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The effects of poor practice in public relations: the Pennsylvania State football scandal

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The effects of poor practice in public relations: the Pennsylvania State football scandal

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Content The Effects of Poor Practice In Public Relations: The Pennsylvania State Football Scandal By: Erica A. Scheer A Thesis Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS (STRATEGIC PUBLIC RELATIONS) August 2014 Copyright 2014 Erica Scheer ii Dedication I would like to dedicate this thesis to my amazing family. They have encouraged me endlessly to go after what I want, and to finish what I start. I wouldn’t be where I am without them, and for that I am eternally grateful. iii Acknowledgements I would first like to thank my committee chair, Burghardt Tenderich, for working with me so diligently, even when time was not on our side. The feedback and advice I have received from BT, not only during the time of my thesis, but throughout my time at USC have been truly invaluable. I would also like to thank Jennifer Floto her guidance as well as the inspiration and idea behind this thesis, as well as Daren Brabham, who I frantically rushed my thesis to during the last week of review. Their patience and dedication that they provided when they too were presented with a time limit, was essential in the completion of this thesis. Lastly I would like to thank Jay Wang for taking the time to provide an interview and insights during this process. Having had Jay for two classes, I knew his opinion in my paper would prove to be invaluable. iv Table of Contents Dedication ii Acknowledgements iii I. Introduction 1 II. Background 2 A. The Penn State Legacy 2 B. Key Characters 4 C. Timeline 7 D. The First Statements 8 III. Media Coverage of the Scandal 11 A. Methodology 12 B. Headlines 14 C. Leads 20 D. Full Copy 29 IV. Social Media 39 4A. Methodology 39 4B. Facebook 40 4C. Twitter 41 V. NCAA Sanctions 44 VI. Reactions 45 6A. Players 45 6B. Students 46 6C. Faculty and Staff 47 6D. Alumni 48 VII. Fallout 49 7A. Effects on Penn State 49 7B. Effects on Pennsylvania 50 VIII. Conclusion 51 A. Effects of Football Programs at Division I Schools 51 B. Effects of PSU Public Relations 52 Appendix 55 Bibliography 61 v List of Figures Figure 1: Twitter Feedback #1 42 Figure 2: Twitter Feedback #2 42 Figure 3: Twitter Feedback #3 42 Figure 4: Twitter Feedback #4 43 Figure 5: Twitter Feedback #5 43 Figure 6: Twitter Feedback #6 44 vi Abstract The following white paper explores the effects of poor public relations practice as it pertained to the Pennsylvania State University football scandal. More specifically, it looks at how the media can monopolize on poor communication and action taken by a group of people, or in this case the university. After the news broke that former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky had been sexually abusing children, focus in both traditional and social media shifted from the actual events of the abuse to the actions, or lack thereof, of the university and its administration. The majority of the analysis focuses on how the media portrayed the scandal to its readers and why they expressed such opinions. The purpose of this study was to examine what the university did or didn’t do, to cause such a negative reaction amongst the media and their audiences. The other side is to better understand what they could have done better, and to explore and provide insights gained from the content analysis on good practice policies. The author focused on how the media not only portrayed the scandal, but how they may have changed and evolved in their stories as the school took certain steps, how and when information was released and how the whole case unfolded right through the trial dates. The other key findings were surrounded by how non-‐media members responded to these articles and their feedback. The major conclusion found was the university’s choice to selectively release information, or stay completely quiet, allowed the media to fill that empty space with their own thoughts and opinions that, while not surprising, were overwhelmingly negative and therefore the general public felt generally the same way. 1 Introduction I have always been very involved in sports, both on and off the field. I played sports my entire life, and both enjoyed playing and understanding the sociological aspect behind sports and players. I was able to observe that athletes got treated differently. They were popular not only amongst their peers, but with the teachers as well. More things were able to slide with them than students who did not play sports. I realized that athletes are held in high regard, and it wasn’t such a far-‐fetched idea that sometimes the athlete or sports are put above all else. I went on to play soccer in college, and having that experience of being a college athlete, I found I was very aware of the surge of crises in college sports in the last decade. Cheating, abuse, boosters and sex scandals were all over the media. I became interested in how these scandals affected the team, the program and the school. Were these athletes and coaches excused for their behavior because of their athletic standing? Was the athletic program at the school placed above safety and integrity? I have always been very passionate about football. I watch the games, dissect statistics, and invest time in learning about players off the field via personal social media, media interviews, TV, and the rare occasions where I get to observe first hand. I am also interested in the sociological aspect of both the game itself and the impact of the game on the players. It was this interest and focus, that I decided to narrow my thesis down to one of the most notorious football scandal crises of the last decade: The Pennsylvania State University football sexual assault scandal. While it is understood the public relations surrounding this crisis was problematic, there is more to it. The handling of sports crises, especially at schools with famous 2 programs, can have a severe impact on much more than just the football program itself. Of course many aspects can go into the severity of the impact: NCAA rulings and how the school handles the crisis; the continued monetary support, or lack thereof, from alumni; and the general support of the student body, faculty, and staff. However, when it comes down to the bottom line, how the public relations department handles the case can either have positive effects, or negatively affect not just a program or a school, but an entire state, as was done with PSU. While I believe that Penn State was doing what they thought best for the school, that tunnel vision kept them from seeing the larger impact. The following thesis will explore the missteps that happened from the very beginning and how, as a whole, they were damaging to the football program, the school and the state of Pennsylvania. I. Background A. The Penn State Legacy Penn State has a renowned 127-‐year-‐old football team. The Nittany Lions are a division-‐one football team in the Big 10 conference. They have had seven untied, undefeated seasons (1887, 1912, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1986, 1994). 1 They have been national champions four times (1911, 1912, 1982, 1986), and conference champions three times (1994, 2005, 2008). Their bowl game record is 27 wins, 14 losses, and 2 ties. Penn State has sent 27 players to the NFL and of those, nine players were linebackers, giving the program the nickname “Linebacker-‐U.” 2 The most notorious years of the Penn State lie 1 http://www.gopsusports.com/blog/2011/11/a-‐town-‐and-‐university-‐growing-‐with-‐ 2 http://espn.go.com/nfl/college/_/letter/p 3 under the coaching of Joe Paterno. Paterno coached the Nittany Lions for 45 years. Of his 539 games he coached, his team won 401, lost 135 and tied three times. 3 As well as being an outstanding football team, Penn State was known as having academically sound student-‐athlete football players. From 2001-‐2004 Penn State football players had an 87 percent graduation success rate. They tied with Stanford for No. 10 overall among the nation's 120 Football Bowl Subdivision. This was significantly higher than the 67 percent FBS average and was only second to Northwestern among Big Ten Conference institutions. The Lions have had 49 Academic All-‐American football players, which ranks third among all FBS institutions. The Lions have also had 15 Academic All-‐ Americans over the past six years, and 13 first-‐team selections, leading the nation. They also had one first-‐team ESPN Academic All-‐American in seven of the past eight seasons. 4 The good name of the Nittany Lion football team came crumbling down on November 4, 2011 when a grand jury report was made public accusing famed assistant coach, Jerry Sandusky, of sexually abusing a number of boys – and that Penn state may have had knowledge of said abuse for years and covered it up. A 23-‐page report regarding the investigation and exposing graphic details were released by Louis Freeh, and became known as the Freeh Report. As the details unraveled, it was revealed a handful of school officials allegedly had knowledge of the abuse and didn’t report it properly to the police, come out to the public and acknowledge it, and immediately fired the appropriate staff member. It is important to understand the key characters in this scandal before delving into how it was handled. 3 http://www.nationalchamps.net/NCAA/database/pennstate_database.htm 4 http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-‐footbl/spec-‐rel/061312aab.html 4 B. Key Characters Jerry Sandusky was the assistant coach at Penn State from 1969-‐1999. He received the Assistant Coach of the Year award in both 1986 and 1999. He has authored several books that relate to his coaching experiences. In 1977 Sandusky started “The Second Mile” program for at risk youths. The program started as a group foster home for boys and expanded to become a charity for boys with dysfunctional family lives, though both eventually opened up to girls as well. It was open to boys as young as seven and was available to them through high school, and served more than 500 children every year. Sandusky’s foster home was right near the Penn State football stadium, while the charity benefitted children across the state. The charity held weeklong summer camps for boys on the Penn State campus where they would do normal camp activities as well as being able to participate in football drills. 5 This is where many of the victims say they first met Sandusky, who allegedly gained the trust of these boys by using his status as a Penn State football coach. Many idolized the Penn State program and aspired to play for the Lions one day. Sandusky was able to be alone with boys on campus, at the schools participating in the second mile program, in his house where he hosted children for sleepovers, on weekend trips and day trips to football games and at the foster home that continued to house foster children. The first allegations of abuse came from the boys in this program. He allegedly molested young boys, including his adopted son, in his home, on trips, as well as on Penn State property. The program continued until 2011, when the scandal broke. Sandusky was accused of molesting 10 boys over a 15-‐year period. 