Journalists in Celluloid

One of my favorite shows on television is “How I Met Your Mother” on CBS.

It is a very funny show, often irreverent, and even occasionally heartwarming.

So imagine my surprise when the show from a few weeks ago (which I just saw now online) factored right into my blog.

For who was staring back at me but sports broadcaster Jim Nantz!

Now, this is an interesting situation because many people do not consider play-by-play guys to be “journalists” in the sense that this blog seems to regard journalists.

However, I would argue that Nantz is still broadcasting sports for an outlet (oftentimes several) and that his conduct outside the booth should be just as scrutinized as the conduct of more traditional journalists is.

Nothing involving his time on the show was particularly offensive. Sure, there were some slightly off-color jokes, but that’s the nature of the show itself.

What was interesting, if not unethical, was the fact that Nantz was portraying Nantz. An actual sports broadcaster within the confines of the show.

To be fair, he was in the character Barney’s imagination.

But does this involvement cross any sort of line?

It’s complicated, but I suppose my answer would be “tentatively no.” It is true that Nantz is somewhat more of a celebrity than the average sports journalists, and because of this, such offers will come up because he is recognizable.

I think he still runs the risk of bringing negative attention to whichever outlet he happens to be representing, but this is not really a terribly dangerous ethical situation in the long run.