[NU Sports] Thanks Alan ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

I had been trying my best to avoid media coverage on this for obvious reasons (plus we get enough on this list these days ... anyone have anything about the Rice game? :) ) ...

But that was an interesting NY Times article and shows that a heck of a lot of people knew this bombshell was coming and that it must have been incredibly tough for him to legally say nothing -- and at a fortunate computer error to finally break through those sealed indictment strings. It's the type of in-depth and insightful piece that makes me have hope that good journalism can still inform us about the "more to the story" part of a scandal than just react to the 24-hour headlines with more screaming and rumors.

And yes, I understand that it's the way the world is today -- doesn't mean I have to like it or accept it (much like the B(C)S). It's tough teaching journalism to high school students today and trying to explain why a reporter shouldn't do this and ethically cannot do that when they point to the cable news networks and say "well they do" ... ugh.

But I'm glad I didn't miss this article that started looking for more information and facts instead of just feeding the frenzy.

Warm regards in return,
- Stephen
 
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
________________________________



________________________________
From: Alan Abrahamson <alan.abrahamson at gmail.com>
To: SjT (Stephen J. Truog) <sjtruog at yahoo.com>
Cc: Jim Leonard <jleonard518 at yahoo.com>; Northwestern Wildcats <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
Sent: Thursday, November 10, 2011 10:28 PM
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] McQueary remains on staff


Super-interesting front-page story in tomorrow's editions of the New York Times - I have cut and pasted the first few paragraphs for those who don't have access to the NYT ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sports/ncaafootball/tom-corbett-pennsylvania-governor-couldnt-discuss-inquiry.html?hp

For months, Gov. Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania had reason to suspect a sexual abuse scandal was going to explode at Penn State University. He also had no way to talk about it, or to prepare for it.

Mr. Corbett, as state attorney general, had begun an investigation in 2009 into allegations that a former Penn State assistant football coach had abused young boys, and that university officials might have covered up the scandal. He had convened a grand jury, and his prosecutors had taken testimony. But when he ran for governor, and even after he took office, he was obligated to keep the investigation secret, even as he saw the university officials at the center of the investigation doing little to address the substance of the inquiry.
“He was upset about the inaction,” said Kevin Harley, who worked with Mr. Corbett in the attorney general’s office and is now his press secretary. “He knew what witnesses were going to the grand jury even though he was running for governor. So then he became governor, and he knew at some point that this day would be coming. He just didn’t know when it would be.”
That day came last Friday, when the charges became public against the former coach, Jerry Sandusky, and two senior university officials. Suddenly, though, Mr. Corbett faced a new challenge: as governor, he was effectively a member of Penn State’s board of trustees, the body that would decide how to handle the crisis, when to act and who, if anyone, to fire. But he also knew information about the investigation that he could not share with anyone, including other trustees, and was still bound by rules prohibiting prosecutors from making possibly prejudicial statements.
Over the next four days, then, Mr. Corbett, a Republican, kept his public statements spare, calling on trustees to act quickly and aggressively. But privately, he worked to move the board in what he believed was the right direction. He called multiple members, including Vice Chairman John P. Surma, the chief executive of U.S. Steel, and told them that the country was watching, that a change at the top was needed and that the issue was about more than a football program, according to a person with knowledge of his efforts.
Mr. Corbett eventually decided to send a public signal: he formally announced he would attend the scheduled meeting of the trustees on Friday, something he had never done before ...