Journalism isn’t limited to the front sections of papers or top of the news hour. Features, entertainment, and sports also have trained, quality journalists who take pride in their trade and diligently report matters that transcend the fun and games the sections are dedicated to.
But when the parent company of a media outlet loses sight of the basic job of journalists, they forfeit their credibility as a news outlet. Many viewers, as well as news observers, are saying that ESPN is shifting in that direction, more concerned with keeping its corporate partners happy to ensure the bottom line.
The latest problem from the self-proclaimed World Wide Leader in Sports, owned by the World Wide Leader in Cashing in on Entertainment, the Disney Corporation, is a claim by extreme sports star and Olympic gold medalist Shawn White that he was excluded from ESPN’s X Games because of criticism of the network he made in an interview in Forbes magazine last fall. ESPN officials confirmed White, the biggest name in snowboarding and once the feature face of extreme sports, was not invited but declined to say why.
It’s the latest questionable action by the Mickey Mouse sports network that hints it may be more concerned with image and profit than news and controversy, not to mention introspection. In the run-up to the NFL playoffs, the network all but ignored allegations of Denver Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning being involved with performance enhancing drugs. ESPN ran a sit-down interview with Manning that disputed the allegations that came from an Al Jazeera America undercover investigation but gave little play to the story and the allegations themselves. It was in stark contrast to the wall-to-wall coverage of air leaking out of a football.
Then last week, the New York Daily News uncovered a court document about allegations of sexual harassment by Manning when he was at the University of Tennessee that were later settled. The allegations are part of a current Title IX suit against the school claiming an ongoing pattern and atmosphere of sexual discrimination.
Several media outlets have reported ESPN directed its employees not to write or talk about the allegations, with the subtext being Manning is the face of the NFL, with whom ESPN has a $15 billion contract to televise games.
It’s that eye-popping contract that many believe was behind the termination of the relationship between ESPN and Boston native Bill Simmons, who parlayed his “Sportsguy” gig from a blog into a multi-million empire. Simmons, who thrives on his populist fan persona, called NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell a “liar” on his podcast, earning a suspension from ESPN. Then, the network declined to renew his contract, though it kept the Grantland site that Simmons launched and nurtured. Grantland – named in homage to Grantland Rice, considered one of the greatest sportwriters of all time – had been cited by many as the best journalism ESPN has to offer but, since Simmons departure last year, the network was either unable or unwilling to make it to work, and has shut it down.
Simmons went to work for HBO and this week launched his new site called “The Ringer.” Many of the former Grantland writers have since joined him, further depleting the ranks of journalists remaining at ESPN.
As ESPN – and Disney – continue to look at the bottom line, it appears contracts and partners are a higher priority than messy news stories that could cast a negative light on games and, in turn, hurt the product and the revenues. It makes you appreciate what we have in Boston in the Globe and Herald, where sports journalists do their job, as a local philosopher often says.
JACK SULLIVAN
BEACON HILL
Many state senators express concern about the FBI/IRS raid on Sen. Brian Joyce’s office, but refrain from calling for his resignation. (MassLive) Adrian Walker suggests that it may be time for Joyce to hang it up as far as his political career and not seek reelection this fall. (Boston Globe)
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency dispenses with any type of search, and hires a new executive director in less than 10 minutes. (CommonWealth)
Salary data indicate 2,722 state workers earned more than Gov. Charlie Baker last year. (MassLive)
CASINOS
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission releases draft regulations governing skill-based slots. (The Sun)
Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone says he’s not backing down from a challenge to the environmental permits granted to Wynn Resorts for its Everett casino. (Boston Herald) Shirley Leung says it’s time for Curtatone to make like Marty and strike a deal with Steve Wynn rather than drag out a fight against the casino. (Boston Globe)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
The Federal Communications Commission signals that it wants to open the set-top box market to competition. (Time)
ELECTIONS
The Pope vs.The Donald. (Time) The standoff could help Trump with Southern evangelicals, writes the Herald’s Owen Boss. Howie Carr says the pope’s criticism of Trump will seal the billionaire blowhard’s victory in tomorrow’s South Carolina primary. In a remarkable example of the enemy of my enemy is my friend (or at least convenient battering ram), Carr even offers a shout-out to Spotlight, the movie celebrating the Boston Globe’s investigation of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.
