Has political correctness hurt the sports reporting on ESPN?

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So much of the antique news media have climbed into bed with the Democrats that a 200 foot wide mattress had to be delivered to the White House to accommodate them all. Is the same thing happening at ESPN?

There is no doubt that the network makes a ton of money broadcasting games of the NFL, NBA, NCAA and MLB. And there is little doubt that each of those entities puts pressure on everyone around them to “protect the shield” as NFL Comm. Goodell calls it. But just like the news media, ESPN has a responsibility to the public. But fear of losing their deals has hurt their willingness to tell their listeners the whole truth.

The latest rumor floating around ESPN is that LeBron James has ordered the network to kill any stories about his Mom’s romantic involvements. He reportedly told ESPN that he would never give an interview with them again unless they killed the report. Nothing about his Mom has appeared on the radio or TV side of the network.

If a player can kill a story about his Mom, what chance do you think there is for the network to reveal a major scandal about a league executive or team owner? The answer is none at all.

The unvarnished history of the network has just been published by Mike Freeman in his new book ESPN: The Uncensored History. The book includes a lot of details about some of the darker actions about the staff and talent at the network. There have long been rumors about several of the big names at ESPN. While I have no direct knowledge about the validity of the rumors, I have gotten conformation about several less than flattering rumors that involve the personal lives of individuals at the network. Those stories will not appear on this site. I deal in analysis of sports and have no interest in trying to get readers by titillating them.

When you have as many skeletons in your closet as ESPN seems to, you are much less likely to push the envelope to get to the bottom of big stories for fear of your own dirty laundry being exposed. Their own problems hurt the fans because they are the leader but are unlikely to tell us the truth about our sports.

That is not nearly as bad as the antique media failing to report the truth about what goes on in Washington but you deserve better. Very soon I will have some news about a more reliable source for your sports news–one that is not muzzled by political correctness or fear of losing broadcast rights. It will be well worth waiting for. Until then…

That’s what I think. Tell me what you think.

Bill Smith is a former coach of several semi-pro teams, has officiated both football and basketball, done color on radio for college football and basketball and has scouted talent. He is a senior writer for and edits https://fryingpansports.com. He is a regular contributor on Cleveland Sports Radio http://www.sportstalkcleveland.com/ Monday afternoons at 1 Eastern. He has also published several novels on

and edits .

Technorati Tags: espn,media,LeBron James,Mrs. James rumor,political correctness,Freeman,ESPN: The Uncensored History
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1 thought on “Has political correctness hurt the sports reporting on ESPN?”

  1. For a broadcasting network (such as the ESPN) to survive and maintain its leadership in the industry, one can always expect that they have to “jump through hoops” in order to get stories broadcast all over the world. Although the stories they tell are not “good” or “truthful”, who would know? We always hear this “If it comes from ESPN, it’s the real one”. Whether they are paid to make stories or not, it’s how their business works. (and the whole industry as well).

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