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Former NYJ beat “reporter” Manish Mehta speaks: MERGED

chrisfaceoff

By chrisfaceoff
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Maxman

Maxman

Posted
Posted

Listening now:

Manish says he say Joe Douglas at a Phillies game. Recognized him from the One Jets Drive episode with his family on it.  Manish says he had been texting Douglas and just said I saw your kid, it was an accident, they were on the same concession line. The kid was wearing a Phillies shirt. Manish asked him hey is Joe Douglas your Dad and the kid said yeah.  Manish claims he texted Joe saying I saw your kid and there was nothing weird about it.

Manish said this never came up as anything Douglas was mad about.  

(Before the pitchforks come out, I am not defending Manish lol, just recapping the interview here).

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Maxman

Maxman

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Manish says PR Director told Manish that the Jets don't like his tone.  Manish also went out of his way to say that the PR Director had also worked for James Dolan and the Knicks.

Manish is basically saying this was all made up stuff to get him out.

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Sonny Werblin

Sonny Werblin

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2 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Listening now:

Manish says he say Joe Douglas at a Phillies game. Recognized him from the One Jets Drive episode with his family on it.  Manish says he had been texting Douglas and just said I saw your kid, it was an accident, they were on the same concession line. The kid was wearing a Phillies shirt. Manish asked him hey is Joe Douglas your Dad and the kid said yeah.  Manish claims he texted Joe saying I saw your kid and there was nothing weird about it.

Manish said this never came up as anything Douglas was mad about.  

(Before the pitchforks come out, I am not defending Manish lol, just recapping the interview here).

Even if his account is accurate, the fact that he does not get how creepy that is speaks volumes. It is about understanding and respecting boundaries, especially for a reporter covering the totally unknowns child's father.   

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peebag

peebag

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9 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Manish says PR Director told Manish that the Jets don't like his tone.  Manish also went out of his way to say that the PR Director had also worked for James Dolan and the Knicks.

Manish is basically saying this was all made up stuff to get him out.

damn fake news media

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Maxman

Maxman

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Manish was asked about Nick Folk's wife claiming that Manish threatened Folk with bad press. Manish said that wasn't true. The story was about kickers not being in the NFL, and she took an unprovoked shot at me. I think its misguided but at no point did I ever threaten Nick Folk or his wife. I don't do that. I get information because I operate on mutual trust.

Manish also said that Joe Douglas went along with the story because he saw Joe Douglas in January at the senior bowl. He had a conversation with Joe in the parking lot in which he expressed to him about having an open line of communication. 15 minute convo, Manish said he never wants to write a story without background info to not misrepresent anything. 

The conversation that was portrayed to the NFL was if Douglas didn't talk to Manish he would write bad articles about Douglas. But Manish said Joe Vitt (Gase's Father In Law) walked by them and Joe Douglas said he didn't want to be fired for cause.  (Vitt tells Gase, Gase tells CJ and Douglas went along with the chirade that he felt threatened).

Manish was asked why not sue the Jets?  I have thought about this. Multi billion dollar organization. But the PR Director told one other rep that Manish wasn't fired for his reporting, here are the reasons why....so people thought they had a reason why he lost his credential. But they had no idea why (Manish's words).

They asked him why he wouldn't sue. He said his bosses at the Daily News wanted to make this public. Manish didn't want to be attached to this story about his son, because perception is reality. Manish said he didn't do anything wrong with the kid, but the story the Jets were pushing made it sound bad.

Manish said with no locker room access, he knew he could cover the team as well as anyone. He lost his credential a week after the broke the Jamal Adams story.

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Maxman

Maxman

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Host: This is all one sided. What about the Charles McDonald situation? Charles went off on not getting credit for what he wrote.

Manish, I covered the team for 11 years. I was texting two people in the organization today. I am well sourced. I worked with Charles for a month, we worked independently outside of 3 weeks in training camp. He wasn't happy doing junior level work, he is a junior level reporter. I didn't communicate with him, outside of camp and week 1 he didn't work with me.  He helped me during camp by giving me access to zoom calls and occasionally forwarding me Jets PR emails. Joe Douglas doesn't speak regularly to the media so on a couple of occasions I outlined 2 or 3 questions for Douglas, I did it once in a while for Gase and Darnold but not as much.  That was the extent of it, I didn't ask him to ask stuff on my behalf.  We worked independently before the 2nd game of the season.  How people choose to respond when they leave a company reflects a lot on who that person is. 

I am insulted by this notion, I have enough sources, as evidenced by my reporting on the Jets having secret cameras in their locker room this year.

I wrote about no in person meetings because Gase doesn't like meetings. I broke Le'Veon Bell and Avery Williamson being traded to the Steelers. I broke all of that info, I have good sources and contacts. I don't need a junior level reporter to help me. Everything I wrote was from my contacts and sources and other publicly provided info that the Jets post on the team website.

