There have been lots of claims that Joe was too tough on various players. Tons of them. Same is true of every big time coach of that era. The eras have changed. It is no longer cool to be a tyrant coach. it is also no longer cool to spank a kid. But I am not going to rail against a parent for spanking a kid in 1968. I am also not going to rail against fax machines, studded snow tires and MS-Dos. Different paradigms we were dealing with.If you want to rail against media bias, this is really not the proper thread for it. Especially without seeing the show.
Bobby Knight's reputation as an a-hole was cemented long before this documentary. I don't know how you compare corroborated video evidence of Knight choking a kid to the ambiguous allegations against Joe.
My father, when I told him I was going to limit my family to two kids, asked what would happen if one or both died. My father was a world war 2 vet and experienced the great depression and some really bad medicine. He grew up in a different world. So his perspective was different. When Knight did what he did, so did many others. I know, for a fact, the Jimmy V was a total ass. The famous pic of him, after winning the natl championship looking for someone to hug, was because nobody on the team liked him. But he died of Cancer and is no longer a viable target for the press. So Knight is. Just the way the press works.