5 http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/06/19/12284171-‐ghosts-‐of-‐sanduskys-‐ dreams-‐haunt-‐empty-‐home-‐where-‐his-‐charity-‐was-‐born 5 So, who were the key players in this crisis? As mentioned above, Joe Paterno was the Penn State football coach for nearly 46 seasons where he secured 409 wins, more than any other football bowl subdivision football coach. After the scandal broke, Paterno said he would be retiring after the 2011 season. However, he was fired from his job four days after Sandusky's arrest. He was allegedly told of an incident of Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the PSU football showers years earlier. Paterno passed away shortly after he was fired, on January 22, 2012. Graham Spanier was the president of Penn State University from September 1, 1995, to November 9, 2011. He was also fired along with Paterno, and he, too, allegedly knew of earlier abuse. Gary Schultz was the senior vice president for finance and business, which gives him oversight of university police. He served as Penn State's senior vice president and treasurer from 1993 to 2009, when he retired. Schultz returned to the same job in 2011, on a temporary basis. He has been charged with covering up abuse allegations. Tim Curley was the athletic director of PSU since December 30, 1993. He denied being told of sexual misconduct by Sandusky in 2002 but is accused of covering up allegations tied to the scandal. Mike McQueary was a graduate assistant for the Lions in 2002 and eventually became an assistant coach. He allegedly told Paterno that he had witnessed Sandusky abusing a boy in a Penn State locker room shower. Paterno informed Curley, who later met with McQueary and Schultz. 6 6 http://www.npr.org/2011/11/08/142111804/penn-‐state-‐abuse-‐scandal-‐a-‐guide-‐and-‐ timeline 6 Tom Corbett is the governor of Pennsylvania since 2011. He was attorney general when state prosecutors launched the investigation into Sandusky. He convened a grand jury in 2009 to investigate abuse rumors surrounding Sandusky, but received criticism for the three-‐year time span between investigation and indictment and for approving a $3 million grant to Second Mile. How did all of the allegations become tied together? Louis Freeh led the internal investigation in the PSU scandal. His law firm released a 267-‐page report that was characterized as deeply critical of the administration of former university president Spanier, AD Tim Curley, Paterno, and former university VP Gary Schultz. The final player in this crisis scenario is Linda Kelly, Pennsylvania’s attorney general whose office prosecuted Sandusky. 7 Because this case is so complex, the author has prepared a detailed timeline on the following pages: 7 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1207/cfb-‐penn-‐state-‐ scandal-‐key-‐players/content.11.html 7 C. Timeline 8 1994-‐ 1997 Sandusky engages in inappropriate conduct with different boys he met separately through the Second Mile Program 1998 Penn State police and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare investigate an incident in which the mother of an 11-‐year-‐old boy reports that Sandusky showered with her son. 1998 Psychologist Alycia Chambers tells Penn State police that Sandusky acted the way a pedophile might, in her assessment of a case in which the mother of a young boy reported that Sandusky showered with her son, and may have had inappropriate contact with him. A second psychologist, John Seasock, reported he found no indication of child abuse. Sandusky is interviewed and admits showering naked with the boy, saying it was wrong and promising not to do it again. The district attorney advises investigators that no charges will be filed and the university police chief instructs that the case be closed. 1999 Sandusky retires from Penn State after coaching there for 32 years, but receives emeritus status, with full access to the campus and football facilities. 2000 James Calhoun, a janitor at Penn State, tells his supervisor and another janitor that he saw Sandusky sexually abusing a young boy in the Lasch Building showers. No one reports the incident to university officials or law enforcement. 2002 Graduate assistant Mike McQueary tells Coach Joe Paterno that on March 1, 2002, he witnessed the rape of a 10-‐year-‐old boy by Jerry Sandusky in the Lasch Building showers at Penn State. 2002 Paterno reports the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley. Later, McQueary meets with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. McQueary testifies that he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky and the boy engaged in anal sex, Curley and Schultz testify they were not told of such an allegation. Instead, Curley said he had the 8 http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/28/us/penn-‐state-‐scandal-‐fast-‐facts/ 8 impression the conduct amounted to "horsing around." Schultz said he couldn't remember details. Sandusky's locker room keys are confiscated and the incident is reported to The Second Mile, but no law enforcement investigation is launched. 2005 Sandusky befriends another Second Mile participant whose allegations would form the foundation of the multi-‐year grand jury investigation. 2006 Sandusky begins to spend more time with the boy, taking him to sporting events and giving him gifts. During this period, Sandusky allegedly performs oral sex on the boy more than 20 times, and the boy performs oral sex on him once. 2008 The boy breaks off contact with Sandusky. Later, his mother calls the boy's high school to report her son had been sexually assaulted and the principal bars Sandusky from campus and reports the incident to police. The ensuing investigation reveals 118 calls from Sandusky's home and cell phone numbers to the boy's home. 2011 Sandusky informs The Second Mile that he is under investigation, and he is removed from all program activities involving children, according to the group. 2011 The grand jury report is released on November 4, 2011 – After investigation first start in 2008 2011 Nov. 8, 2011 – Penn State releases first statement 2011 Nov. 16 2011, Representatives of Penn State's campus police and State College police say they have no record of having received any report from McQueary about his having witnessed the rape of a boy by former coach Sandusky. 9 D. The First Statements The first statement Penn State officials made on the day the report was released was by its president, Graham Spanier. It was a simple statement and one that they had to get out quickly. He said, “The allegations about a former coach are troubling, and it is appropriate that they be investigated thoroughly. Protecting children requires the utmost vigilance. With regard to the other presentments, I wish to say that Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have my unconditional support. I have known and worked daily with Tim and Gary for more than 16 years. I have complete confidence in how they have handled the allegations about a former university employee. Tim Curley and Gary Schultz operate at the highest levels of honesty, integrity and compassion. I am confident the record will show that these charges are groundless and that they conducted themselves professionally and appropriately.”’ 9 Curley and Schultz were being investigated in the case as possibly having known about the abuse, and backing them in the very first statement was not the best move, especially when the public had thousands of questions. The next statement was released a full three days later. This delay gave plenty of time for the media, the students and alumni of PSU and the social media world to create their own headlines, shape others’ opinions and formulate assumptions. Silence is sometimes golden, and is sometimes a death sentence when you have people searching and begging for answers, especially in an abuse case. It makes it look like they are covering something up. This was the first major misstep by PSU, and got the ball rolling on the eventual media backlash. 9 http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-‐pennstate/PSU-‐president-‐releases-‐statement-‐ on-‐Sandusky.html 10 On Monday, Tuesday 7, 2011, the Board of Trustees released another statement. It was simple and short. It said, “The board, along with the entire Penn State family, is shocked and saddened by the allegations involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky,”’ Steve Garban, the chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement. ‘“Under no circumstances does the university tolerate behavior that would put children at risk, and we are deeply troubled.”’ 10 This statement is essentially the same as the first. It provides no answers, it offers no explanation. In crisis communication quick responses are important, but knowing your narrative is more important. The university released the following statement the next night saying it “was ‘outraged by the horrifying details’ in the grand jury’s report on the case and promised it would take ‘swift, decisive action.’ It said it planned to appoint a special committee to undertake a ‘full and complete investigation.’” 11 Aside from some public denials from head officials at PSU, after this statement was released, the university stayed tight-‐lipped causing speculation and frustration. It was an unfortunate move, as it promoted speculation that there was a cover up and they were figuring out their next move behind closed doors. At this point, four days in to the release of the report, there was complete media frenzy. The following content analysis concentrates on seven publications, both local and national. These publications reported 1,058 stories over a two-‐month time span. The author explores how those publications expressed the situation to their readers, and the potential positive or harmful effects that it had. 10 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/sports/ncaafootball/two-‐officials-‐stepping-‐ down.html?ref=jerrysandusky 11 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/penn-‐state-‐said-‐to-‐be-‐ planning-‐paternos-‐exit.html?ref=jerrysandusky 11 II. Media Coverage of the Scandal Media coverage of the Sandusky scandal varied in tonality and terminology. The analysis will look at major publications within a radius of 400 miles of campus. This is the distance students will usually travel to state schools. The purpose of this analysis is to examine headlines, leads, and overall copy of these publications to give an idea of how the media perceived the handling of the case, and how they decided to portray it to their readers. The timeline of two months allowed media to experience the initial silence from the school, followed by action, reaction and eventually the start of the trial. This span is important to see if the media changed their tone as the school became more and more proactive, or if they stuck to their original opinions and saw Penn State’s sudden activity as a cover up for their lack of initial action. The following publications will be used to analyze the headlines, leads and copy: The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Boston Globe, and the Hartford Courant. The national sports entities explored will be: Sports Illustrated, and ESPN.com, and the national publication will be Time Magazine. The way Penn State was exposed to readers could certainly help create potential negative effects to the program, school and state. It is important to understand the audiences of these publications, in order to properly analyze how much the copy would resonate with the readers and how many audience members they reach. The tables in Appendix A outline the demographics for each publication, in some cases both in print and online versions. 