Rob Parker: Journalists Should 'Stick the Knife in, Turn it and Draw Blood'

Rob Parker, the former Detroit News writer who resigned from the paper in the wake of a controversial question to ex-Lions coach Rod Marinelli, appeared on ESPN Radio this morning to defend himself, and he stressed that he wasn't fired.

"I asked the paper for a buyout and they granted me one," Parker said.

Parker was reportedly demoted from columnist to general assignment reporter after he asked Marinelli (whose son-in-law was his defensive coordinator), "Do you wish your daughter would have married a better defensive coordinator?" But Parker said that's not the only reason he asked for the buyout.

He said there were other reasons for his departure, including the way the News is planning to cut back on home delivery of its print edition. "The newspaper's changing, it's about to make some major changes in March with delivery," Parker said.

Although Parker was harshly criticized by everyone from Terry Bradshaw to Lions fans fans to his media colleagues for the question, he claimed that the response to his question was "About 60-40 positive."

And Parker said he comes from a long tradition of hard-hitting journalism.

"I went to Columbia Journalism School," Parker said. "And I can still remember the day I got called into the office and my professor ... thought I was a good reporter but she wanted more out of me. You know what she told me? And I'll never forget these words. She said. 'Robert, I want you to stick the knife in, turn it and draw blood. That is the way you have to be a reporter. You've got to get the information, you've got to go after it. You can't be soft on it.' And that's my approach, and that's the only way I know how to do that job. I believe there's still a place out there for a reporter like me, a journalist like me, and that's where I stand."

Parker still works at ESPN, which did not take any action over his question to Marinelli.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-07-2009 @ 10:39AM

Brody said...

I see nothing wrong with what he said. I don't understand this puritanical nonsense in this country that acts like everyone should be nice to each other and lob up softballs. People are not like that in reality, so why do people insist on trying to put up that facade?

It's crap that this guy got fired. His question was simply a colorful way of saying "Your defensive coordinator is crap and shouldn't be in the NFL. It looks like he's only around because of nepotism. Comment?"

Fair question, worded in a humorous way. Props to Rob Parker for the question. I know nothing else about him as a man, so I won't comment on him as a person. But as for the question he asked...I loved it.

1-07-2009 @ 11:16AM

Tony Almeida said...

Rob Parker is a jackass. His little quote perfectly explains his non-existant jounalistic integrity. He claims to have "moles" who confirm rumors for him to break the news. I like to think these moles are voices in his head because just off the top of my head I can think of 3 blatant lies in the past 1) Paul Davis, a former Michigan State basketball player, is going to go pro after his freshman year (he stayed all 4 years) 2) Tom Izzo is seriously considering taking an NBA job with the Atlanta Hawks and 3) Kirk Cousins, a Michigan State quarterback, was involved in a fight with the MSU hockey team (Cousins was not involved as proven by charges filed against other players later and here is Mark Dantonio's, MSU football coach, response the day after Rob made his comments http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utmuTMyyamc). I know more people from Michigan that read and listen to his garbage can report more and I hope to see it. Do not defend this coward for trying to make a name for himself.

1-07-2009 @ 11:24AM

Rhinosaur said...

I'm finding it difficult to find how a smart-ass comment in a press conference is equal to hard-nosed journalism.

1-07-2009 @ 11:41AM

pico said...

It's not the "puritanical" part, it's the "absolutely rude" part of bringing the man's daughter into the equation. Just because the coach sucks doesn't mean you bring in his daughter who has absolutely nothing to do with football. It's like calling out your mother when you do something stupid - but with less relation, because she raised you.

Parker could have asked the same question by simply asking if it's professional to hire one's son-in-law, by asking if that was a consideration. And even then, that's a dicey question to ask, but not completely rude.

Twist the knife in? A journalist doesn't need to go stabbing everyone he or she sees. He doesn't have to be soft, but he does have to focus on the actors that he's assigned to write about.

1-07-2009 @ 2:01PM

I don't see how what Parker said could in any way constitute an insult to Marinelli's daughter. Unless we now consider it an insult to say to a woman "Your husband is a lousy defensive coordinator." The insult was not to the daughter - it was an insult to the DC and HC of the Detroit Lions.

Parker may be a jerk (from what you guys are relating here), but this one is a dumb stake to nail him on. You guys seriously think a coach of an 0-16 team shouldn't have to put up with some ribbing? Get real.

1-07-2009 @ 11:55AM

Bob Allen said...

