[RalfDweflywex]

Vetted? I'm with you up to there.

I don't think these anecdotes are checked in any way, personally.

[Vomephems]

Humm but there is nothing wrong about this story, it is just a matter of the fan perception.

Vetted? I'm with you up to there.

I don't think these anecdotes are checked in any way, personally.

Do you really thing cnnsi.com would L. Jon post a story like this without at least covering their asses?

[fubyFrery]

Do you really thing cnnsi.com would L. Jon post a story like this without at least covering their asses?

I am sure they do their homework...

[AutocadOemM]

Do you really thing cnnsi.com would L. Jon post a story like this without at least covering their asses?

How would they cover their ass in this situation? E-mail the guy back and say, "Are you sure???"

I'm not saying I don't believe the story. I think L. Jon and the editors are pretty explicitly putting these stories out there for just what they are: fan encounters told from fan perspectives, take them or leave them. I'm sure they would never print the clearly unbelievable ones. But I can't imagine any possible way to go about the typical journalistic fact-checking of a "this one time, at the airport..." story. (That's why they usually don't get printed.)

Now that I think more about it, I'm not thrilled with the journalism ethics of the whole thing. It's pretty iffy territory.

[Vomephems]

How would they cover their ass in this situation? E-mail the guy back and say, "Are you sure???"

I'm not saying I don't believe the story. I think L. Jon and the editors are pretty explicitly putting these stories out there for just what they are: fan encounters told from fan perspectives, take them or leave them. I'm sure they would never print the clearly unbelievable ones. But I can't imagine any possible way to go about the typical journalistic fact-checking of a "this one time, at the airport..." story. (That's why they usually don't get printed.)

Now that I think more about it, I'm not thrilled with the journalism ethics of the whole thing. It's pretty iffy territory.

Wait, aren't you in law school? As an in-house lawyer, you would have let this story run without covering your bases in some way?

[tsamprasxx]

Yeah, there really is no way to be able to check if the story is true or not. Either way, it's all perception.

I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but I found it to be pretty funny after reading all of the fan encounters from this week.

It's funny how different someone's perception of an encounter is. Judging from the posts, both Serena and Soderling behaved similarly (at least from what I could tell from reading the stories), but the fans reacted in entirely different ways. The Serena dude was disappointed whilst the Soderling fan was down right elated

From the Soderling encouter: "Funny thing was that absolutely nobody else had any idea who he was or why I was so excited to talk to this tall, grumpy fellow."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...#ixzz1gHufbKsi

I'm slow today. This is basically me


And I would never base my judgement of a player off of one anonymous fan encounter. Luckily (or not so lucky for Serena), she's been around for a while, so I don't have to.

Love that gif .

And same here. I wouldn't base my judgement off of that either.

[AutocadOemM]

Wait, aren't you in law school? As an in-house lawyer, you would have let this story run without covering your bases in some way?

Wearing my journalism jeans, I find it irresponsible to print. But wearing my lawyer pinstripe pants, I don't find it libelous (granted, I'm no expert as a first-year with one undergrad course in media law ). At the very least, Serena would have to go to an awful lot of trouble to present evidence that the facts of the story (not the fan's impressions or commentary) are false, and that the story caused her harm to her reputation. And, if the court determined her a "public figure" (pretty likely), she would have to prove actual malice, that the writer and editors meant to do harm with a reckless disregard for the truth (unlikely with L. Jon's history of love for her in print).

[ViagraFeller]

Can we all agree that Serena is often gracious and often a bitch? I wouldn't be floored if she had paid to upgrade the person to first class or threatened to have him arrested.

My guess: the person may have been stammering since the anecdote admits nervousness and a lot of information poured out before asking for the autograph. Also keep in mind that people have different views on proper airport attire. Perhaps he was wearing sandals with socks or forgot to take a shower.

[Kissntell]

I say female tennis players, based on an ugly history, are well within their legal and ethical rights to be suspicious of any stranger approaching them in public. If a person stalked me across an airport by recognizing my hitting partner and following him, I'd be weirded out too. That said, if the account were 100% accurate, I'd say Serena handled the situation exceptionally poorly from a PR standpoint - that's her hallmark, I guess. But I highly doubt that 100% accuracy based on the fact that so much of the account is purely subjective opinion (She signed too slowly? She only signed her name and not a personalized greeting? You felt awkward and uncomfortable approaching a famous stranger? What is the complaint exactly?)

[Vomephems]

Anyone remember this? Rafa could have reacted a million different ways, but he chose to handle it this way.