Kind of sucks doesn't it?

I'm sure most of you have heard by now, but former ESPN and Chicago columnist Jay Mariotti will be charged with a few counts of domestic abuse. I read an interesting article by Dan LeBatard, http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2010/08/23/dan-lebatard-on-jay-mariotti-the-vitriolic-reaction-to-mariottis-misery-frightened-me/. What I find funny is the double standard these public figures feel they have when the story is about them. It was the same way with Jeff DuBay locally. All the ex-ESPN guys who have been fired. They attack those who question them or even seek out information.
I have a couple of problems with this. First of all this is how these guys have made a living for so long. Criticizing and commenting on the on field and off field issues. Did they leave Ben Roethlisberger alone after his off the field issues. Did they leave Tiger alone? These guys are vultures. And it's not all their fault, they're only like that because their readers, viewers, and listeners want to know. But they also have to realize that when they become the story they'll be the subject of the same harassment and questioning. They can't stand behind their journalist badge. It's the old adage treat other people how you want to be treated. Especially guys like Mariotti who are edgy and in your face. They are treated like politicians who preach all day about how great they are and criticize those they are covering, but when it's all said and done with a lot of them are hypocrites and liars. Take the recent news that the Jets are under scrutiny for making rude comments to a female reporter. Who of these columnists that have ripped them haven't done the same. So these reporters should be the first to understand why when their own personal lives become news, we are quick to jump on the story.
Secondly I'm sick of journalists and radio talk show hosts criticizing bloggers and other amateurs who have used the internet as an avenue to voice their opinion. What makes these guys so high and mighty? What's the difference between Dan Barrerio and myself for example? He is a better writer, he is a better story teller, but as far as opinions go, we are each entitled to our own. So the main difference is he is broadcasting daily to thousands of people on a major market radio show. While I write periodically on a blog to a handful of my friends. But what makes him any more knowledgeable about football than me? I can understand the former players and coaches, who have an inside knowledge of the games they played. But these columnists have nothing on bloggers other than the size of their listening audiences.
Columnists and reporters now days can become news just as easily as the players and sports they cover. They can't hide behind their notepads when things go bad, just as they wouldn't let the players hide. So it's up to bloggers and other amateur media to pick up where they leave off when they're deciding to beat up a wife, or force them selves on an intern.