Ousted sports columnist defends asking controversial question
In a radio appearance today, former Detroit News sports columnist Robert Parker defended his controversial questioning of the Detroit Lions’ head coach that led to Parker’s divorce from the Detroit News.
Parker asked Lions coach Rod Marinelli if he had wished his daughter had married a better defensive coordinator. Two weeks later, Parker left the paper, reportedly after being demoted from columnist to general assignment reporter. The paper said he resigned, Parker is quoted as saying he asked for and got a buyout, partly because he didn’t like changes taking place at the Detroit News.
In an item on NFLfanhouse.com — titled “Rob Parker: Journalists Should ‘Stick the Knife in, Turn it and Draw Blood’” — Parker defends his questions:
“‘I went to Columbia Journalism School. And I can still remember the day I got called into the office and my professor … thought I was a good reporter but she wanted more out of me. You know what she told me? And I’ll never forget these words. She said. ‘Robert, I want you to stick the knife in, turn it and draw blood. That is the way you have to be a reporter. You’ve got to get the information, you’ve got to go after it. You can’t be soft on it.’ And that’s my approach, and that’s the only way I know how to do that job. I believe there’s still a place out there for a reporter like me, a journalist like me, and that’s where I stand.’”
The article says Parker reports a 60-40 positive response to his question.
Steve Parker is the deputy managing editor for news, and oversees the Post-Dispatch's front page. STLtoday's online news editors are on his newsroom team. Parker has been at the paper since September 1980. 
EJ,
Yes, The real travesty is that if he got fired for his question due directly to the Lions pressuring the newspaper. You’d think the paper would have more intestinal fortitude and back him even though they thought he was wrong to ask such a question
C’mon. That’s not something a sports reporter/columnist asks a coach in a post-game news conference. If he wants to write it in his column, perhaps saying Marinelli’s daughter should have married a better defensive coordinator, that’s fine. But it’s not journalism or reporting to ask that question. He was soliciting an angry resonse and he apparently got it. Stick in the knife, turn it and draw blood. What a joke!
John… In a column, Marinelli would not have been put on-the-spot, in public to answer the question. He could have easily ignored addressing the issue. Sorry, but I like the fact Parker had the backbone to ask the question.
The Detroit News blew it. They let a guy go who was bringing high publicity in an era of declining circulation. They just started cutting delivery, now they just want to cut people who make memorable events and talk about the paper. No one cares about awards, stick-to-the-book rules, etc.