12 The charts shown verify that the publications reach a large audience, and most of the local outlets are the number one read paper in their area. The first step of the content analysis will examine the headlines from these news outlets to analyze the tone and terminology, as well as the amount of coverage it received from November 5, 2011, when the report was released to January 22, 2012, the time of Paterno’s death. The amount of time will show the publications that consistently kept up with the scandal as it developed. As one would assume, there was a lot of coverage in the first few weeks, but this will show whether or not the journalists felt strongly enough about the story to keep covering it. A. Methodology The content analysis focuses on the study of the six publications. Secondary research showed the local newspapers were the most circulated in their states. While there are some newspapers that are closer to State College and have a higher daily circulation, the one’s that were chosen for analysis were selected to spread out the coverage state-‐wise. The Hartford Courant reached a total number of 135, 283 readers in 2011. 12 In 2011, the Boston Globe reached 356,652 readers. 13 The New York Times had a total circulation of 916,911 in 2011. The Philadelphia inquirer circulation was 482,457 in 2011. 14 The national outlets were the top publications of their genre, with Sports Illustrated just slightly more 12 http://www.courantalumni.org/2011/05/12/circulation-‐stable-‐for-‐now/ 13 http://dankennedy.net/2011/05/03/globe-‐herald-‐circulation-‐continues-‐to-‐slide/ 14 http://articles.philly.com/2011-‐11-‐02/business/30350637_1_daily-‐news-‐circulation-‐ audit-‐bureau-‐daily-‐figures 13 circulated over ESPN at 3,207,861 15 compared to 2,046,065. 16 Time magazine reached 3,376,226 in 2011. 17 This is an appropriate sample as the publications are equal, in terms of being the top paper in their respective areas. Some reached more than others, but population numbers in each target location also varied. In order to access the articles, the author found each publication’s website. Some archives were readily accessible and others were to be paid for. Each website had a search category for their archives where the author was able to enter the same dates and search terms for each publication. The analysis of the writing was done through looking at the tonality and terminology of each one. The analysis, which contained just one of the terminology and tonality terms, was based on publications in which more than 50% of the articles expressed the same sentiment. The terminology looked at just the words themselves, how they stood alone. The terminology used was in one of three groups. The first is “neutral.” These articles didn’t give much of an opinion but rather facts. The articles laid out what was happening, and the where, when and how parts. The next terminology term is “accusatory.” These articles were strong in opinion and attacked the school and the football program for the situation. This included the scandal itself as well as the handling of the situation and the lack of information coming from the school. The last category is “passive.” These articles did show 15 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/the-‐20-‐biggest-‐magazines-‐ _n_923265.html#s326302&title=AARP_Magazine 16 http://nyjobsource.com/magazines.html 17 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/the-‐20-‐biggest-‐magazines-‐ _n_923265.html#s326302&title=AARP_Magazine 14 opinion but were more passively angry or disgusted in their terminology. The words expressed more sadness than being aggressive. The tonality of the articles also was divided into three categories: positive, neutral, and negative. The positive tonality looked for the silver lining in the situation and edged more on support than anything else. The neutral articles offered no favoritism to either side. These, like the terminology, were fact based and didn’t offer opinion. The articles that were negative in tonality were on the offense. They attacked the school and officials and came off as passionate and aggressive in the articles. These articles also expressed disappointment. In both terminology and tonality, the articles sometimes spanned all three categories in the given time period. Some changed as the university did. As the school opened up more and started to take action, some media outlets changed their opinions on the situation and it was reflected in the articles. Every publication was subjected to the same exact search term. “Jerry Sandusky” was the search term used and only articles published in the two-‐ month time span were used. B. Headlines The following will explore the terminology and tonality of just the headlines of news stories surrounding the Sandusky case. Headlines of the stories included both the top headline and any sub-‐headlines that were part of the article. The range from November 2011 to January 2012 in order to gauge how the media perceived the case immediately after it was released. 15 The New York Times The Philadelp-‐ hia Inquirer The Boston Globe The Hartfor d Courant Sports lllustrated . com ESPN. com Time magazine Terminology Passive Accusatory Neutral Neutral Accusatory Neutral and Passive Neutral and Passive Tone Negative Negative Neutral Neutral Neutral and negative Neutral, Negative Coverage 226 185 48 37 82 419 61 The New York Times The New York Times headlines seemed to come across more or less neutral as a whole headline, however; upon closer examination of individual terminology, over 50% of articles used passively negative terminology in their headlines to describe the scandal. Words such as sad, strange, miserable, distress, fragile, scandal, numb, and angry were used to foreshadow the rest of the article. While the individual words were not powerfully accusatory, they cast a shadow of negativity. The tonality of the NYT was also negative in a similar way. The majority of headlines reflected the sentiment of this one, “Leading off: Campus Chaos on a Sorry but Necessary Day.” 18 18 http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/leading-‐off-‐as-‐the-‐adults-‐arrive-‐at-‐ penn-‐state-‐the-‐children-‐riot/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0 16 The Philadelphia Inquirer The Inquirer was very opinionated in its tonality and terminology. In approximately 70% of the sample articles that tone and terminology remained aggressive. The terminology expressed this with words and phrases such as “Grow up,” “Go," "Nittany Lying.” They demonstrate anger and instruction. The terminology used is essentially telling the school and officials what they should do, or what the Inquirer thinks they should do. The tonality is remained negative in the headlines. It uses opinionated titles like, “Legislature enabled secrecy and unaccountability at Penn State. 19 ” It also used accusatory statements such as “….Football is More Important Than Morality and the Law.” 20 Another interesting article read, “Penn State Squandered its Window To Best Handle Crisis. 21 ” (November 18, 2011). Not many articles expressed this thought in such blatant words. This is important for analysis, as it looks at what the publication felt about the university’s plan of action and how they were handling the scandal. This is only a couple weeks after the scandal broke, and the university had yet to really make a plan of action. They allowed the media to set the tone of the crisis, and articles such as this emerged. The headline itself suggests that Penn State had some time to think about, discuss and execute a plan for this crisis, yet failed to do so. Instead the scandal was a perfect example of not using best practice in a crisis. 19 http://articles.philly.com/2011-‐12-‐07/sports/30486313_1_tim-‐curley-‐penn-‐state-‐joe-‐ paterno 20 http://articles.philly.com/2011-‐11-‐09/news/30378141_1_joe-‐paterno-‐tim-‐curley-‐jerry-‐ sandusky 21 http://articles.philly.com/2011-‐11-‐18/news/30414927_1_grand-‐jury-‐joe-‐paterno-‐tim-‐ curley 17 The Boston Globe The terminology used in the Globe was neutral. For the majority of the articles, the terminology and tonality was simple and straightforward. As a whole, the Globe presented facts in their headlines, and the headlines were kept short. However, a few articles did express opinion and instruction. One example is, "Stop the Season and Start the Healing.” 22 The tonality of the Globe was split almost evenly between fact oriented and advisory. Opinion showed itself in passive ways, such as this article that demonstrates the Globes approval, “Immediate Removal Was The Correct Next Step.” 23 The Hartford Courant The terminology and tone of the Courant remained neutral for more than 50% of the articles. The strongest commonly used word was "scandal," which was used in most articles in all the publications. As individual words, the terminology was slightly more defensive than others. Words like “stop,” “no,” and “innocent,” were largely used. The tonality in the Courant headlines did not express much of an opinion in the majority of the articles. It does not praise nor does it accuse. The headlines reflect the current situations at the school or in the courtroom such as “Sandusky Seems Determined For Trial.” It was more informative than opinionated. 22 http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/football/articles/2011/11/11/penn_state_shoul d_cancel_remaining_games/ 23 https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/902789929.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&ty pe=current&date=Nov+10%2C+2011&author=Ryan%2C+Bob&pub=Boston+Globe&editio n=&startpage=&desc=Immediate+removal+was+the+correct+step 18 However, one particular headline stands out, where the paper goes beyond the case itself. “Pa. police commissioner criticizes Paterno, Penn State over ex-‐assistant coach's sex abuse case.” 24 (November 8, 2011). The terminology in this headline brings us outside the school and looks at the larger picture of Pennsylvania as a state. It also goes beyond just damning Sandusky; it puts blame on Penn State for what happened. The criticism could relate to a number of things, the most obvious reason being that Paterno and Penn State did report the abuse. The other subtle ideas directly relate to the lack of reporting could be the fact that they enabled Sandusky to do this to other children, that they covered up a scandal to save the image of their famed football program or the fact that the report had come out and the administration still hadn’t taken action. While this headline is still fact-‐based, it is also eye catching in what is says. Sports Illustrated Sports Illustrated used largely accusatory terminology in over 50% of the articles. Commonly used words were “anger,” “sorrow,” “tragedy,” “missteps,” “flawed,” “scandal,” and “shame.” The words ranged from passionate to condemnatory. Sports Illustrated has two defined tonalities. The first is neutral and the other is negative. An example of a neutral headline reads, “Sandusky Denies Retirement Linked to Investigation.” This represented about 50% of articles. They did not express personal opinion nor did they offer opinions of others. The other 50% were negative. Headlines reflected the sentiment in these examples, “Paterno, Penn State didn’t do what was right in 24 http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/mc-‐penn-‐state-‐sandusky-‐charges-‐ 20111108,0,340466.story 19 sad Sandusky case,” Paterno will be remembered for what he didn’t do,” and “Sports, like life, filled with B.S.” 25 ESPN.com ESPN was similar to other sources in its use of short, simple phrased headlines that reflect pure fact. They were neutral articles, however, much of the terminology as they stood on their own was emotionally charged. Such passive words like “faith, heartbreaking, recovery, happy, underwhelming, 26 ” don’t give off much opinion as they stand, but they were very descriptive that draw in readers more than just fact based words. ESPN.com spanned the spectrum in tonality. While about 50% of the articles were neutral, the remaining articles were split between accusatory, and for the first time, included some positive tonality. Similar to many other stories there were a lot of fact-‐based articles such as, “Sandusky hearing takes place Tuesday.” The positive tonality related to either the university looking forward and what they can do, or the positive aspects that were coming from the scandal such as, “Penn State Nittany Lions Rally Around Program.” Lastly there was a fair share with negative tones like, “Penn State Nittany Lions again deficient in leadership.” 