Can't see this linked anywhere else
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2018/01/05/despite-what-fans-might-think-this-is-not-a-patriot-hit-job-by-espn
Despite what fans might think, this is not a Patriot hit job by ESPN
https://www.boston.com/sports/new-england-patriots/2018/01/05/despite-what-fans-might-think-this-is-not-a-patriot-hit-job-by-espn
Despite what fans might think, this is not a Patriot hit job by ESPN
But Wickersham deserves credit for drilling down into the realities and rumors, elaborating, and tying it all together, even as his use of anonymous sources and vaguely attributed quotes is perceived by those who want to doubt the story as a sign of holes in his reporting.
It’s not. Every reporter wants sources on the record. But in the quest for the full story, sometimes that is impossible, often because the source has something significant at stake if he or she shares information the team does not want public. Typically, when an unnamed source is used, the reporter gets the information confirmed by at least one other source and also shares the name of the source with an editor.
Wickersham isn’t anti-Patriot, either. He’s pro-truth, and quests to find it. We all remember Mortensen botching the Deflategate story from the get-go with his tweet. What is often forgotten is that ESPN also reported a detail-rich story in September 2015 about why the NFL was so determined to punish the Patriots for Deflategate.
The authors revealed in their reporting that several NFL owners, envious of the Patriots’ success and convinced they got off easy in 2007 during the Spygate scandal, implored Goodell to drop the hammer as compensation. Don Van Natta was one of the authors. The other? Seth Wickersham.[/QUOTE]