Sports Media: Changes, Controversy and Questions
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Spanning the sports media landscape:
The beginning of the school year is always exciting to students and faculty, but this year rumbles and changes in the world of sports media and upheavals in newsrooms across the country have many in classrooms on edge.
Such as:
ESPN pulling out of its partnership last month with “Frontline” — the public television series on concussions in the National Football League — was disturbing for a number of reasons. Among them was that ESPN and “Frontline” had worked together for nearly a year on nine ‘joint television and online reports that have appeared on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines”’ — according to an August 22 story, by Richard Sandomir in the New York Times. The “Frontline” series on concussions will air in October.
Sandomir wrote: ‘Even with ESPN no longer identified as a collaborator on the “Frontline” films, they will retain a clear ESPN flavor because they are heavily based on the reporting of Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada, brothers and investigative reporters for ESPN. They are the authors of a book, “League of Denial: The NFL, Concussions and the Battle for Truth,” to be published Oct. 8.’
But ESPN’s decision to withdraw from its relationship with “Frontline” came after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell apparently expressed his displeasure with the direction of project to executives of ESPN’s parent Disney Company, according to sources close to the situation.
ESPN’s response in a statement said: ‘Because ESPN is neither producing nor exercising editorial control over the “Frontline” documentaries, there will be no co-branding involving ESPN on the documentaries on their marketing materials. The use of ESPN’s marks could incorrectly imply that we have editorial control.’
Disney executives apparently pressed ESPN executives to reach this decision — not wanting to upset one of their key business partners. This made for an uncomfortable situation, as ESPN’s news operation attempts to cover the concussion issue and other NFL stories aggressively and fairly. Withdrawing from the project – after ESPN’s initial cooperation with “Frontline” — makes ESPN’s objectivity suspect, at least to many in the public. Once involved, ESPN’s withdrawal has to be terribly embarrassing to the network.
The controversy also made the NFL look like the big bully on the block.
The ESPN-“Frontline” flap comes in the wake of the purchase of the Boston Globe by the owner of the Boston Red Sox John Henry and interest shown in the Los Angeles Times by Los Angeles Dodgers’ principal owner Mark Walter.
With sports media and media in general changing every day – if not every hour – the future of independent sports coverage becomes more cloudy. Will Boston Globe columnists and reporters be inclined to be critical of the Red Sox when the team owner happens to own the Boston Globe?
Good question.
The owner of one of the two sports-talk radio stations in Washington –ESPN 980-is Dan Snyder, who also owns the Washington Redskins. Snyder has been the target of criticism by the station’s talking heads over the years, but he still owns the station. The recent demotion by station management of one of the team’s biggest critics-Andy Pollin-raised eyebrows. Especially since Pollin was replaced by one of the team’s former players-Chris Cooley-a favorite of the owner and fans.
Nowadays, many owners, including Snyder and the Redskins, also use their own websites and broadcasting arms to get their message to fans. So do leagues. Why worry about the newspaper when you have your own people doing the coverage and reporting?
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Speaking of Snyder, he has other worries besides who works at his radio station, namely his team’s leaky defense and his own defense of his club’s nickname.
There is an ever-increasing push from key members of the sports media –national and local – to change the name Redskins that many believe to be derogatory to Native Americans.
When Sports Illustrated’s Peter King, ESPN’s Bill Simmons and USA Today’s Christine Brennan write that they will no longer use the name Redskins, Snyder has to take notice. The Washington Post’s Mike Wise has been lobbying for a name change for years. The Washington Post continues to use the name, maintaining it covers the news rather than making news, a policy I agree with.
Most significantly, Snyder has to be aware that his own commissioner, by his recent comments, is more open to a name change. Times change; so do commissioners, fans, old sports editors and even owners.
It was certainly less complicated when the team owner did not own the news organization that covered the team and just bought a newspaper to read and turned on the radio and television like the rest of us.