He was asked if Charles was lying? Manish said I never used info he provided. Then he talked about shared bylines.  He never provided me info that without me giving him credit for.

Jenny Vrentas saying Manish became unhinged and cursing. F U, F U and had to be calmed down.... Manish said, nobody calmed me, it was 9 years ago. It got heated on the beat. I let my emotions get the best of me and I regret it. We had a friendship and that was a couple of minute ordeal. The article isn't completely accurate but the overall theme is correct. It is a competitive beat.  Manish said he respects the locker room bounds, one on one. I don't do my business by eaves dropping. 

Are you looking for a job right now? I have covered the NFL for 15 years, I am looking to do so again in the future.

They joked at the end about it being a Phillies game with Douglas kid and it wasn't a little league game as others were discussing.  Manish said no team should be able to suppress a reporter just because you don't like what they are reporting.

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Thai Jet

Thai Jet

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40 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Listening now:

Manish says he say Joe Douglas at a Phillies game. Recognized him from the One Jets Drive episode with his family on it.  Manish says he had been texting Douglas and just said I saw your kid, it was an accident, they were on the same concession line. The kid was wearing a Phillies shirt. Manish asked him hey is Joe Douglas your Dad and the kid said yeah.  Manish claims he texted Joe saying I saw your kid and there was nothing weird about it.

Manish said this never came up as anything Douglas was mad about.  

(Before the pitchforks come out, I am not defending Manish lol, just recapping the interview here).

Sorry, too late Max ! 

The GOP's 'Frankenstein' - The Boston Globe

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nycdan

nycdan

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When you explain 1 or 2 incidents, it can be plausible.  But you mentioned closer to a dozen and after a while, the explanations/excuses start to sound tiresome.  We're supposed to believe that all those team executives, players, and journalists had an axe to grind with Mehta for no valid reason.  Yup.

Thanks for saving me the trouble of clicking.  

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redlichtie

redlichtie

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No fan of Mehta but first of all people need to understand how journalism and the media works, the NYDN is clearly a long standing tabloid and from what I understand has always been a Giants paper(I may have this wrong it’s just my reading of the situation).

There’s a reason Cimini is way less provocative and much more respected than he was when he was at the Daily News. It’s the paper and it’s editorial direction that is to blame. The reporter, in this case Manish, is really only following orders and his job was to get the big scoops. His news editor and proprietor wanted what he delivered and he did it successfully. We may not like it and his negative slant on everything was wearing and obnoxious but he clearly does have a lot of good sources within the organisation.

The point he made about not threatening Folk or his wife because “ I can’t do that, I operate on trust” is valid and I guarantee a lot of Jets players and staff down the years were more than happy to use Mehta as an outlet for their own grievances when it suited. Any good journalist cultivates relationships and they usually involve mutual trust. Manish Mehta would not have lasted as long as he did and continued to get the stories he did if he hadn’t earned a lot of trust within the Jets.

The encounter with Douglas is a wee bit troubling, I can actually see this from`Mehta’ s perspective ....”if you won’t talk to me I can’t put a balanced argument, I can’t put your side of the story so obviously the story is not going to be favourable to you”. 

I would hope JD is mature enough to see this. Of course there is a way of putting that across, it may have been threatening or menacing but in my experience that very rarely gets a journalist anywhere with a senior and experienced operator such as Douglas should be. It’s entirely possible Manish began to believe his hype and really is a d!ck and dealt with people that way but if he was I highly doubt he’d have lasted as long as he did or have the insider contacts he clearly has.

just my opinion

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ScarletKnight89

ScarletKnight89

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I don't believe the idea that Joe Douglas was afraid that Joe Vitt was going to tell Adam Gase that he saw Douglas talking to Mehta and that Gase would get him fired. Doesn't seem right at all. 

Mehta is a nut job. He's trying to hide behind the idea that it's a big organization trying to silence a little journalist like him because they don't like his stories. It isn't.

Mehta is just a typical hack reporter that took out his frustrations on the Jets by writing hit piece after hit piece and trying to call it "news". He eventually took it too far and lost his job over it.

 

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Scott Dierking

Scott Dierking

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Just listened, unfortunately, that is a half hour of my life I will never get back. 

Mehta just comes off as disingenuous and non-believable. In regard to him and Douglas's son at the Phillies game (and he said there was no little league game that he was at and I am inclined to believe that), he says that he and Joe Douglas had developed a bit of a messaging relationship, he said he saw the son (he says he recognized the kid from a video of the Jets draft a week before-WEIRD!!!!), and that he saw the kid in line at a concession stand, thought he recognized him, and asked him, "Hey, are you Joe Douglas's son?". Weirder. He then decides to text Joe and say "Hey, just saw your son at the Phillies game". WHY???

