All reporters are taught to properly gather evidence, assess the collected information and then let the research lead you to a conclusion.
For this specific Cowboys’ series, Brett Shipp, a WFAA reporter, decided to go the Michael Moore route instead. In other words, rather than letting the evidence speak for itself, he created an opinionated conclusion and worked backwards from there.
Shipp's conclusion: Cowboy fans are turning on the franchise, and specifically, Jerry Jones.
He started the project by formulating his conclusion...and then spent time trying to create an argument that supported that belief. Not exactly reporting 101.
Shipp attempted to "summarize" his findings when he spoke with The Ticket this morning. During that conversation, Shipp stated:
“Dallas Cowboy fans no longer believe that this is 'America's Team.' People who supported Jerry Jones in the past are now turning on him.”
Those are pretty strong statements. Shipp must have some very telling data supporting that belief, right? Below are the published WFAA findings:
Overall, do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Dallas Cowboys?
72% Favorable
24% Unfavorable
So...Shipp's comments were based on the 24% of polled individuals? Really? I'm not a statistical genius, but I think that a 72% approval-rating seems quite good. Maybe it could be higher, but if I were paid to "report the findings," I wouldn't feel comfortable reporting that "Cowboy fans are turning on their team," at least not based on these poll results. Hell, Obama’s approval rating recently dipped below 60%.
Interested in another contradictory nugget? In 2008, the Dallas Cowboys sold more merchandise than any other NFL team...again.
The sky is falling on Jerry Jones – but luckily – people are buying Dallas Cowboy umbrellas to protect themselves!
Just wait - it gets funnier.
Shipp continued this morning by proclaiming that:
"Most loyal Cowboy fans think that 'Jerry crossed the line' with his new stadium. Most fans that have been lifelong followers are not renewing their season tickets."
Again - very strong statement. Apparently, "most" loyal Cowboy fans are so turned off by the new stadium that they are just walking away from the organization. Surely Shipp has some strong evidence to support that claim. From the WFAA website:
Will the Stadium be good or bad for the fans?
65% Good
29% Bad
C’mon, Shipp…help a brotha out! Honestly, I'm expecting Ashton Kutcher to rip off his Brett-Shipp-mask screaming, "you just got PUNKED!"
Ok, ok...I need to take a deep breath. I'll be right back.
(...walking around...breathing...listening to Enya to calm down)
Ok, I'm back. Where were we? Oh, that's right - Brett Shipp is insane! Seriously, he's lost it! Just to summarize/paraphrase:
Brett Shipp: "Cowboy fans are turning on the Cowboy franchise."
Poll Results: 72% polled still feel favorable towards the team.
Miscellaneous: Cowboys sold more merchandise in 2008 than any other NFL franchise.
(head spinning)
Brett Shipp: "Most loyal fans are refusing to get 'on-board' with the new stadium."
Poll Results: 65% polled feel that the stadium will be good for fans.
Miscellaneous: Please see WFAA poll results.
(my head just exploded)
Here are the complete WFAA results:
Pretty amazing stuff. Another interesting note: they only polled 400 people in the metroplex. 400! DFW has a population near the $6 million mark. I'm not sure how any logical person could arrive at any solid conclusions after polling just .001% of the targeted population.
I don’t believe that logic is Shipp's strong-point...and I actually have evidence to support it!
