Steve Myers
Nov. 10, 2011
10:48 am
ESPN
Kelly McBride and Jason Fry, writing for the Poynter Review, criticize ESPN for being slow to cover the Penn State sexual abuse story with the gravity it deserved. "ESPN should have been leading the charge to ask tough questions and shed light on this scandal. Instead, it was the tiny Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa. out in front of the journalism pack," they write. "It wasn't until mid-afternoon Tuesday that ESPN finally seemed consistently to ask the right questions and find the appropriate moral outrage. That's 72 hours after the story first broke." Particularly galling: A post, published Monday,
about how the scandal would affect recruiting. ||
Who are you calling tiny? The Patriot-News has a Sunday circulation of 113,000,
says Daniel Victor: "Hardly tiny." ||
10 questions: Some of the questions journalists should ask Paterno (MarketWatch) ||
Related: Charles Apple
critiques front pages reporting Joe Paterno's firing, complimenting the The Times-Tribune in Scranton "for resisting the temptation to go with a nice, reflective file shot and instead focus on news pictures, shot on deadline last night." |
Crowd tips over news van during riot (Mediaite) ||
Time to start over: Joe Posnanski should scrap the "simple, unambiguous"
biography he is writing about Paterno (Deadspin) ||
Earlier: Sports Illustrated writer haunted by favorable profile of Jerry Sandusky (Poynter)
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Julie Moos
Sep. 1, 2011
2:56 pm
Sports Illustrated
Sportswriter Bruce Feldman has left ESPN to work for CBS, about a month after
ESPN asked him to stop tweeting, blogging and doing interviews following the release of a book he co-authored with then-Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach.
In an interview with Richard Deitsch, Feldman says ESPN gave him permission to write the book, which was critical of the sports network. According to Feldman:
They [ESPN] used my access when it benefited them in terms of they put me on "SportsCenter" multiple times and identified me as doing a book with Mike Leach when they wanted me to talk about his mindset after he found out he got fired. They asked me to help get a sit-down with him after he was fired, which I did. So they used my access.
Before the book's release, Feldman says, he was told he'd be offered a new three-year contract with a raise. After the book was released, he says, that changed.
(more...)
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Jim Romenesko
Apr. 28, 2011
5:06 pm
ESPN Media Zone
Malcolm Gladwell,
Dave Eggers and
Chuck Klosterman will be consulting editors to
Grantland.com, which is being launched in June by
Bill Simmons, in association with ESPN. The site will have a mix of original columns, long-form features, blog posts, and podcasts. "The name of the site honors the legacy of
Grantland Rice, the legendary sportswriter who helped elevate sports into American culture during the early 20th Century," says a release. ||
MediaMemo on February 18: ESPN to give Simmons his own website.
Why Simmons' new project will be a huge success:
They're hiring -- and paying. 8-12 full-time writers? Wow. That's a ton. The project avoids the fate of the "unfunded mandate": Launching a new media property, then choking it to death without the financial resources to pay for talent. Anyone who works in content can appreciate how phenomenal -- and even unique -- this is.
There is plenty of undervalued talent around the sports-media world, and Bill is in an excellent position to scoop some of it up. He's already started, with the talented and still relatively unknown Katie Baker (disclosure: a friend) and the talented and very-much-known Chuck Klosterman. And Bill is in the position to hand-pick his own talent -- he's got an eye for it. (NYMag's Lane Brown just announced he is going over as editor, another brilliant hire.)
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Steve Myers
Apr. 21, 2011
1:07 pm
ESPNPoynter's Kelly McBride weighs in on ESPN's
new endorsement guidelines as part of the "
Poynter Review Project." In short, people who do journalistic work can't make deals that would create even an appearance of a conflict of interest, but analysts can. The "whopping exception" affects more than half of the 1,000 public-facing "talent," McBride notes. She predicts:
"ESPN's critics will continue to question the loyalties of the most famous folks at the network. In the coming months, network executives may need to further tighten the boundaries in order to combat the persistent public perception that ESPN is compromised. In particular, whenever ESPN chooses to let a story that could potentially involve some level of conflict go uncovered, doubters will assign ulterior motives and no one will be able to change their minds."
(more...)
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Jim Romenesko
Apr. 14, 2011
1:52 pm
ESPN Front Row
ESPN says that "all relevant, approved talent endorsements will be publicly disclosed" on its website beginning Monday. || A guidelines excerpt:
The following categories of endorsements are subject to strict review and a strong presumption that they will not be approved.
1) Any endorsement related to apparel, footwear or athletic equipment used for training, playing or participating in any sport or event ESPN may cover including the companies that manufacture and distribute any such material. Provided, however, that in assessing apparel, footwear and equipment, exceptions will be granted to players, coaches and administrators who are engaged as analysts and for whom such endorsements are part of the sports coverage/reporting landscape.
2) Endorsements related to any form of gambling or lotteries.
3) Endorsements of any type of firearm or ammunition.
4) Endorsements of political candidates or any form of political advocacy.
Read the ESPN post
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Jim Romenesko
Apr. 1, 2011
10:04 am
ESPN.go.com
ESPN learned about its basketball analyst's run-in with police just before WDIV in Detroit
reported it. ESPN talent development veep
Laurie Orlando tells Poynter's
Kelly McBride that at a meeting with ESPN talent last year, "we said to them we need you to disclose your situations. I know Jalen was here in house for those conversations." McBride notes that there's a perception that ESPN is willing to report on the failings of athletes but sweeps the failings of its own staff under the rug. ||
JalenRose.com: "Please accept my apology."
>
Rose apologizes after drunken driving report surfaces
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Jim Romenesko
Mar. 8, 2011
10:12 am
Sports Newser
ESPNFrontRow.com, which launches March 30, will give readers a behind-the-scenes look at how ESPN operates and address controversies that involve the network, reports
Marcus Vanderberg.
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Jim Romenesko
Mar. 3, 2011
11:14 am
National Sports Journalism Center
"Will ESPN transform itself ethically with Poynter’s guidance?" asks
Eric Deggans, a media critic at Poynter's St. Petersburg Times. "Or will the Worldwide Leader cloak itself in the school’s credibility while largely ignoring its advice?" ||
Earlier: Poynter faculty to serve as ESPN ombudsmen.
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Jim Romenesko
Feb. 28, 2011
11:32 am
MassLive.com
Howard Bryant was arrested Saturday in front of a Buckland, Mass., pizzeria and charged with assaulting his estranged wife and hitting a police officer who tried to subdue him. He was released on $5,000 bail.
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Jim Romenesko
Feb. 24, 2011
2:25 pm
ESPN MediaZone
The Poynter Review Project will include monthly essays and additional timely responses as ESPN issues arise. Poynter faculty also will address fan concerns under the 18-month arrangement. The commentaries will be posted on ESPN.com, beginning with an introductory column in March.
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