27 25 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/search/?text=jerry+sandusky&x=0&y=0 26 http://search.espn.go.com/results?searchString=jerry%20sandusky&start=64&dims=0&st artDate=11/05/2011&endDate=01/22/2012 27 http://search.espn.go.com/results?searchString=jerry%20sandusky&start=176&dims=0& startDate=11/05/2011&endDate=01/22/2012 20 Time The terminology used in Time was passively negative. Journalists weren’t as accusatory in tone, with strong opinion and demands, but words like “senseless, grieve, threats, assault, and broken,” appeal to a reader’s emotions. The terminology that was used reflected the reality of the seriousness of the scandal. It was in a sense neutral as it described the current feeling, but the individual words gave off a negative perception. The tonality reflected in Time was generally negative. It had negative connotations hidden in neutral words and questions. Questions that asked how to prevent future PSU incidents and whether or not we can trust our kids with coaches all subtly express the horror of the situation in a passive aggressive way, or putting a positive spin on a negative situation -‐ depending on how you look at it. An example of this is “Should Joe Paterno survive the Penn State’s child sex abuse scandal?” and “Can we prevent another Penn State?” 28 These headlines point fingers at Penn State without being outright opinionated. C. Leads The analysis of leads employs the same guidelines as the headlines, but now involve the beginning of the article. The leads exclude the headlines, and focus solely on first paragraph of the article. If the article had a short first paragraph to start, meaning two 28 http://search.time.com/results.html?cmd=tags&No=15&D=jerry+sandusky&sid=143B1A0 4C459&Ntt=jerry+sandusky&Ns=p_date_range|0&Nf=p_date_range|BTWN+20081101+20 120131&p=0&N=0&Nty=1 21 sentences or less, the lead analysis included the first two paragraphs. Part of the analysis will be to see if the leads match the tonality and terminology of the headlines. The New York Times The NYT changed its terminology and tone considerably over the two months. While the headlines took more of a passive and neutral route for the most part, the leads drew in the reader with accusatory words and more aggressive and negative tones. The terminology drastically changed to mostly accusatory. Such words like “inappropriate, silence, appalled, failure, harm and abuse,” expressed far more opinion than fact. They give a serious connotation as opposed to the words that were very passive in the headlines. The tonality stayed primarily negative. It reflected not only the implications for the school, but how the boys would continue to be affected, as well as general statements on how to know if kids are ever safe with supposed authority figures and role models. The leads discussed how the original failure to report caused even more harm to the boys and The New York Times The Philadelph -‐ia Inquirer The Boston Globe The Hartford Courant Sports llustrated. com ESPN. com Time magazine Terminology Accusa-‐ tory Accusatory Accusa-‐ tory Neutral Neutral Neutral and Accusa-‐ tory Neutral and Accusatory Tone Negative Negative Negative Neutral Neutral Neutral, Negative, Positive Negative Coverage 226 185 48 37 82 419 61 22 allowed for future abuse of new victims. Many also discussed how one of the most famous and respected football teams was came completely crumbling down, and the “self-‐ righteous” people who were involved were going down with it. An example of such a lead is, “Graham Spanier…. stepped down Wednesday night in the wake of a sexual-‐abuse scandal involving a prominent former assistant football coach and the university’s failure to act to halt further harm. 29 ” Another article accused Penn State of causing even more harm after the report came out by saying, “A lawyer who is advising some of the young men who said they were sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant football coach at Penn State, said Thursday that the university did not take into account how the firing of the longtime coach Joe Paterno might affect the accusers.” The Philadelphia Inquirer The Inquirer stayed in line with the terminology and tonality that the headlines portrayed. They seem to be more or less one-‐sided when it comes to the opinion pieces. The tonality in the majority of the articles verges on sarcastic. Terminology included religious analogies, which will be discussed later on. They included words like “pope”, “funny,” “canonization,” “sacrament”,” fooled,” and “sideshow.” The tone of the leads was essentially a 50% split between straightforward and overtly sarcastic to the reader. One example reads: “So Joe Paterno is going out on his own terms – assuming his terms are as a tone-‐deaf, misguided enabler of the most abhorrent behavior ever attached 29 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/sports/ncaafootball/penn-‐states-‐joe-‐paterno-‐ wants-‐to-‐retire-‐at-‐end-‐of-‐season.html/ 23 to a sports entity of any kind.” 30 This is a serious statement, which makes use of interesting word choices. It has a sarcastic element without taking away from the ridiculousness of such a statement (the statement being Joe Paterno’s in this case). Similarly is this lead, “If the circumstances were not so horrific, the reports emanating from Penn State the university officials are working to ‘manage the exit’ of football coach Joe Paterno would actually be funny…. The administration 31 on wanted to find a graceful way to end the Paterno era before the program that built into a national powerhouse suffered from his unwillingness to step aside. Well, they are a little late.” There are also many stories that simply criticize PSU’s loyalties and mantra. “In Happy Valley, JoePa is pope. In his 46 th season as head coach, and most likely his last, Joe Paterno can claim 409 career wins for a program annually generating $72 million. To many proud alums, Joe Paterno and his Nittany Lions football program are Penn State. Penn State takes its football very, very seriously. Credible accounts that a former assistant coach was sexually abusing young boys? Not so seriously.” 32 This supports the idea that when an individual or an individual program is held on higher ground, it can ruin the organizational structure that would normally make rational decisions in times of crisis. 30 http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/philabuster/133531816.html 31 http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/bob_ford/20111109_Bob_Ford__Clock_running_ down_for_Paterno.html 32 http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/colleges/penn_state/20111109_Karen_Heller__At_P enn_State__football_is_more_important_than_morality_and_the_law.html 24 The Boston Globe Similar to the NYT, the Globe changed drastically from its neutral non-‐committal headlines, to passionate leads. Part of the tonality, which appears in other publications as well, is the religious analogies. This all relates to how the school, even the state, thought of Joe Paterno. Words like “demigod,” “hero,” “worship” and “saint,” are all commonly used to describe what Paterno meant to the people of Pennsylvania. He was more than a coach. He was Penn State. Fear of tarnishing his name made the crisis worse. The Globe then fell back on harsher terms in their leads, a vast difference from the tame headlines. More than 50% of the leads were littered with words like, “cruel,” “heinous,” “disturbing,” and “tragic.” The terminology in the lead led to a much more serious tone. The tonality reflected the terminology. The tone seemed to represent disgust more than anything else. An example of this is, “There one was a Boston University player who did to Jerry Sandusky what many others recently have talked about doing. He threw punches at him. Long before Sandusky was charged with raping boys in a scandal that has shaken college athletics, disgraced Penn State, and destroyed numerous careers, he was fending off a student-‐athlete during a BC football practice.” 33 Another lead discussed how the “pursuit of athletic glory has created sports subcultures on campuses in which no one is accountable to anyone.” 34 Lastly, their were leads that offered advice with a sharp tongue 33 https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/905044337.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&ty pe=current&date=Nov+21%2C+2011&author=Hohler%2C+Bob&pub=Boston+Globe&editi on=&startpage=&desc=Terriers+recall+Sandusky%27s+BU+days 34 http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/902789930.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&typ 25 like this, “Legendary coach Joe Paterno and school president Graham B. Spanier were fired by the Board of Trustees late Wednesday night, and these same officials would do well to take the next step and announce the cancellation of the remainder of Penn State’s football season…then send pink slips to everyone working on the football staff.” 35 The majority of leads in the Globe were very opinionated and approximately 70% fell in to the negative category. There were still a few that remained neutral, but it the articles shifted heavily to negative. The Hartford Courant The Courant’s leads kept pace with their headlines. They were very simple and straightforward. They often contained quotes from those involved in the case or they were just factually updating their readers. The terminology was simple, but varied depending on where the quotes were coming from. The Courant itself gave very little of its own opinion or wording in the leads, as mentioned above many started with quotes. The quotes ranged from the athletic department to the D.A to Sandusky himself. This also kept the articles neutral, as they didn’t lean towards quotes from one particular party, but accepted quotes from everyone involved. There were a few articles expressing opinion, but even those weren’t aggressive in nature. They contained words such as “disgruntled,” “upset’ and “reprehensible.” e=current&date=Nov+10%2C+2011&author=&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=& desc=Penn+State+shows+danger+of+putting+sports+beyond+reproach 35 http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/903096878.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&typ e=current&date=Nov+11%2C+2011&author=Shaughnessy%2C+Dan&pub=Boston+Globe &edition=&startpage=&desc=Stop+the+season+and+start+the+healing 26 Most articles started in a similar fashion to this example: “Penn State University says it has found no record that Mike McQueary filed a police report with campus police after seeing former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky allegedly raping a 10-‐year-‐old boy in a shower in the football building.” Straightforward and fact driven, it gave readers a realistic update on what was going on. From these types of leads, it is hard to tell if the Courant had an opinion at all, or it they want to keep their tone as neutral as possible as to not persuade their readers in any direction. Sports Illustrated The terminology in Sports Illustrated became more neutral from their accusatory headlines. Some tried to make sense of what was happening and many started their leads with examples of other stories and how the PSU scandal played into or related to those. The leads in these articles were far more descriptive than other articles. Words that were found in these included “blazes,” “hideous,” “small,” “winding” and “severe.” While the terminology was descriptive, the tonality was largely subdued, verging on melancholy. The terminology was a mix of facts with questions and relatable stories. One particular lead that represents the majority of formats of the others read, “Sometimes when you get fooled in this business it’s not so bad. You write that, say, the Patriots are unbeatable and then they get beat that week. Or you write that Kobe is in a severe shooting slump and he lays 58 on somebody the next night. A couple hundred people write you to ask ‘Why do you even have a job?’ and you smile and life goes on. But other times? Other 27 times you feel real bad when you get fooled.” 