His excuse is that the Jets have been out to get him--because he has exposed some of their disorganization.  Then he says that the Jets used this as an opportunity to get him off the beat.

So, Manish, explain this--You claim you have had this texting relationship with JD, why would JD then take this supposedly innocuous text from you and take that higher up in the organization to take you off the beat. Just makes no sense.

Listening to this was akin to listening to my sons in high school tell lies as to how something went down, and they just keep digging themselves a hole deeper and deeper.

Why doesn't he sue the Jets? Uhh, the Jets are a multi-billion dollar organization. Oh, ok, all the better to sue them for taking away your livelihood. He is just unbelievable.

Most importantly Manish repeatedly said HE HAS SOURCES. So that JetNation mystery has been solved, finally.

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Scott Dierking

Scott Dierking

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5 minutes ago, redlichtie said:

No fan of Mehta but first of all people need to understand how journalism and the media works, the NYDN is clearly a long standing tabloid and from what I understand has always been a Giants paper(I may have this wrong it’s just my reading of the situation).

There’s a reason Cimini is way less provocative and much more respected than he was when he was at the Daily News. It’s the paper and it’s editorial direction that is to blame. The reporter, in this case Manish, is really only following orders and his job was to get the big scoops. His news editor and proprietor wanted what he delivered and he did it successfully. We may not like it and his negative slant on everything was wearing and obnoxious but he clearly does have a lot of good sources within the organisation.

The point he made about not threatening Folk or his wife because “ I can’t do that, I operate on trust” is valid and I guarantee a lot of Jets players and staff down the years were more than happy to use Mehta as an outlet for their own grievances when it suited. Any good journalist cultivates relationships and they usually involve mutual trust. Manish Mehta would not have lasted as long as he did and continued to get the stories he did if he hadn’t earned a lot of trust within the Jets.

The encounter with Douglas is a wee bit troubling, I can actually see this from`Mehta’ s perspective ....”if you won’t talk to me I can’t put a balanced argument, I can’t put your side of the story so obviously the story is not going to be favourable to you”. 

I would hope JD is mature enough to see this. Of course there is a way of putting that across, it may have been threatening or menacing but in my experience that very rarely gets a journalist anywhere with a senior and experienced operator such as Douglas should be. It’s entirely possible Manish began to believe his hype and really is a d!ck and dealt with people that way but if he was I highly doubt he’d have lasted as long as he did or have the insider contacts he clearly has.

just my opinion

So Mehta feels he has wrongly been dismissed? Sue the Jets. His excuse? They have a lot of money. LOLOLOL.

Listen, no one from the NewsGuild or the Daily News stood up for him. Be sure they did their homework. Mehta was released with cause.

 

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redlichtie

redlichtie

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1 minute ago, Scott Dierking said:

So Mehta feels he has wrongly been dismissed? Sue the Jets. His excuse? They have a lot of money. LOLOLOL.

Listen, no one from the NewsGuild or the Daily News stood up for him. Be sure they did their homework. Mehta was released with cause.

 

For sure he had outstayed his welcome and in his line of business you don’t make many friends(or not many who will publicly stand up for you when it hits the fan) so I don;t doubt that at all.....I was just adding that there may be some validity to what `Mehta says in his defence and that while not excusable, is worth bearing in mind

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Scott Dierking

Scott Dierking

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Just now, redlichtie said:

For sure he had outstayed his welcome and in his line of business you don’t make many friends(or not many who will publicly stand up for you when it hits the fan) so I don;t doubt that at all.....I was just adding that there may be some validity to what `Mehta says in his defence and that while not excusable, is worth bearing in mind

If he was truly wrongfully fired, he has recourse. He may not be able to get another job in his desired profession. If that was me, and it wrongfully done, i take them to court. And, someone as weasely as Mehta appears, he would do that, if there was substance.

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k-met57

k-met57

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here is the thing...maybe if he was a dick and had tons of friends, this wouldnt happen...you cant be an abusive trolling ****...and have no friends...and survive a long time in any profession. anyone notice how many jets beat guys came out and slammed him when the gase thing broke, and this story broke? when do u ever see that? yeah...

**** him.

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Skeet Ulrich

Skeet Ulrich

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2 hours ago, Maxman said:

Listening now:

Manish says he say Joe Douglas at a Phillies game. Recognized him from the One Jets Drive episode with his family on it.  Manish says he had been texting Douglas and just said I saw your kid, it was an accident, they were on the same concession line. The kid was wearing a Phillies shirt. Manish asked him hey is Joe Douglas your Dad and the kid said yeah.  Manish claims he texted Joe saying I saw your kid and there was nothing weird about it.

Manish said this never came up as anything Douglas was mad about.  

(Before the pitchforks come out, I am not defending Manish lol, just recapping the interview here).

Thank you for the recap. Not interested in giving Manish any clicks or views

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