This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Over the past couple of weeks, you could hardly turn on the television without seeing Jeremy Lin. The New York Knicks guard has been all over TV newscasts as well as TV sportscasts.

It's disappointing, but not surprising, that there's been racial backlash. Like when boxer Floyd Mayweather wrote that "all the hype is because he's Asian."

It's a legitimate story to question whether Lin didn't emerge earlier because of racism. But to assert that he's only in the news because of his race is untrue. And offensive.

Sure, part of the story is that he's Asian-American, an NBA rarity. It's a story because news reporters are driven by that element of newness.

Muggsy Bogues got a disproportionate amount of attention during his NBA career because he's 5-foot-3.

But Lin would still be a story if he were black, white or Hispanic for several reasons, including:

1. Lin wasn't recruited by a major college out of high school.

Overcoming adversity is another favorite angle for the media.

2. Lin went to Harvard.

The media love stories about anybody from an Ivy League school who makes it in big-time sports.

Lin is the first Harvard grad to play in the NBA since 1954 and the first from any Ivy League college since 2003.

3. Lin wasn't drafted out of college. He signed with Golden State, was waived; signed with Houston, was waived; signed with the Knicks.

Just another element of that overcoming adversity angle of the story.

4. Lin seemed to came out of nowhere.

That's not exactly true, but any player who comes off the bench when stars are injured and plays well is going to attract media attention.

5. He's playing in New York.

You can't overstate the importance of this. Everything that happens in New York is magnified by the media because it's the center of the publishing and broadcast worlds.

Hey, if there are six inches of snow in Manhattan, it's national news. If there are 18 inches of snow in Salt Lake City, it's not.

The fact is that Lin was a story in San Francisco/Oakland last season. A pretty big story. But he was barely a blip nationally.

Lin's race is part of the story. But it's not the whole story.

Mayweather was wrong. And, in that instance, racist.

As was Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock, who tweeted an incredibly offensive Asian stereotype. And Whitlock's apology failed to acknowledge his real guilt, saying simply that he "debased a feel-good sports moment. For that, I'm truly sorry."

Not sorry enough to admit he'd made a racist remark.

It doesn't take much to turn a feel-good media story into something ugly.

Scott D. Pierce's column appears Mondays and Fridays in The Mix. Contact him at spierce@sltrib.com, follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce; read his blog at sltrib.com/blogs/tv.