Headline errors happen, sometimes from typos and sometimes from stories published too soon, but some of the most pushback comes when a story’s subject doesn’t think the headline represents what they actually said. The latest case of that comes from Fox announcer Joe Buck against a Twitter headline from Sports Illustrated, and he’s right.
Buck attracted a lot of attention Wednesday night for his comments on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live that if NFL games are played without fans thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, pumping in crowd noise (whether previously recorded or delivered live from offsite locations) “is pretty much a done deal.” But his discussion with Cohen also saw him talking about how Fox was “looking at ways to put virtual fans in the stands.” Buck had made some previous remarks about inserting crowd noise, including on HBO’s Real Sports last month, but this marked the most definitive he’s been on that front, so his remarks were newsworthy and were covered by plenty of outlets.
But one of those outlets, Sports Illustrated, conflated crowd noise (which Buck said “I know they’ll do it” about, although he wasn’t specific about the exact manner of delivering it) and virtual fans (which he said they were only “looking at”) in their coverage of this. And one of their tweets about it led to Twitter pushback from Buck Wednesday. First, the tweet Buck commented on has been deleted, but here’s a screencap of it from AA’s Ben Koo (it also contained an image with a link to the SI story, but that didn’t transfer):
Here’s another tweet along those lines with a graphic and a link to the story. This tweet was still on SI’s account as of 12:30 p.m. Eastern Thursday:
Do you think this is a good idea? 🤔 https://t.co/enAICJu2Zb pic.twitter.com/csiSo1EbqL
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) May 14, 2020
And here are Buck’s complaints about this:
Amazing the headline doesn’t match what I said. Didn’t think that happened at places like SI. I’ve been saying for over a month, including on HBO in April, that some ambient crowd noise under a broadcast is a simple, necessary tool to normalize the viewing experience at home…. https://t.co/6JY11ZcGZU
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
There is no “traditional” take on this topic. It’s new territory. Hoping stadiums are full and all is normal. If not, then it’s a blank canvas. All networks will try to make it look and sound as normal as possible. It could lead to unprecedented, thrilling access. Who knows?
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
But Crowd reactions are an enormous piece of the TV puzzle. All reactions by a crowd are valuable and to be used – as far as I know. I use it as much as I can and still keep my job. Big moments like the Minn. Miracle are MADE on tv because of the crowd noise.
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
It doesn’t have to be over the top. But something has to be there. Contrary to the misleading headline at SI and other places – I said FOX is WORKING on virtual fans. They are working everyday on ANYTHING to make our shows the best on TV. That’s exciting to me, and I am thankful
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
Some ideas will work and some won’t. That’s the nature of WORKING on something. It’s uncharted water. It could be a very exciting time in network TV coverage. I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Praying for a SAFE return to a stadium near you for all involved.
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
This ran in the LA Times last week. It’s ALL a work in progress. pic.twitter.com/ugv437cSkf
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
This snippet proving its other networks as well. https://t.co/O7PiVe6NYA
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
See the last tweet. And I don’t eat trash. Anymore https://t.co/j6Yv6OEhdi
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
Last one. Cause I want you to understand. The crowd NOISE is different from the VISUAL of virtual fans. It’s two different things. The headline said FOX would add both. The second is being worked on. Hope u have a good day! But I’m glad you get what “they’ll” means. https://t.co/vX5Vep2BVn
— Joe Buck (@Buck) May 14, 2020
SI has also updated their article with a correction at the bottom, but weirdly, the correction only covers their line on how definitive Buck was about the noise, not the bigger error (their claim that Buck said Fox would use virtual fans, something he only said they were “working on”):
Correction: This story originally indicated that Buck said Fox was definitely planning to pump in crowd noise during games without fans. It has been updated to reflect that Buck did not definitively commit to Fox using artificial crowd noise. SI regrets the error.
SI is far from the only outlet to make Twitter errors or headline errors, but this one’s notable for a few reasons, starting with the pushback it got from Buck. And he was correct to push back on the virtual fans aspect; he did not say that Fox “will add” virtual fans this year, as SI’s tweet stated, but that “they’re looking at ways to put virtual fans in the stands.” The tweet combines the two things he discussed (crowd noise and virtual fans) and claims he said they’re both at the “will add” level, and that’s not true for what he said about virtual fans. And that led to SI becoming the story themselves, which is just the latest in a string of poor recent looks for them.
[Screengrab of Buck at top from a 2017 Undeniable clip]