In 2002, Donald Trump said he supported invading Iraq, even though he has claimed on the campaign trail that he opposed the war. (Buzzfeed)
Cornel West makes the case for Bernie Sanders. (Boston Globe) Charles Koch isn’t feeling the Bern, but he does agree with the Vermont senator that we live in a two-tier society. As you might expect, Koch’s solution to the problem is very different from the approach taken by Sanders. (Washington Post) Sanders defends rapper Killer Mike’s assertion that “a uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president,” though the Vermont senator used less inflammatory terms. (New York Times)
John Sasso says would-be Sanders voters should think twice before helping nominate a guy who would be ripped to shreds by a ruthless Republican attack machine, something the top aide to two failed Democratic presidential nominees knows a bit about. (Boston Globe)
Gov. Charlie Baker is pushing hard on behalf of more moderate candidates in the upcoming balloting for Republican State Committee, angering hardcore conservatives who he is trying to broom off the panel. (Boston Globe) A state worker claims Baker administration honchos strong-armed her to back their choice for Republican State Committee. (Boston Globe)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Demolition work begins in Worcester for a new hotel downtown. (Telegram & Gazette)
The comprehensive review of today’s news you are getting from reading the Download provides valuable work-related information for virtually every field, so don’t fret over this story in today’s Globe reporting that employers are keeping an ever closer eye on the online doings of employees at work.
Douglas Rushkoff in The Atlantic says only in the twisted logic of the startup economy would Twitter be considered a failure.
Facebook launches a site aimed at helping charities use its online tools for promotion and fundraising through social media. (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
EDUCATION
State officials say 34,000 students are on wait lists for charter school spots. (State House News)
An internal school department report finds that Boston Latin School administrators failed to properly investigate reports of racial slurs used by students at the school. (Boston Globe) Several black leaders call the report “unacceptable” and decry its conclusion that Boston Latin head master Lynne Mooney Teta’s job should not be on the line. (Boston Herald)
New Bedford parents say school officials moved too slowly in removing a disruptive child from a fourth-grade class after months of violent and undisciplined behavior, including biting a school counselor and standing on her desk and yelling during class. (Standard-Times)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
Attorney General Maura Healey indicted five people for Medicaid fraud, including a Middleboro woman who allegedly collected more than $86,000 in health care funds for bogus reimbursements for her disabled son. (The Enterprise)
TRANSPORTATION
Gov. Charlie Baker himself tweets out that the signal problem that afflicted commuter rail service on Thursday is fixed and service will return to normal. (Telegram & Gazette) Here is the Globe account of yesterday’s disastrous commute, which some riders likened to the dismal days of last year’s transit meltdown. Amid the chaos, Baker defends a fare increase at the T. (State House News)
Keolis, the state’s commuter rail operator, loses $29.3 million in its first year of operation. (State House News)
After years of declines, traffic fatalities nationwide bump up. (Governing)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
Congress takes an interest in state solar net metering debates. (MassLive)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
A second police union takes a vote of no-confidence in the Essex County regional 911 center. (Salem News)
A homeless man in Wareham, whose story of being helped by two women he didn’t know went viral and triggered an outpouring of donations, has been arrested as an unregistered sex offender. (Standard-Times)
PHILANTHROPY
Mary Jo Meisner, credited with invigorating The Boston Foundation to become a more active player in civic affairs, is stepping down as its vice president of communications, community relations, and public affairs after 15 years. (Boston Globe)
MEDIA
Stephen Kinzer writes that a breakdown in reporting on Syria has led to a massively misleading picture of what’s going on there. (Boston Globe)