Contrary to popular belief, the report made by the university to the NCAA did not reveal a scandal of any kind. Sorry to disappoint.
Consider what the athletic departments of Penn State or Auburn are going through right now. The fact that Southeastern mistakenly allowed ineligible players to play because of simple administrative faux pas is negligible by comparison. This was not done to help students unfairly get ahead. However, that seems to be lost on the many who know something unusual is happening, but have no idea exactly what. I don’t think it is the consumer’s fault; it is the media’s.
Hammond’s Daily Star newspaper was very eager to publish a story about the perceived “scandal,” and it is this eagerness that led to the irresponsible publication of a series of stories about the investigation. To its credit, the Daily Star did not publish anything factually incorrect about the investigation, but their assumptions about what the university was “hiding” corrupted their own investigation and, unfairly, Southeastern’s image. In my mind, the university was not hiding anything, only protecting the investigation itself so that it was not tainted by outside rhetoric.
The meaning of a journalist’s existence is to report the truth. However, the journalist must recognize that his work does not happen in a vacuum and that by publishing what he or she perceives to be true can fundamentally alter the nature of the truth itself.  A responsible journalist understands this, and knows when to publish and when to hold the press. The responsible journalist looks at every angle, not just the one of his or her choosing, and makes sure that they all balance out. This is how a journalist operates in the ideal world.
But we do not live in an ideal world.
News is a business, a commodity, even. As such, it is under the pressures of laws such as supply and demand; laws that often influence the information’s nature and presentation.
In a businessman/journalist’s mind, consumers love scandal and are always looking for social pornography to plaster on the Internet and television because, frankly, porn sells.
For example, during Nancy Grace’s coverage (slanderous commentary, rather) of the Casey Anthony Trial, everyone completely forgot about Nidal Malik Hassan.  For those of you who religiously watched the Casey Anthony Trial, Hassan was the soldier who went on a shooting spree in the Fort Hood military base, killing 13 people; emphasis on the 13, not one as in the case of Casey Anthony.
I bet you’re still angry that Anthony was aquitted, but don’t even know when Hassan’s trial was. In hindsight, I think you’ll agree that a mass shooting on a military base commands more attention than a murder trial with one victim.
Consumers should watch what they’re eating because crooked news is bad for you. It can turn a devoted community into a pack of rabid, hungry dogs in a heartbeat; evidenced by letters to the Daily Star regarding the “scandal.”
In closing, it is the responsibility of both the consumer and the media to be mindful of how the commodity of news is presented and consumed. Patience is a virtue, one that has been lost in the immediacy of today’s day and age. But in the world of news, patience is not only a virtue; it is a necessity.