Sports Reporting

With my job, I'm on the road quite a it (not as much lately) and I'd rather listen to some form of talk radio than the average music coming out these days. Often my dial is on AM sports talk, bot national and local. I find it interesting how both operate so differently.

For local you have KFAN who is owned by the Miller family and tends to slant in favor for the Jazz. Then you have 1280 the Zone who seems to be the angry middle child to KFAN. I flip back between to two at nearly every commercial break to catch their opinions on the same matter.

KFAN always seems to be upbeat and positive while the Zone is always cynical and depressing. KFAN has a local DJ named Alema Harrington, a BYU grad and the Zone has Kyle Gunther, a U of U grad. It's said to not have a bias in sports broadcasting, but it is very evident that doesn't happen! (I don't understand that whole extreme rivalry thing anyway.)

Afternoons on KFAN you have Divid Locke who hosts his show, Locked on Sports where he covers every sport. His night job is he is the play-by-play announcer for the Jazz. He is extremely slanted and loyal to his employer. He had acknowledged several times on air that he is aware that people call him a "homer."

When the Miller family is your employer for both your talk radio show and your play-by-play gig, it would be nearly impossible to not let your allegiance show.

Is there an ethics issue here? Who cares. If you don't want to listen to him, tune into 1280. They appeal to critics anyway.