(12-29-2018 12:27 PM)RodShaw2 Wrote: Agree to disagree.
Fair enough.
But I would say that ETSU's prime directive, as set by the state when it was established in 1911, is to educate. Educate means providing information, and hopefully contributing to a student's ability to inculcate that information into their world view, and thus broaden and enrich it.
While ETSU is not "in the business" of reporting the news, they *are* in the business of spreading correct information - be it history, science, whatever. "Sports marketing", as practiced by Mike White and Co., does at least a partial disservice to the accurate spread of information.
If 6,000 folks cram Freedom Hall for a hoops game, or 10-12,000 fill the football stadium or the Dome for games, that's news. I just don't think that can be argued. And yes, the local (and national, as warranted) print and broadcast media treat it as such - more or less. To the extent that the ETSU SID works against that, it's just wrong.
There's nothing improper about promoting ETSU, or ETSU's students' or facultys' achievements - but it'd just be a lot more 'honest' if it was contextualized more properly.