were a ways off from the 24-7 SportsCenter coverage, and now with Twitter, we can see comments coming from everywhere. What interested me most was some of what I saw on Twitter from a couple friends from my WONC days:

@jzipser: "These reporters at the PSU presser are an embarrassment. It's too bad some @NewhouseSU students aren't there."
 "These #PennState reporters are unbelievable,  this is becoming embarrassing... coming from a journalism student #perspective" (retweet from @brennansomers)
"Are these 'actual' reporters asking questions?!? Holy cow...feels like a bad SNL skit. Kids were abused folks. Ruined. U sound like fools" (retweet from @MichelleDBeadle)

@Shep670: "'Concerns over protests', 'Was there any further evidence'...GTF outta here..."
"'Are you aware kids are rioting right now??'  What my response would be:  http://t.co/mw69gluh"
"Happy Valley makes Rick Perry look intelligent tonight.  #PennSt"

I didn't see the press conference by the Board of Trustees live, but after seeing tweets, I wasn't sure I wanted to. I did go back to see it when ESPN reaired it. The initial reaction to the announcement was pathetic, as were many of the questions asked (as you can tell by these tweets).

If you are looking to go into journalism as a major, whether it be for print, online, or broadcast like I did, probably the most important thing to remember is to BE OBJECTIVE. It's fine to have your preconceived notions or opinions on certain people or topics, but when you enter the room where the press conference is being held, you leave your biases at the door. You ask important questions that will help explain the who, what, when, where, why, and how of the story, and clarify anything murky. You don't go in with complaints at the announcements, and you don't ask a stupid question like "What would the harm be in having Joe coach on Saturday?" It's a sad day in Happy Valley, but in parts of the journalism world, it's an ever more somber day.