Journalism is at its worst when sports stories are involved – reporters being conditioned to consider this the one area where it’s okay to openly root for the home team – and when newshounds smell bad plays on words, it’s Katie, bar the door. And so it was with local reportage of New York’s selection as U.S. candidate for the 2012 Olympics, the Daily News asserting that while “New York City may feel like a gold-medal winner” after having “cleared an Olympic hurdle,” it “hasn’t reached the finish line yet.” The headline on one News story: “Now, N.Y. Has To Beat The World.” If you’re a New Yorker, who’re you gonna root for when you see that? The world?
