Jon Sokoloff Can Not Be Trusted
Fool me once, shame on you, but I can’t get fooled again. Jon Sokoloff fooled me and I am not going to get fooled again. If you are unaware, Sokoloff reported that Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin was set to become the next head coach for Auburn. The issue is that Sokoloff’s sources were wrong. Instead, Kiffin opted to re-sign with the Rebels.
I made the mistake of trusting Sokoloff’s reporting. Sokoloff works for WCBI news, a local television news station that covers northern Alabama and northern Mississippi, and he has won AP awards. He has all of the makings of a legit journalist. Because of that, I wrote a post about Kiffin making the move over to Auburn, I even gave Sokoloff credit. However, just minutes after I got done writing the post, Kiffin put out a tweet saying Sokoloff was incorrect. Too bad he didn’t check his phone a little sooner so I could have stopped writing.
To add fuel to the fire, Kiffin even took a little jab at Sokoloff.
Sokoloff continued to report on the situation. About an hour after his initial report, he put out a new article that said the Ole Miss athletic department declined the report. That detail was not included in his original tweet. As a result, Kiffin had a meeting with the team to confirm that he was not leaving, which was reported by ESPN. Lastly, Sokoloff updated the situation by saying that Auburn was going to push the announcement until after the Iron Bowl on Saturday out of respect for interim head coach Cadillac Williams. He also added that could open the door for another candidate like Hugh Freeze, who could be in line for power five jobs, to earn the job.
Nonetheless, this situation ended with Kiffin staying at Ole Miss. In an attempt to cover his tracks, Sokoloff reported Kiffin was interested in heading to Auburn. He also put out a Tweet where he back peddled by saying multiple independent sources confirmed the news and that information changes.
Well, if you wait to report the news until it is official, the information will not become inaccurate. Plus, assuming he did have sources confirming the news, he said the Ole Miss athletic department declined the report and that a source close to Auburn said they had not offered Kiffin the job. At a minimum, that is enough red flags to wait on reporting the news.
After this whole fiasco, I will not be trusting Sokoloff again. Simply put, he pulled the trigger too soon. From the outside, it looks like Kiffin may have been interested in the Ole Miss job. The issue is that Sokoloff did not report that. He took it a step further and said that Kiffin was going to take the job. If it is not signed, sealed, and delivered wait to report the news.
To be clear, I do not think that Sokoloff is a bad guy. I am just saying that he made a mistake in his reporting process. The problem is when you are reporting on massive news it has massive implications. Needless to say, I do not plan on checking in with Sokoloff for any breaking news in the near future.