36 Another lead questioned its readers, “What would you do? A Young man tells you he just witness an older man molesting a boy in a shower. The boy appeared to be 10 years old. What would you do?” 37 The lead goes on to say that Penn State knew and didn’t do nearly enough, but the first two lines challenge the readers to form their own opinion first. While the leads are not accusatory, they also give off a solemn tone. ESPN ESPN ranged in its terminology and tonality as time went on from the scandal breaking to the trial date. The earlier coverage ranged in neutral tone that stated facts, progressed to anger and asked the lingering questions. The terminology was basic and reflected many of the articles from other publications. The tonality also repeated what numerous articles projected. One lead challenged the readers with a series of questions, “So is this it? Is this how and when it ends? Is this the tipping point? The point where everything finally changes? And if it isn’t, what is?” 38 And there were plenty of leads that were filled with anger such as this, “Joe Paterno had it coming to him. He needed to be 36 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/jack_mccallum/11/08/sandusky/index.ht ml 37 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/michael_rosenberg/11/07/pennst.scandal /index.html 38 http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/jackson-111111/penn-state- sexual-abuse-scandal-puts-faith-all-college-sports-further-jeopardy 28 humiliated…all but excommunicated…don’t cry for Joe, because Joe didn’t cry for the alleged victims of Jerry Sandusky…until it was nine years too late.” 39 However, the later coverage changed the tone in a positive way. Many articles discussed looking forward to the future and how to heal. One lead said, “How does Penn State begin to move on? …As the shock of the news that former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky is alleged to have abused eight boys over 15 years…begins to subside, Penn State’s faculty, students, alumni and fans must being to pick up the pieces.” 40 Another lead said, “They fired the president of the university. They fired Joe Paterno, their legendary coach. They allowed the athletic director and university vice president to at least temporarily leave their jobs. It’s a start.” 41 This is the first publication to give a positive tonality to their articles, within the leads. It is important to note, this is one of the only publications to give a positive outlook on any part of the situation. ESPN remained opinionated, but was willing to change their tone as the situation developed. They seemed to be critical in the beginning when Penn State seemed to be stuck and quiet, and progressed to being a little more supportive as action was taken and the school needed to start looking forward. 39 http://espn.go.com/new-‐york/ncf/story/_/id/7214855/former-‐penn-‐state-‐coach-‐joe-‐ paterno-‐deserve-‐sympathy-‐losing-‐job 40 http://espn.go.com/college-‐football/story/_/id/7233091/penn-‐state-‐nittany-‐lions-‐ journey-‐recovery-‐long 41 http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/page/munson-‐111110a/here-‐how-‐ penn-‐state-‐fix-‐football-‐culture 29 Time Time kept its leads synched with the headlines. The terminology was still powerful. Words and phrases found scattered through the 61 articles included “heinous,” “traumatic” and nuanced.” The tonality was also able to remain passively negative. For example the following lead represents fact, but the terminology used makes the statement come off in a negative connotation. “The defense of former Penn State coach, Jerry Sandusky, hasn’t started off too well. In an obvious knock to the defense, all eight boys alleging he sexually abused them will willingly testify….” 42 Another lead seemed to express anger not only of the allegations, but how the public tries to make sense of it. The lead said, “Call the Penn State sex-‐abuse scandal whatever you will. It’s heinous…it’s still hard to expunge some images from your mind. It’s one of the worst scandals, in sports or beyond, you’ve ever seen. When a story like this unfolds, especially these days, human nature is to gather around social media and vent. We try to top one another for the most outraged reaction. It’ not hard to summon the rage.” 43 The majority of the articles contain the same tonality. It doesn’t exactly express accusations, but it does express anger and disappointment with the creative use of terminology. 42 http://abcnews.go.com/US/penn-‐state-‐scandal-‐victims-‐testify-‐jerry-‐ sandusky/story?id=15085783#.Tt5UYxyghwd 43 http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2011/11/17/viewpoint-‐why-‐penn-‐states-‐football-‐ program-‐shouldnt-‐suffer-‐the-‐death-‐penalty/ 30 D. Full Copy The last analysis of these publications will look at the full copy of the articles published. The same criteria will apply, and the analysis will determine if the articles stayed in line with the same terminology and tone of the headlines and the leads. The full copy differs slightly in analysis, as it includes the headlines, leads and body of the articles, as well as captions and sidebars. The double analysis was valuable for research purposes, as most readers only read headline and leads, making it worthwhile for the author to look at those sections separately. The New York Times The Philadelphi a Inquirer The Boston Globe The Hartford Courant Sports llustrated. com ESPN. com Time magazine Terminolog y Accusa-‐ tory Accusatory Neutral and Accu-‐ satory Neutral and Passive Accusatory Neutral Neutral and Accusatory Tone Negative Neutral and negative Neutral and negative Neutral and negative Negative Neutral, positive, negative Neutral and negative Coverage 226 185 48 37 82 419 61 31 The New York Times The NYT did not deter in its terminology and tonality from the headlines right through the copy of the articles. The majority of articles expressed outrage and pointed blame at individuals, the school and the state. The terminology in the full copy of the articles gave direction as well as staying defensive, in the sense of defending the victims. Many featured sarcastic phrases such as “unhappy valley” and “not-‐so-‐happy valley,” a play on “happy valley,” the term used to refer to Penn State. Another common phrase that was heavily dissected was the motto that Paterno gave to the football program, “success with honor.” Both phrases are so contradictory to the case at hand that it made for easy sarcastic remarks and an opportunity for the media to use them against the school, especially when the school was not defending itself. Other words that were in a lot of articles included “cancel” and “fire” (relating to the season and various personnel), and “betrayal,” “victim” and “disgrace.” The articles also made use of religious jargon when it came to discussing Paterno, as other publications have done. One particular line stood out: “If Penn State was the Catholic Church, Paterno was the Holy See of Happy Valley.” 44 The tonality of the article also remained negative and pointed fingers at individuals before the trial even started. There were very few articles that were fact based; the tonality was highly opinionated. Some articles blamed the school and it’s faculty directly like this one, “Officials at Penn State did not want to know that, according that, according to prosecutors, boys were being abused by a trusted member of the football family…perhaps 44 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/sports/ncaafootball/joe-‐paternos-‐grand-‐ experiment-‐meets-‐an-‐inglorious-‐end.html 32 the subject was too queasy for them…besides it would get in the way of entertaining the masses, which is what the sport is for…the entire old-‐boy system in that university managed to overlook the possibility that children’s lives were being ruined, within the dangerous cocoon of King Football.” 45 Other articles pointed at the state as well, “The utter lack of accountability at the university shows why the State Legislature needs to close this loophole in the law, and do it quickly.” 46 The Times was one of the few publications that placed blame on those outside of the school as well. Paterno and his legendary program were not regarded as legends just inside the university, but across Pennsylvania, which is what these articles may be alluding too when blame is placed on the state. The Philadelphia Inquirer The Inquirer kept its sharp tongue throughout most of its articles, however there was a noticeable amount that evened out in tone as the articles continued past the lead. Some included smaller details that included current bills in place to protect sexually abused children and the reforms that are being pushed for them. They became more fact driven than opinion driven, giving the same updates the other publications were writing about. However, that is not to say that a considerable amount kept their negative opinion about the scandal, those accused and anyone involved that could have done something for the victims. 45 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/sports/ncaafootball/Penn-‐State-‐Paterno-‐ College-‐Football-‐George-‐Vecsey.html 46 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/17/opinion/open-‐the-‐records-‐at-‐penn-‐ state.html?_r=0 33 The religious analogies continued with uses of the words “sacrament,” “shrine” and “saint.” The fact that such analogies were used in so many publications, gave a real sense of how high the program was regarded. Similarly, the Inquirer reamed the school for putting football on such a high pedestal. One article said, “It was football-‐as-‐religion that gave Sandusky the license to behave as he allegedly did. It was football-‐as-‐religion that led to what looks like a deliberate cover-‐up by the university, its police and the athletic department. Football-‐as-‐religion must not be allowed to govern Paterno’s actions now.” 47 This represents a majority of sentiments that many publications had. Football was more important than human lives. The University should have made a strong statement that negated this, though hard to prove at the time, but assure the safety of those on their campus or involved with their personnel was their one priority. They made a few references to this, but not enough to keep the media from expressing it in their articles. The Boston Globe The Globe was similar to the Inquirer in terms of becoming slightly more neutral in some articles, while keeping a full throttle attack on PSU and the personnel in others. The terminology remained essentially the same, although there were more questioning words like “would,” “could,” “should.” The religious analogies also remained prominent such as in this phrase, “Yet there is a common feature: a culture that turns athletes into gods and coaches into high priests.” 48 47 http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/philabuster/133395149.html 48 https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/902789930.