Long-time readers of the Strib can probably tell  that I’m a fan of WCCO’s Don Shelby, both the person and the professional. They can probably also sense that I enjoy giving him some gently ribbing now and then. So it’s no surprise that I had to tease him a little bit about his reporting from the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake Monday night where many people in the crowd expected a big-name guest to close the show. Shelby was no exception. We watched much of the show together and, around 9:30 p.m., he told me that a private jet had flown into Mason City Municipal Airport and was quickly shuttered to a hangar where noone can track its numbers and find out which big name or names were inside.

He reported the same tidbit around 10:15 p.m. during a live report on the WCCO evening news.

Turns out there was no big guest. Shelby told me Thursday that he got about 50 e-mails the next day wondering what happened. Well, anyone who was in Northern Iowa for a couple days during the festivities could answer that: The rumor mill was operating at full tilt. Over the course of two full days, waitresses, bartenders, organizers, musicians and big-time fans were confident of at least one big name arriving. Among the names I heard: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Katie Couric, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton.

Shelby wasn’t the only one to share this fervor with his viewers. A lot of the mainstream press shared the rumors in print or on the air (and always, as far as I tracked, id’d them as rumors.) Maybe that’s all just fine, but I’ve got to admit, that in this day and age of more competition and instant news at your fingertips, I’m worried that journalists might be sharing more and rumors and doing less and less real reporting. Mind you, I’m not pointing the finger at Shelby here. This was such a light, fun story that the Don wasn’t even wearing a tie. He also pointed out in his report that a big-name star might not arrive after all. But, in the world of entertainment in general, I’m seeing more and more “journalists” fill pages with speculation rather than good ol’ fashioned shoe-leather reporting. They’re also doing more investigating of other websites than picking up the phone and talking to real people in the know

Full admission: I read a lot of gossip columns. I even enjoy the ones that aren’t catty or vindictive. But I fear that the line between good-natured, juicy gossip and mainstream reporting is getting narrower and narrower. That’s not good news for those of us who think entertainment reporting is more than just entertainment.Â

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