"For ESPN, apologies become commonplace" by Callum Borchers Globe Staff August 29, 2015
ESPN, which bills itself as the worldwide leader in sports, has been leading in another category lately: apologies.
First this week came video of NFL analyst Cris Carter, a Hall of Fame receiver, instructing young players during a rookie symposium to “get a fall guy” for their off-field indiscretions.
Then it was ESPN baseball analyst and Red Sox great Curt Schilling comparing Muslims with Nazis in a tweet.
It's a real scamdal.
The network’s well-practiced response was that Schilling’s and Carter’s remarks do not reflect ESPN’s values. Carter issued his own mea culpa on camera, while Schilling apologized on Twitter and was also suspended.
Since April, ESPN has dealt similarly with controversial statements by NFL reporter Britt McHenry, business reporter Darren Rovell, and radio host Colin Cowherd.
Each case may involve individual failings but, taken together, they represent a bigger challenge that is hardly unique to ESPN. In a time when media professionals are encouraged to show some charisma, to build a personal brand that is funny or snarky or provocative — particularly on social media — they are also more likely than their strait-laced predecessors to stumble into offensive territory.
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When reporters or analysts take to Twitter, or in their personal lives, a poorly worded argument or ill-conceived joke that might have been nixed by a judicious editor can instantly be made public with no check on its sensibility.
That appears to be what happened with Schilling on Tuesday, when he tweeted an image of Adolf Hitler bearing a caption that read, “It’s said only 5-10% of Muslims are extremists. In 1940, only 7% of Germans were Nazis. How’d that go?”
Nice, Curt.
Now maybe you can mention that AL-CIA-Duh, Al-CIA-Bob, ISIS, and others, are all creations and creatures of the United States and Israel governments (with Saudi help, of course).
Schilling’s willingness to speak his mind — on baseball matters, anyway — is one reason why he has become a regular on ESPN telecasts. But a network that pays Schilling to share his views didn’t appreciate this one. ESPN originally said it would remove him from Little League World Series coverage “pending further consideration,” then pulled him from this week’s “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast of a major league game.
Yeah, I did like his baseball acumen -- even if he was a publicity-seeking jerk way before this.
Schilling tweeted an apology: Cowherd, a former small-market radio host who achieved stardom at ESPN Radio by tackling sensitive issues like race and politics, ran into trouble last month when he said during his midday show that “the Dominican Republic has not been known, in my lifetime, as having, you know, world-class academic abilities.”
On air the next day, Cowherd alluded to the pitfalls of his edgy persona.
“Sometimes I bring up stuff — the show before me doesn’t; the show after me maybe doesn’t; I do — that makes people cringe,” he said.
Cowherd had already accepted a position at Fox Sports when he made the Dominican comment. ESPN issued a familiar statement about not reflecting the company’s values and said “Colin will no longer appear on ESPN.”
When it rains it pours, and things are already off to a bad start.
McHenry’s misstep seemed to stem from an inflated sense of her own fame. Security footage, which went viral after being posted online in April, captured her berating a woman who worked at a tow lot where McHenry’s vehicle had been impounded. Though she had been at ESPN for barely a year and was not a household name, McHenry went on about being “in the news” and “on television” during a profanity-laced rant.....
Ooooooh! Cat fight!
When journalists are thinking about their own celebrity, instead of their next story, their judgment can be compromised, said Robert Drechsel, director of the Center for Journalism Ethics at the University of Wisconsin Madison....
Why did Brian Williams just come to mind?
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And what about trotting out all the abominable war lies? Where does that fall in regarding the "ethics" of the agenda-pushing, war-promoting pre$$?
Look who picked up the ball and started pitching for poor Curt:
"Palin defends Schilling, blasts ESPN" by Justin Wm. Moyer Washington Post August 29, 2015
WASHINGTON — When a possible Hall of Famer tweets about Nazis and ends up in the doghouse with ESPN, he should take heart: Sarah Palin has his back.
In a tweet deleted earlier this week, Boston Red Sox World Series hero Curt Schilling compared extremist Muslims to Nazis.
When pitchers-turned-ESPN-analysts wax poetic about Nazis on social media, it often doesn’t end well. Schilling was suspended for the remark.
Is that what he did? Waxed poetic about them?
But, apropos of nothing and at least one news cycle too late, Palin sprang to Schilling’s defense early Friday.
Game was already lost when she relieved, huh?
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In a lengthy post, Palin
For some reason, that
“One — by disaffiliating itself, albeit temporarily, with Schilling, ESPN had affiliated itself with the Islamic State. “By denying the accuracy of Schilling’s tweet, ESPN shows its weakness as it buys into the propaganda of ISIS and other terror organizations, helping mislead the public about the very real threat of terrorism,” she wrote.
I no longer do. Used to when I started blogging. I accepted the framing conditions provided by the Jewi$h War Pre$$ on all issues. Not anymore.
Her advice: “Stick to sports.”
And you stick to.... whatever it is you do, okay?
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I'm surprised she din't bring up the sexual harassment that is rampant at ESPN.
Time to go watch some sports!