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&ty pe=current&date=Nov+10,+2011&author=&pub=Boston+Globe&edition=&startpage=&des c=Penn+State+shows+danger+of+putting+sports+beyond+reproach 34 The tonality, as previously mentioned, evened out in some articles. They presented straightforward facts that came from the Freeh report, as well as trial updates. There were also articles that criticized and many in which offered advice, but kept with a negative tone. An example of critical advice is an article that said, “Halting the season would be a better way to show us what Penn State is all about. Canceling football would be a way for the Board of Trustees to demonstrate that it understands the seriousness of the conspiracy of silence that cloaked Paterno’s ‘program’ the last (at least) nine years.” 49 The advice seemed to be passively negative. They are not accusing the school of anything, but with the lack of action the school had taken, and the lack of explanations, they offered their own advice. The Hartford Courant The Courant remained neutral at first glance. However, a closer look at some of the terminology and phrases used reveals that those pieces that appear to just give the facts of the case actually had negative connotations. The quotes it featured, aside from those on trial, were bitter and expressed by angry students, alumni, prosecutors and the general public alike. In a section that discussed McQueary’s role in the case, a reporter wrote, “Has anyone considered what happened to that 10-‐year-‐old boy for the rest of that weekend never mind the last nine years while the bureaucratic niceties were being observed at such a casual pace? I'm appalled that no one showed any sense of urgency about finding and 49 https://secure.pqarchiver.com/boston/doc/903096878.html?FMT=FT&FMTS=ABS:FT&ty pe=current&date=Nov+11,+2011&author=Shaughnessy,+Dan&pub=Boston+Globe&edition =&startpage=&desc=Stop+the+season+and+start+the+healing 35 protecting this child.” 50 Another quoted an alumnus as saying she felt “utter shame” and felt that PSU’s name had been “tarnished.” 51 Another article wrote about the good things Paterno would be remembered for but expressed to the readers “the legacy of the man behind Happy Valley forever will be linked to the role Paterno played in the sex scandal.” 52 The Courant stayed the most neutral throughout and remained focused on keeping its readers updated on the case at hand. Sports Illustrated SI’s terminology and tone remained the same as it did in the headline and the lead. The terminology got a little more accusatory and very descriptive. They used particular description words to make their point. Where as in the headlines and leads a sentence was more likely to start “former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky…” now reads as such, “The disgraced Penn State assistant football coach…” 53 Another phrase full of description in a critical way was, “Truth is, Amendola’s hiring was very much in keeping with a scandal that from the start, has been characterized by troublesome personnel decisions, ironic coincidences, and blatant conflicts of interest.” Lastly, in describing Sandusky, one article said, “the embodiment of unadulterated evil, a coldly manipulative serial sexual predator.” 54 50 http://www.courant.com/sports/mc-‐white-‐paterno-‐era-‐111011,0,1413087.column 51 http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/mc-‐penn-‐state-‐sandusky-‐charges-‐ 20111108,0,340466.story?page=2 52 http://www.courant.com/sports/mc-‐penn-‐state-‐joe-‐paterno-‐retires-‐20111109-‐ 1,0,4915257.story 53 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/ncaa/12/13/jerry-‐sandusky-‐hearing-‐ liveblog/index.html#ixzz2r9lW0dgB 54 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1192198/1/index.htm 36 The tone transitioned slightly to more of a negative, accusatory tone. When a journalist was analyzing a quote from an official about keeping PSU running as an admirable institution, he wrote, “It is an admirable sentiment. But with so many potential conflicts, one wonders, Is Penn State cleaning house? Or simply rearranging the furniture?” 55 Another article slammed the university for the 2002 incident, where they claim the administration more or less told Sandusky “don’t do it here.” 56 ESPN ESPN continued to cover it all – the positive, the negative and the neutral. The early articles seemed to be written just to deliver facts and keep the public informed on important upcoming dates surrounding the case. The positive articles are centered on how PSU was rallying together as a school and trying to move on together, not about the case. The terminology remained the same, although the majority of articles used terms of sorrow when talking about the boys who were abused such as “suffering,” “victim,” “physical,”, “bleeding” and “abuse.” As the scandal unfolded, the tonality became more opinionated. Many seemed to use questions as a way to express themselves. One articles said, “If true? Another American tragedy. If true? Another abject failure of obligation. The truth is a horror story. If true.” 57 Another asked, “And all of this for what? Protecting the university’s standing as a moral compass? Protecting the Nittany Lions’ money machine? Protecting Paterno’s legacy as an 55 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1192469/2/index.htm 56 http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1192198/1/index.htm 57 http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7202768/if-‐allegations-‐true-‐did-‐ penn-‐state-‐coach-‐joe-‐paterno-‐know-‐when 37 educator and molder of fine young men?” 58 They were the lingering questions that didn’t answers. Like many of the other publications, articles written reflected disgust in the fact that the school puts football above all else, including the well-‐being of children. One article said, “He’ll have to live with the fact that some victims might’ve been spared if they great grandfather of college athletics -‐-‐ a beloved do-‐gooder in a sport often lacking in redeeming social value – hasn’t spent less time and energy on trying to stop an alleged predator than he spends on his average Big Ten game plan…the focus should be on the well-‐being of the kids. The victims. They’re the ones who are bleeding. 59 To reiterate what was said previously, this is the biggest take away as a trend in these articles: Football at this school, as with many other colleges, was more important than anything else. If the school is known solely for the football program, that can cause a problem, as was the case with PSU. Perhaps the administration worried that a tarnished football program would ruin the school as a whole; instead it ruined much more. Time Magazine Time maintained approximately a 50% balance of neutral articles and negative articles throughout the entire scandal. The neutral articles sought to provide facts and details of anything and everything emerged. They printed quotes from angry students and from the general public, as well as the defensive quotes from Sandusky and others involved in the trial that maintained their innocence. 58 http://espn.go.com/new-‐york/ncf/story/_/id/7214855/former-‐penn-‐state-‐coach-‐joe-‐ paterno-‐deserve-‐sympathy-‐losing-‐job 59 http://espn.go.com/new-‐york/ncf/story/_/id/7210029/legendary-‐coach-‐joe-‐paterno-‐ live-‐lack-‐action-‐penn-‐state-‐scandal 38 Some different terminologies played upon football terms, but were regarding life. Words like “fumbled,” “punt,” “game,” “dropped” and “touchdown,” were used in negative connotations. For example, one article said, “Moral influence: before this week no one seemed to wield it better than Paterno. We now know that no one fumbled it worse.” 60 There was also a sarcastic play on words when it came to Sandusky’s book, Touched. The media really took to using that title to slam Sandusky and PSU. That said, there were also multiple articles that were angry and shocked in tonality. They became less passively negative and more actively accusatory. A passage from an article describes a sentiment found in many, “When evaluating Penn State’s leadership, from coach to president, Sandusky’s guilt or innocence is not the point. A trusted assistant offered a sickening eyewitness account. The mere risk that Sandusky could abuse again demanded a call to the police — from Paterno, the administrators, anybody.” 61 This really sums up not only the majority of the media’s opinion, but the public as a whole, why did no one report it the first time? E. Media Conclusions What conclusions can we draw from all of this analysis? The publications were wholly negative. ESPN was the only publication that had some positive articles about moving forward. There were no overall positive tones at any other publication. They all expressed disgust and disappointment with the situation, the administration, the school 60 http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2011/11/09/paterno-‐fired-‐from-‐penn-‐ state/#ixzz2rA6LMouH 61 http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2011/11/09/paterno-‐fired-‐from-‐penn-‐ state/#ixzz2rA6aXjy7 39 and sometimes the state, and there didn’t seem to be any work on PSU’s part to counter these. There was never an answer to why it was covered up and reporters pounced on this. The most interesting analysis of the terminology that was used was the religious analogies, by not just one, but in all of the publications. Paterno and the program were truly looked at as God-‐like. The school officials didn’t want to disrupt the status quo that Paterno had set. However, whether they were being facetious or not, it seems the journalists also felt the same way about Paterno. The media certainly was not kind to Penn State or its handling of the matter. It is quite possible it made the situation worse for them, especially by the publications that reached triple digit articles in three months. The numbers reached shown above depict the amount of people that were exposed to these articles and possibly had their opinions shaped by them. If that was the case, the audiences in the target area were looking at Penn State with a negative attitude and accusatory mindset. III. Social Media A modern examination of a crisis would be woefully incomplete if the author did not include the burgeoning world of social media. Like the analysis of legacy media, specific methods were used to sift through Facebook and Twitter as they relate to the Penn State crisis. A. Methodology Facebook and Twitter were the two of the most popular social media platforms in 2011. Facebook had more than 500 million users and was used by every one in 13 people on earth, with more than 250 million who logged in every day. Forty-‐eight percent of those 40 between 18 and 35 years old checked Facebook every morning when they first got up. The same percentage got their news through Facebook. 62 This is a key demographic as it captures both college students as well as including an age group with young children. To narrow down the amount of material on Facebook, the analysis focused solely on the official Penn State Facebook page. This page gave a forum for users to connect directly to talk about the scandal, and gave a large enough sample size for analysis. In 2011, at the peek of the scandal, Twitter users were sending 200 million tweets per day, and a billion tweets every five days. 63 The Twitter analysis came with some limitations. Without using an official program to track the patterns of that time, the author utilized the front end advanced searched feature. This feature allows users to enter the following search criteria: “All of these words,” “this exact phrase,” “any of these words,” “none of these words,” “these hash tags,” and language selection. It also enables the user to select certain people’s accounts and select a time period of dates. The first analysis was done using the hash tag search feature. Secondary research showed a common hash tag was “#WeAre.” It is short for “We Are Penn State” and came from students and alumni for the majority. The hash tag was looked at through the same period of two months as the media analysis. . The second method was to narrow search terms to “Penn State, Freeh, and Paterno." These were entered into the “all of these words” search criteria. This limited which tweets were used, and the sampling is a random selection of tweets from the two-‐ month time period using the two limitations. 