‘The Independent’

J o u r n a l i s m E t h i c s , Re p o r t e r Ro u t i n e s ,
a n d t h e D e p i c t i o n o f Tr e n t C r i m m i n Te d L a s s o

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 SPOILER ALERT

This presentation contains spoilers for Season 2 of Ted Lasso, which came
out in the summer of 2021. If you haven’t seen it by now, I’m going to
assume you don’t care that much about spoilers, since if you did care
you’d have already watched it. If you do care, you can leave now, take a
day and watch Season 2 on Apple TV. It won’t take more than a day to
stream the whole thing, and it’s so good. Anyway, spoiler alert. You’ve
been warned.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Why we’re here

• The purpose of this study is to critically

examine the depiction of Trent Crimm
as a sports journalist in Ted Lasso, within
the contexts of how journalists have
been portrayed in popular culture and
sports media sociology, and how his
actions reflect journalistic ethics.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 About Trent Crimm, The Independent

• A columnist for The Independent

• Appears in 10 of 21 episodes through the first two seasons of Ted Lasso.

• A profane, cynical sports columnist with a heart of gold.

• Serves as a foil for, and then a good-natured supporter of, the main character.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 In their words

• “Is this a fucking joke?”

– Trent Crimm to Ted Lasso at the coach’s introductory press conference.

• “He's a tough cookie … but that's okay. You know what you do with tough cookies,
don't ya? Dip 'em in milk.”
- Ted Lasso

• “Trent, you’re a colossal prick. You always have been.”

– Roy Kent

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Key plot points
Season 1 Season 2

Trent spends a day with Ted for a column Trent writes about Ted’s panic attack

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
6
 Journalists in pop culture

• “These characters are likely to shape people’s impressions of the news media at least
as much if not more than the actual press does.”

• “Popular culture is a powerful tool for thinking about what journalism is and should
be.”

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Framework for understanding

• Professionalism
– Journalism in pop culture tend to uphold and promote the existing ideals, values and of
the profession.
– “Professional ideals are extolled even as the pieties underlying them are often derided.”
– The Outlaw vs. the Official
• Power
– The influence that journalists and their work wield on society.
– “Notion that the press is a uniquely potent force to do ill or good is consistently
underscored.”

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Routines of sports journalists

• Sports and media have a symbiotic relationship (McChesney, 1989).

• Starting in the 1960s and then 1980s, changes in overall attitude of British sporting
press and football coverage (Boyle, 2006).

• Reporters acting as commentators and slanting their coverage – more merging of

traditional beat reporting and column writing roles (Greenslade, 2003)

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Codes of Ethics

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Our introduction to Trent Crimm

• Asking loaded questions of Ted in press conference.

• Standing outside the locker room door, waiting to interview players.

• A little exaggerated, of course, but in general, fits what journalists do.

• Columnist – “a popular villain” (Ehlrich and Saltzman)

• More Outlaw than Official.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Trent’s column on Ted

• Trent spends the day with Ted, at practice, at a school event, at dinner, for a column.

• “He’s very good, and the supporters really listen to him.” – Rebecca Welton
– The idea of journalism power

• “I can't help but root for him”

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Trent’s column on Ted

• Got access in exchange for his newspaper’s owner killing a potentially scandalous
story.

• That violates Code of Ethics

• Act Independently
– He got special treatment and access, and got access in exchange for a favor.

• Be Accountable and Transparent

– Nowhere in his column does Trent say that he got special access to Ted in exchange for a
favor his boss did for Ted’s boss.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 THE Column
• Night before win-and-promotion
match, Trent texts Ted about a column
he wrote.

• Tells him source for the column was

Nate.

• Asks him to comment AFTER

publishing.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 The ethics of this

Plainly unethical. But why?

1. He burned his source. He granted Nate anonymity in return for the quotes about
Ted’s panic attack. Those quotes were accurate, and so there is no reason to reveal
to Ted the identity of the source.

2. He published the story BEFORE reaching out to Ted for comment or giving the
coach the chance to address the allegations. The “care to comment” needs to
come before the story is out, not after.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 The ethics

• Seek Truth and Report it

– Did he consider Nate’s motivations for telling him about Ted’s panic attack before granting him
anonymity? Did he seek Ted’s comment, or the team’s comment, before publishing the story?)

• Minimize harm
– Did he show compassion to those who might be affected by this story — whether it was Ted and
his mental health, readers who are struggling with their own anxiety disorders, or the impact it
might have on Nate and his career?

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 The fallout

• Trent is fired.

• “Bad journalism … is routinely stopped or punished.”

• Sports journalists engaged in paradigm repair and boundary work.

• He is now Trent Crimm. Independent.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023
 Summary

• Most study of the journalists in pop culture deal with protagonists.

• Trent Crimm not the protagonist. He’s the catalyst.

• His depiction fits comfortably within other pop-culture depictions of journalists.

• Upholds traditional beliefs in the power and influence of the press and the proper
professional behavior of journalists.

BRIAN MORITZ
IACS Summit on Communication & Spor t, 2023