Images of athletes, celebrities, politicians, etc. involved in illegal activities have become commonplace in today’s media. Despite the demand for such stories, the more exposure there is to them, the less people react to them.

Last year the University dealt with several instances of athletes running into trouble with the law. Any article about such incidents received numerous comments on DailyIllini.com from students and alumni.

This year The Daily Illini reported that two additional football players were linked to an incident in which teammates were issued notices to appear after police responded to a fight outside of C.O. Daniel’s. The article did not receive a single comment on DailyIllini.com.

It’s my role to report the news not force people to care about it. In reporting this story I realized the importance of the watchdog role the press must sometimes play.