62 http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/facebook-‐statistics-‐stats-‐facts-‐2011/ 63 https://blog.twitter.com/2011/200-‐million-‐tweets-‐day 41 B. Facebook The Penn State Facebook page immediately became at hub of heated arguments after the report came out. It brought supporters and bashers alike. User Joey Shwartz wrote, “The only important part of that report are the recommendations for the FUTURE! We need to all take a lesson from this, learn from some mistakes and use the recommendations to move on to make PSU a stronger place. It makes no sense discussing what happened in the past and what emails were sent. Complaining about the past does not make for a strong future!” In contrast, a current student, Sean McFarlane, wrote, “"You are all giving a bad name to the school and current students like myself. Time to swallow your pride and recognize that JoePa made very grave mistakes, and even he probably didn't understand the gravity of them at the time. This is undeniable proof that not only did he fail to act, but he influenced the decisions to report Sandusky to the authorities” Other students didn’t buy it. "It's not a complete, unbiased report. Period," said Bettina Kline. Those who were not students chimed in as well. Jonathan Hubbard wrote, "If my degree was from Penn State, I would sue to get my tuition back.” 64 C. Twitter Findings Twitter users also had opinions. The screen shots below 65 show some of the sentiments expressed by users who range from reporters to professional athletes to students. 64 http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/12/reactions-‐to-‐penn-‐state-‐report-‐flood-‐social-‐ media/ 42 65 http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/07/12/reactions-‐to-‐penn-‐state-‐report-‐flood-‐social-‐ media/ 43 Like the traditional media, sentiments varied. Students defended their school and the people in it, others accused and speculated and some offered opinionated advice. It provided another outlet to share and speculate and offer opinions. Social media has made crisis communication even more vital in its efficiency. Without official word or statements from authorities, social media has allowed anyone to become a reporter or news source, and that is another reason why it is dangerous to remain tight-‐lipped in a situation like Penn State found it in. Everyone has something to 44 say, and now they are able to broadcast their sentiments to millions, and maybe billions of people with the click of a button. IV. NCAA Sanctions Before Penn State, there were no recorded sexual abuse scandals that the NCAA had to deal with. While it is hard to compare sex crimes to Ponzi schemes, it is important to look at the sanctions that the NCAA imposed on Penn State. This will be interesting to look at if anything of this nature happens again. It will also be used to look at how those sanctions impacted the school and state. Penn State was originally hit with a variety of sanctions. They had to pay a $60 million fine, which is equivalent to the approximate average of one year’s gross revenue from the program. They received a four-‐year postseason ban from the 2012 season through the 2016 season and a four-‐year reduction of grants-‐in-‐aid. For a period of four years commencing in 2013-‐2014 academic year and expiring at the conclusions of the 2016-‐2017 year, the NCAA imposed a limit of 15 initial grants-‐in-‐aid from the maximum of 25 allowed and for a period of four years commencing with the 2014-‐12015 academic year and expiring at the end of the 2017-‐2018 year a limit of 65 total grants-‐in-‐aid down from 85 for football during each of those years. They also were hit with five years of probation and will be monitored by an independent integrity monitor and are subject to periodic reporting. Wins since 1998(under Paterno, it reduces his 409 wins to 298 wins) will be vacated from 45 the record books and a waiver of Transfer Rules and grant-‐in-‐aid retention and individual penalties will be doled out as deemed fit. 66 In September of 2013 the NCAA reduced Penn State’s sanctions. The school was supposed to have a cap of 65 scholarships in 2014 but instead will have 75, 80 in 2015 and be fully reinstated in 2016. 67 V. Reactions A. Players The players were shocked by the allegations of Sandusky. Although he wasn’t part of the program anymore, they all knew who he was. However, many were disappointed when it came to firing longtime coach Joe Paterno, before the last game of the season. Some players visited his house with the mass of PSU students who went to show support. Others, like left tackle Quinn Barham, expressed their opinions to the media saying, “"We know he's going to be watching. He's probably going to still be yelling at the TV when he sees somebody mess up. It's tough. I'd like to shake his hand on Senior Day, but you can't do that." 68 Current players were not the only ones to show support for Paterno. Former players including NFL players, communicated their support for Paterno on social media, in a letter, in interviews, and even by traveling to his house, like NFL linebacker Brandon Short. 325 66 http://s3.amazonaws.com/ncaa/files/20120723/21207236PDF.pdf 67 http://espn.go.com/college-‐football/story/_/id/9716482/ncaa-‐reduce-‐penalties-‐penn-‐ state-‐regarding-‐jerry-‐sandusky-‐child-‐sexual-‐abuse-‐matter 68 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/college/football/bigten/story/2011-‐11-‐ 11/penn-‐state-‐joe-‐paterno-‐fired/51165542/1 46 former players including NFL quarterbacks Kerry Collins and Todd Blackledge and linebacker Todd Posluszny signed a letter in support of Paterno. 69 The current players showed respect to the victims during their first game back against Nebraska. After the stadium at PSU observed the moment of silence, the players and coaches from both teams gathered at midfield for a prayer. A few players did choose not to return to the team. B. Students The students were most well known for their reaction to the firing of Paterno. There was wide spread anger that their beloved coach was abruptly fired before the last game of the season. Paterno originally stated he planned on retiring after the season came to an end, but the lash back from the outside forced the administration to make a quick, decisive decision to fire him. Upon hearing they made their way to Paterno’s house and stood outside in support. After Paterno and his wife came outside to thank them but to pray for the victims and go home and get some sleep, the students took to the streets to riot. They started at the administration and then filtered into the downtown streets. The situation quickly escalated out of control as some demonstrators flipped a news van – seemingly in retaliation, as some believed the news had made Paterno out to be something he wasn’t and made a much bigger deal of his role than he actually was a part of. Demonstrators destroyed cars, tore down lampposts, threw rocks and fireworks at the 69 http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/college/ex-‐penn-‐state-‐players-‐back-‐paterno-‐ family-‐lawsuit-‐article-‐1.1375199 47 police; they threw toilet paper and chanted and screamed. The police eventually had to resort to pepper spray. 70 While the students thought what they were doing was right, it a tumultuous time for Penn State, they just drew more negative attention. Some noted the riots themselves were distasteful, others pointed out the fact that the students caused such damage over a man accused of turning a blind eye toward a child molester, and made them question what the school really did stand for. C. Faculty and Staff The administration, though not as quick as one might like to see, did make some right moves. They fired the president, the senior VP, the athletic director, the coach and the assistant coach. If they all had not been let go and had Paterno been allowed to coach the last game, the fallout could have been worse. The school expressed great remorse for what had happened and paid $60 million to the victims in order to help start the healing process. With a new administration and new coaching staff, the university expressed its determination to move forward and rebuild, however difficult it may be. The new president, Rodney Erickson, posted a 30 second message online where he said “This has been one of the saddest weeks in the history of Penn State and my heart goes out to those that were victimized. I share your anger and sorrow…our university must move forward. We are a community…we remain committed to our core values and we will rebuild the trust, honor and pride that have endured for generations…we are Penn State.” 71 70 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sports/ncaafootball/penn-‐state-‐students-‐in-‐ clashes-‐after-‐joe-‐paterno-‐is-‐ousted.html 71 http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/researchguides/scandal.html#faculty-‐perspectives 48 Associate Dean Marie Hardin described the general feelings of the faculty not involved in the case as “grief, sadness, anger.” 72 D. Alumni They actions of the alumni seemed to project prominently angry sentiments about the lack of communication from the school and the secrecy. Ryan Bagwell, a 2002 Penn State graduate attended a meeting that including 650 alumni and said, “We want to hear from the trustees. We want them to explain why they made the decisions they did. Their silence is just incredible. It just keeps getting worse.” Alumni told Erickson they would hold donations until they got some answers about how the scandal was handled. The biggest applause from the meeting came when someone suggested the entire board step down. Some of the more famous alumni expressed sadness. Former player, and Seattle Seahawks full back, Michael Robinson, said, “First of all, I want to express my deep sorrow for the children that are involved — I have three kids myself, and I can't imagine what those families are going through today and have gone through in the past. I think … it's a sad day to be a Penn Stater." His teammate Deon Butler echoed those sentiments, "Well, first off, I just want to say that the kids are the victims here if these allegations are true. That's the first thing — we pray for them…” Other players were completely shocked, like Philadelphia Eagles Jon Ritchie, who simply said, “Completely floored. I would've never imagined this.” And some were just angry. Three-‐time pro bowler LaVar Arrington said, “I have an enormous amount of anger and disappointment toward Jerry Sandusky…I was 72 http://www.npr.org/2012/07/12/156689014/sanduskys-‐scandal-‐still-‐rocking-‐penn-‐ state 49 taught never to hate a person but rather to hate their ways and pray for them…I do believe this is the closest I have ever been to hating someone.” 73 VI. Fallout A. Effects on Penn State The football program lost 13 current players from its roster after the scandal. They decided to transfer to schools for a variety of reasons ranging from the new coaching staff to going to a school where bowl games and post-‐seasons were possible. One of the school’s top two recruits de-‐committed and went elsewhere and four total de-‐committed. These include Ross Douglas, Will Fuller, Zach Bradshaw and Dorian Johnson. 