Did The Media Get Joe Paterno Fired?

HOURS AFTER THE Penn Sate University board of trustees fired football coach Joe Paterno and the university president for their actions (and inaction) connected to the child sex scandal involving a former PSU football coach, students rioted in the streets. Among the ways they released their anger and frustration was by knocking over a television live truck.

The students, according to some reports, believe that the media got Joe Paterno fired.

“I think the point people are trying to make is the media is responsible for JoePa going down,” a PSU freshman told the New York Times.

While acknowledging that the rape of helpless children was awful, many people spoke to the media and wrote op/eds saying that the media put their focus on Joe Paterno rather than the actual suspect in these cases because focusing on the alleged perpetrator would not sell newspapers or draw eyes to newscasts or websites.

"You know what will sell, though?" a blogger/ journalist wrote. "The downfall of an American icon. A man who has spent 60 years building the reputation of a football program, a university, a whole town doing the 'legal minimum' but not his 'moral duty' being pummeled both in writing and by cameras and microphones everywhere he goes. I can guarantee you, if Penn State was coached by some no-name, the stories churned out would be about the victims and the men who perpetrated these crimes."

Did the media focus on the wrong person in this situation?

Or did the media act responsibly, reporting all angles?