In this country, no level of stupidity ever surprises me. But today I was actually shocked by stupidity. Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com sportswriter Don Seeholzer actually reported that Sir Charles in Charge is Charles Barkley’s blog (post has been removed after the fact, but here’s a PDF…Update: nevermind, they’ve made the same mistake twice!), despite all the signs to the contrary. Forget the SCIC About page which lists the names of five bloggers — zero with the initials C.B. Forget the disclaimer at the bottom of the same page, which reads…

“This site is also not affiliated with Charles Barkley in any way.”

Forget that the referenced post was titled “Uncontested Shots – NBA News, Notes, and Observations From a Self-Described B-Ball Geek,” with “By Andrew Ungvari” listed right underneath the post title in bold font. Forget that Barkley himself has talked about being a caveman technologically. Forget how much money it would take for the FanSided.com Sports Network to get the Chuckster to blog.

Throw all of that out the window, baby. If the site is named after Sir Charles, it must be Sir Charles’ site! Simple logic.

Sorry, Don Seeholzer, but I see holes in your journalism. Sorry, couldn’t resist. But, seriously, how did you miss all of those signs? Furthermore, why not drop the owners of the site an e-mail just to cover your ass and do a little fact-checking? And what about the editors? Does Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com even have editors? Are they working today? If so, are they sober?

I am just blown away that this monumental eff-up got as far as it did. Check it out for yourself (we’ve grabbed a snapshot because we knew they’d take it down after our post)…

Say what you will about bloggers, but I’ve never seen a reputable blogger make a mistake like this one. In fact, it’s been my experience that bloggers go the extra mile when it comes to research. Most bloggers also do a great job of identifying and linking sources, which was obviously not the case here. All this is worth noting because the mainstream media blasts the practices and standards of bloggers on a regular basis.

If Barkely did blog for this site, he’d only have one word to say about your journalism, Seeholzer — “turrible.”