If memory serves me, the first time Rob Parker told one of these Columbia J-school stories was in his first column upon returning to The Detroit News from New York. It was similarly pious, sanctimonious and generally the literary equivalent of Microsoft Word's spell-check.

My observations of Parker as an occasional reader:

1. He was a columnist. I never read anything in his work that sounded even remotely like reporting.
2. He wasn't even a bad writer. He was a bad typist. You practically could hear the prepositions and puns on the page, begging to be put out of their misery. Nothing he wrote was original. His idea of edgy was calling for people to be fired.
3. He has a poor sense of humor. Ostrasized geeks in middle school have sharper wits.
4. He lacks any semblance of good taste, although I will grant you that he is better on radio.
5. His explanation of why he asked Rod Marinelli the question about his son-in-law/coach was utter bilge. And his apology showed both insincerity and any semblance of backbone.

And, please, enough about his Columbia J-school education and all the words of wisdom he absorbed at the feet of the gods of the Fourth freakin' Estate. As an alumnus of Northwestern's J-school, I find sheepskin-sniffing as repellant as jock-sniffing.

Hard-hitting. Yeah, right. My 88-year-old mother could take him. And write a better column about it, too.

1-07-2009 @ 2:15PM

Fanball58 said...

Brody - maybe you can hire this guy to work for you now that he's available - BTW if you could read, you'd know he wasn't fired. Maybe he'll be better at doing whatever it is you do 4 a living - I'm guessing it's not sports reporting - and hoping its something where "Poisen Pen" Parker will no longer be part of the print, radio or TV media.

So he went to the Columbia Journalism School - wow, some cred from a school without a major NCAA football team (yet Parker is some how a defensive coaching expert).

Parker is just another meaningless journalist writing drivel that he KNOWS should be left alone but isn't smart enough to leave alone - maybe he was absent the day they taught that at Columbia Journalism school? He's out via his own volition for pressing what he knew he should have stayed away from and is now in excuse making mode. ESPN will realize this soon enough - maybe they'll actually fire him?

1-07-2009 @ 1:11PM

Edan said...

Get a grip, folks. Real reporters aren't paid to be sincere or models of good taste. They're paid to dig out the truth, get the story, and, yes, stick in the knife and twist ever so exquistely when needed. Like Chris Wallace testing 41 about Jeb being a better president than 43. Or Dan Rather asking Nixon if he's a crook. Or a reporter in 2004 asking GWBush to recall the single biggest mistake of his presidency (nothing "popped" into his head). Or pushing Marinelli to account for the worst case of coaching malpractice in NFL history. A reporter asks the question, artfully or not, to get the answer - and the answer is all that counts. At least that's what they taught me when I was at Northwestern's j-school and that's how I practiced journalsim in the pre-wuss days. For a time, I covered the mob. One day a mafia guy spotted me after reading one of my stories. "I'd like to cut the m-fer's throat, he snarled to his boss. To me, that was better than a Pulitzer! Go get 'em, Parker . . .

1-07-2009 @ 3:18PM

Fred said...

let's remember this is the same knucklehead who called Henry Aaron a "coward" for not kissing Barry Bonds' fanny. Good riddance.

1-07-2009 @ 3:47PM

Scott said...

I'm not a Rob Parker Fan. I rarely read his column and disliked him on TV and radio. He is a person that thinks of him self as funny but no one else does. That being said I don't think what he said at the press conference was offensive to any one other than the Lions Defensive coordinator and the person that hired them. It was not attack on Marinelli's daughter. The former Lions coach Rod Marinelli was asked repeatedly about the Lions season and why they sucked and why he hired his son-in-law as Defense coordinator all season long. The question of when the defensive coach would be fired was asked. I and many people around detroit wondered if this was nepotism. Coach Marinelli opened himself and his family up to this sort of criticism and jokes by hiring his son-in-law. For the first time ever I laughed at something Rob Parker said.

1-07-2009 @ 7:35PM

Blogo said...

Shame on the Detroit paper for demoting a reporter who dared to ask a question.

Memo to Parker's fellow staffers: from now on, be careful what you ask. You can be fired for speaking truth to power.

What's next? Will someone be fired for asking a tough question to the new mayor?

1-10-2009 @ 1:45PM

BraystreetLad said...

Parker should have been fired for calling Henry Aaron a coward
when it became obvious that Aaron had no public remark about
Barry Bonds' breaking Aaron's HR record.Rob should have read
Aaron's autobiography,"I Had A Hammer,"or,because his mother
who I believe is deceased,was an Alabaman,spoken to family
members who currently reside there.