74 The stands at games were at about 91% capacity in 2012, down from 97-‐98%. While that may not sound like a large decrease, it meant 10,000 empty seats at the 106,572-‐seat arena. About 90% of the revenue decrease was from lack of club seat and suite renewal sales. Contributions to athletics dropped from $34.2 million to $25.5 million. 75 Penn State faced a few losses from the scandal and the mishandling of it. The school lost $60 million from the NCAA, $46 million in case fees, one million dollars in loss of sponsorships and advertising dollars – Chevy, GM, Sherman Williams and Cars.com all withdrew their sponsorship, 700,000 in licensing royalties and merchandise sales. The Big 10 conference docked Penn State $3.25 million as the first installment in a four-‐year, $13 million penalty. They also paid $60 million in abuse settlements to the victims. 73 http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/Penn-‐State-‐scandal-‐leaves-‐ NFL-‐alumni-‐in-‐emotiona?urn=nfl-‐wp11616 74 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DunAm8NexaU 75 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/11/penn-‐states-‐revenue-‐takes-‐ dive_n_3064258.html 50 Aside from a big monetary loss, attendance dropped the following year. 2012 saw a total of 24,000 applications compared to the 28,000 applications at University Park alone in 2011, however, despite these numbers; the final drop in total was only about 9,000 less involving all the campuses. 76 B. Effects on Pennsylvania Based on the findings of money loss, there is potential for the Pennsylvania economy to suffer as well. It almost seems impossible that it won’t, with the football attendance showing a large decrease. The football program was a big piece of the economy and it has taken a huge blow. Not only is the school paying out a large amount of money. Part of this will be a lack in tourism. They will be lacking an income due to a drop in football game attendance. Not only does that impact ticket sales, but the surrounding hotels, restaurants, retailers and attractions all suffer as well. Governor Tom Corbett echoed these sentiments through his lawyer. He said, “Penn State football is an economic power source for the commonwealth. This means we're going to have a severely damaged economic power source. We're going to have harm to the general economy." Another of his lawyers agreed saying, “Attendance at Penn State football games was down by 10 percent last fall, and things are expected to get worse as the years of sanctions drag on. After four years the Penn State football program is not going to be as 76 http://www.budget.psu.edu/factbook/StudentDynamic/HistoricalEnrolbyLocationSumma ry5year.aspx?ReportCode=Summary&YearCode=2013&FBPlusIndc=N 51 lucrative. It’s going to affect the economy of Pennsylvania and the citizens of Pennsylvania. And that in a nutshell is our anti-‐trust claim.” 77 VII. Conclusion A. Effects of Football Programs at Division I Schools Part of the public relations missteps took place because of the nature in which schools pride themselves on certain athletic teams. Jay Wang, a professor at the University of Southern California who specializes in crisis management, explained that a major fault stemmed from the organizational structure at the university. He said, “The organizational structure that surrounded Joe Paterno prevented individuals to act in a way that would help the situation, it puts constraints on them.” As was discussed previously, the media used religious analogies to discuss Paterno. That is how those associated with the program felt. He was described as a “God” and a “Saint.” Wang explained that when an individual in an organization is held on such a high pedestal, the organization is no longer run as a group. Decisions are made based around fear or instruction to keep that individual held in that light and not being the one to disrupt the status quo. When an entire organization decides as a whole not to speak up about something, even if it is something horrifyingly wrong, it is unlikely that one person will go against that. Even if the university PR department knew the best way to handle the situation would be to be upfront and forward, make quick decisions and be honest, preferably from when the 77 http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/ncaas_sanctions_on_penn_state.ht ml 52 first allegations surfaced, the organizational structure prevented this. School officials made the decision to protect Paterno because he was Penn State. This is easy to see happening at any school where its football program essentially defines the university. Decisions are delayed based on fear of backlash coming from those invested in the program and the people running the program, and therefore damaging the university. This prevents them from seeing the other side, which obviously can have much more severe consequences. Wang continued, saying that universities must have a sophisticated structure. That structure must be able to separate itself from any one individual. These organizations need to have a “response mentality.” A quick response is important, but it is more vital to know your narrative. PSU was unsure on its narrative, which caused speculation and backlash. B. Effects of PSU Public Relations This case was a public relations disaster that affected audiences and entities far beyond the beloved football team. It affected an entire school as well as a state. It will take a few years to track how the state’s economy was affected; however Pennsylvania, being a small state and not commonly in the news, is all of a sudden synonymous with a sex abuse scandal. The content analysis above shows how much this crisis extended beyond the school. While such a tragedy would normally be met by disgust, anger and sorrow for the victims, the case expanded outside of Sandusky’s wrongdoings. It also targeted the school, the program and the administration, brought on by the media. The university’s lack of communication and action, both when they first allegedly heard about the allegations, and when the news broke to the public and the Freeh report came out, left a wide-‐open hole in 53 the press that journalists were free to fill with negative assaults and opinions. Almost every article that was dissected for analysis didn’t focus solely on Sandusky and his victims. They focused on how Penn State was a part of the problem. Since the public gets its information and news from the media, it seems almost certain to assume the media was able to push those negative ideas on to their readers. To back that assumption up, the social media world has allowed everyone to be a journalist. The analysis of social media showed just as much disappointment and disgust from the users. There were students and alumni who supported their school of course, but the backlash was way more overwhelming. Sandusky should have been brought to justice back in 2002. That fact cannot be denied by anyone. It is hard to say if the public relations would be better if someone came forward then, but I believe it is safe to say it would be. They would be dealing with much less of a fall out, and the media may have focused more solely on Sandusky. In fact, aside from the fact that a sexual predator had been living amongst them, there would be no fall out for Penn State if they had no involvement other than notifying the police. They wouldn’t have to deal with as intense investigations into the school and its authority figures. The PR personnel wouldn’t clam up because the facts would be out and straightforward. The public relations faltered most in its secrecy and hidden facts. America loves second chances, including journalists. They love the underdog and Penn State, as an institution, would be forgiven, while Sandusky would rightfully take all the blame. That was the first wrongdoing in this case. There were mistakes made once the review did come out. Few statements were made, firing the necessary participants in the case could have been handled in a swifter 54 fashion and with more explanation, and they let the media, both traditional and social, run the wires and create and disseminate their own information. The media was brutal with the university. Their lack of forthcoming had serious implications on not only Penn State – although it did affect attendance numbers regarding incoming freshman, serious sanctions on the football team, and a lack of experienced faculty and staff considering they had to fire a handful of them – but it also affected the economy of Pennsylvania. The fallout can affect money issues between a drop in numbers at the university, lack of tourism including those who travel for the football games, and the credibility of the state as a whole when a man referred to as a god was involved in a sex abuse scandal. Penn State truly dropped the ball in this case, causing a domino effect throughout the state. 55 Appendix A Table 1 78 -‐ New York Times -‐ 78 http://nytmediakit.com/online 56 57 Table 2 79 -‐ Philadelphia Inquirer 79 http://concepts.philly.com/MediaKit/docs/PMN-‐MediaKitOverview2012.pdf 58 Table 3 80 -‐ The Boston Globe Table 4 81 -‐ Hartford Courant 80 http://services.bostonglobe.com/advertiser/newspapers/audience/default.aspx?id=1275 8 81 http://ct1media.com/audiences/55/ 59 Table 5 82 -‐ Sports Illustrated 82 http://simediakit.com/files/SportsIllustratedMag/SI%20National%202013%20sellsheetp 2v1.pdf 60 Table 6 83 -‐ ESPN Table 7 84 -‐ Time Magazine 83 http://espn.go.com/mediakit/research/demographics.html 84 http://www.timemediakit.com/audience/ 61 Bibliography "200 Million Tweets per Day | Twitter Blogs." Twitter Blogs. Twitter, 30 June 2011. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. <https://blog.twitter.com/2011/200-‐million-‐tweets-‐day>. Associated Press. 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Abstract (if available)

Abstract The following white paper explores the effects of poor public relations practice as it pertained to the Pennsylvania State University football scandal. More specifically, it looks at how the media can monopolize on poor communication and action taken by a group of people, or in this case the university. ❧ After the news broke that former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky had been sexually abusing children, focus in both traditional and social media shifted from the actual events of the abuse to the actions, or lack thereof, of the university and its administration. ❧ The majority of the analysis focuses on how the media portrayed the scandal to its readers and why they expressed such opinions. The purpose of this study was to examine what the university did or didn’t do, to cause such a negative reaction amongst the media and their audiences. The other side is to better understand what they could have done better, and to explore and provide insights gained from the content analysis on good practice policies. ❧ The author focused on how the media not only portrayed the scandal, but how they may have changed and evolved in their stories as the school took certain steps, how and when information was released and how the whole case unfolded right through the trial dates. The other key findings were surrounded by how non‐media members responded to these articles and their feedback. ❧ The major conclusion found was the university’s choice to selectively release information, or stay completely quiet, allowed the media to fill that empty space with their own thoughts and opinions that, while not surprising, were overwhelmingly negative and therefore the general public felt generally the same way.

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