Drew Holden mega-thread names & shames media that helped turn a mob on an innocent Colorado Rockies fan

As we told you earlier, the Colorado Rockies’ fight against racism took a turn after they ended up siccing a mob on an innocent fan. Later, the Rockies Twitter account put out what they called an “update,” and that was an apt way to put it because their statement was far from the apology the fan deserves.

But as bad as the Rockies handled the situation, the media and blue check journo-land was even worse.

The insanity caught the eye of threadmaster extraordinaire Drew Holden:

🧵THREAD🧵

I know it may seem straight out of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but the supposed-racist-barrage-turned-innocent-fan-behavior this weekend in Colorado says a lot about the media.

I try to unpack why after some highlights from the unfounded outrage. ⤵️

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

The non-incident provided the media an opportunity to cover themselves in even more #FakeNews glory:

For those unaware: over the weekend, a fan reportedly called an MLB player a racial slur. Not 24 hours later, the team concluded he was just calling out the name of the team’s mascot, Dinger.

But if you read the @nytimes, that the story was even in doubt likely escaped you. pic.twitter.com/diDObgiT4e

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

But, as ever, it wasn’t just the Times. Not to be outdone, @CNN also got in on the act, making the same allegation.

Again, no hesitation, no couched language, no waiting for the story to play out with additional information. Just confident – and totally misplaced – assurance. pic.twitter.com/VrZghBrp8k

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

@washingtonpost really leaned into the narrative on this one.

As you can see from the opening paragraph (and h/t to @ChuckRossDC for finding this) there isn’t any equivocation: “The n-word was shouted multiple times from the stands”

That, simply, wasn’t true. pic.twitter.com/fGmXdgYWLi

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

I think this story/correction from @AP is illustrative of the point here.

For the first tweet, you have certainty: a fan did this racist thing.

But then, as soon as the narrative went bunk, you get words like “suspected” start to creep in.

Where was that framing to begin with? pic.twitter.com/Zf4aKLSvbA

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

A lot of the updates took a similar route as APs.

Safe to say there’s a slight difference in tone between this original @USATODAY piece and the follow up one from when it became clear the first was wrong. pic.twitter.com/1CQJmz22Nd

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

@NBCNews almost couched this but decided to go with “apparently” instead, and then leaned into how this was an “ugly incident” despite none of the players on either team noticing anything was amiss. pic.twitter.com/hkJ4KbvLv8

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

Sports media might have been even more wildly irresponsible:

Sports media in particular really jumped the gun on this one. Here we’ve got @SI, @SportsCenter, @BleacherReport and MLB networks @SeverinoMLB all doing the same thing. pic.twitter.com/NQBqzLRzbj

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

@BroBible is a name I never envisioned including in a thread if I’m being honest. pic.twitter.com/JeKVvQR2Ip

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

And a lot of people across the media ran with this one when they should’ve known better.

Here’s @BNightengale, a sports columnists for USA Today, suggesting that this guy (who, again, didn’t do anything wrong!) should be put in jail. pic.twitter.com/KmOx3CU7uY

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

Clearly the media consider themselves to be narrative pushers instead of reporters of facts.

And the coverage even made it international! Here you’ve got @Independent from the UK and this truly outrageous take from @heraldsunsport in Australia. pic.twitter.com/s4YpUUzS2H

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

Short on space but we saw the same thing from both the Post and @NYDailyNews. pic.twitter.com/xmo8YEx4gx

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

And of course we told you about the pitiful response from the Rockies:

The response from the @Rockies was pretty terrible.

How do you conclude, right off the bat, that your own fans are vile racists, without even bothering to investigate? pic.twitter.com/TBhqI5YHp7

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

How did journos & other blue checks respond to the non-apology?

But even their self-flaggelating and inaccurate apology wasn’t enough for many on Twitter. Here’s just a brief snapshot of journalists and other blue checks. @rolandsmartin, @TroyWestwood & @mollyhc

Again, this is in response to an apology for something that didn’t happen! pic.twitter.com/eScxLeb1bc

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

It always pays to follow the @EsotericCD rule: when something outlandish happens, don’t rage tweet about it for twenty four hours.

WaPo’s @MrMichaelLee…didn’t do that. pic.twitter.com/q5XEwTbYOD

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

@Phil_Lewis_ of HuffPost helped get the outrage going, in a since-deleted tweet.

Something tells me we’ll get a lot of quiet deletes and stealth edits as a result of all this. pic.twitter.com/73rM0CU0bS

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

I won’t pretend I had expected anything better from @KeithOlbermann, though. pic.twitter.com/63F1jZFCzN

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

Pathetic. But “journalism” or something.

Listen, I’m a Red Sox fan. I won’t pretend there aren’t racist incidents in the MLB (or other sports) or that they aren’t heinous when they happen.

But a quick way to turn people off to a problem is to play the boy who cried wolf. A lot of folks across the media did that here.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

An earnest desire for change sometimes has a funny way of turning shadows into monsters. I hope folks will take this as a reminder to slow down, especially when something happens that is both outrageous and conveniently aligned with one’s narrative.

Especially in the media.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

No, this isn’t Russiagate. It’s a dumb misunderstanding that’ll quickly recede from memory. But it is emblematic of an enormous problem with the corporate press.

Information that sounds right to a journalist is increasingly treated as fact, and we’re all poorer for it.

— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) August 9, 2021

We wish we could say this wasn’t a regular occurrence.

Great job, Drew! The media’s shameless sway is clearer with your every exposé.

— sockdolagerm (@sockdolagerm) August 10, 2021

I wonder if the Rockies will change the name of or retire the mascot for maximum virtue-signaling impact.

— South Spinach (@South_Spinach) August 10, 2021

Great thread on the ridiculous @Rockies incident.

Quote from final tweet in thread: "Information that sounds right to a journalist is increasingly treated as fact, and we’re all poorer for it." https://t.co/1V3MfY41lp

— Andy Robertson (@andy1robertson) August 10, 2021