New York Daily News - Fire Manish Mehta as Jets Beat Reporter

New York Daily News - Fire Manish Mehta as Jets Beat Reporter

Started
May 30, 2019
Petition to
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Signatures: 627Next Goal: 1,000
Support now

Why this petition matters

Started by Demetrios H

While the New York media has never been kind to the New York Jets, the team has often been deserving of scorn. A reporter's job is to report facts, and the facts are the Jets have often been a bad team.

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News however has a long established tendency to create falsehoods in his reporting, applying his own personal spin to stories, cite "unnamed sources" while at the same time stating that no one else would comment, and he has now crossed over into engaging in a personal vendetta following recent personnel changes in the New York Jets front office.

He is an irresponsible journalist in an era when irresponsible journalism is at its heights. It is one thing to have a beat reporter who hates the team that he is writing for - the New York Jets have plenty of those. But they at least report the truth or make it clear when they are merely stating opinion.

Manish Mehta has manufactured the following stories that have proven after the fact to be way off base. He has not presented them as conjecture, but stated they are coming to him from "verified sources", and they have consistently been incorrect. This means that he is either an incompetent reporter who misunderstands the quality of his sources, or he is deliberately misleading and telling falsehoods. Either way, a fine periodical like the New York Daily News deserves better - a reporter that acts with both integrity and competence.

Some notable recent examples of Manish Mehta's inaccurate and inflammatory reporting:

His latest doozy, a Game of Thrones style expose on backstabbing and intrigue that only he is aware of, citing "unnamed sources" and unable to receive comment from anyone else: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-jets-turmoil-johnson-maccagnan-20190530-bqohcmaux5hh5ift6vk6ewkzkq-story.html

He is the only reporter claiming (via unnamed sources) that Jets Head Coach Adam Gase didn't want to sign running back LeVeon Bell, attempting to cause a rift between the new head coach and the new running back: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-leveon-bell-gase-maccagnan-20190515-pmkeqreghncdha4nojcok7vchy-story.html

He downplays reports of a rift between Gase and General Manager Mike Maccagnan, shortly before claiming that Gase had been plotting all along to stab Mac in the back: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-20190501-emljtpfzbjce5ee7o6yykcstsu-story.html

He quotes Gase as saying he was surprised about Maccagnan's firing, mere weeks before accusing him of orchestrating it via "unnamed sources": https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-sports-jets-ota-2019-adam-gase-20190520-ih526x7mbbfqfgx4gcrddcjjea-story.html

A now deleted tweet in which he says absolutely the Jets will not fire Maccagnan: https://imgur.com/a/TnZVPqI#A3ceYmI He did however leave this one up criticizing an actual reporter reporting actual facts: https://twitter.com/mmehtanydn/status/1121812242184515585?s=21

An "unnamed NFC General Manager" rants about a Jets Free Agent signing (who was injured and therefore performed poorly): https://twitter.com/mmehtanydn/status/1081193628695973889?s=21

He has to be corrected after mis-reporting an injury to Jets starting Quarterback Sam Darnold as a "sprain" (serious injury) instead of a "strain" (minor injury): https://twitter.com/connor_j_hughes/status/1060269034187489284?s=21

An opinion piece again devoid of facts or reporting suggesting that the Jets retain his friend Maccagnan: https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/ny-sports-maccagnan-bowles-jets-relationship-mehta-20181206-story.html

Here's a neutral article about the bad journalism Mehta engages in when trying to influence the Jets on their head coaching decision in 2015: https://observer.com/2015/01/tabloid-sportswriters-attack-each-other-over-jets-coach/

He famously boasted that he would hitch hike home if the Jets drafted 9 players with their 9 picks. They didn, and he didn't. https://twitter.com/MMehtaNYDN/status/465147778075996161

 

Support now
Signatures: 627Next Goal: 1,000
Support now
Share this petition in person or use the QR code for your own material.Download QR Code

Decision Makers

  • NEW YORK DAILY NEWS