Campaign Outsider

It’s not a rhetorical question. It’s a real question.

Here’s the Wall Street Journal’s A-Hed on Wednesday:

Talking Basketball, in Spanish, Is Definitely No Slam Dunk

‘Donquear’ Would Be Spanglish; Covering the NBA Finals for Latino Fans

MIAMI—Broadcasters covering the NBA finals for Spanish-speaking fans from different parts of the world do it from a Tower of Babel where a dunk is not a dunk, but the play-by-play guys disagree about just what to call it.

As the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks vie on the basketball court for the championship title, two of their broadcasters are duking it out with each other.

“Some say donquear. That’d be Spanglish,” says José Pañeda, the announcer calling the play on Miami’s WQBA-AM radio. But donquear doesn’t work in Argentina, where dunk is volcada, he says. In Spain, it’s mate, which literally means “the kill,” as when a matador administers the lethal thrust in a bullfight.

Much interesting material followed.

As did the Xerox journalists. Thursday found this on NPR’s All Things Considered, and this on PRI’s The World. Both

Both recycled the Journal’s sources, but neither credited the Journal piece. The question is, should they have? The hardworking staff says yes, so we sent this message to new NPR ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos:

Dear Mr. Schumacher-Matos:

The hardworking staff at Campaign Outsider has noted that All Things Considered’s June 9 NBA Spanglish segment was essentially a carbon-copy of the Wall Street Journal’s June 8th A-Hed.

We also noted that the ATC piece failed to credit the Journal.

Should it have?

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Campaign Outsider

As always, we’ll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, what do you think?