For several years I have very much disdained sports “journalist”
Jason Whitlock because he has a terrible history of making up arguments to
support his factually incorrect opinions, and he is notorious for making
incredibly off-base, offensive remarks. This
is a pattern for him, and not a “one-off” occurrence; from his ridiculously
callous/factually false assessment of the circumstances that caused NFL player
Sean Taylor’s death, to his demeaning (and somewhat obscene) racial “joke”
directed at NBA player Jeremy Lin. He
has thus been fired from sports journalist jobs (like his spot at ESPN several years
ago). But somehow he continues to
re-emerge despite these transgressions and his mediocre journalistic abilities.
Shockingly, of all institutions, ESPN, “the worldwide leader
in sports,” seems hell bent on placing Whitlock in charge of a subdivision of
the network (akin to Grantland or espnW) that is supposed to cater to Black
journalists and Black people at-large. I simply don’t understand this because
there are numerous Black journalists who are amply qualified to run such an
outfit who don’t have the piles of very demeaning, disrespectful and false statements
that he has. Furthermore, Whitlock has multiple documented instances of getting his history on racial issues wrong (journalists are supposed to deal in facts) and taking racial jabs at people (ie using racial stereotypes)...and this is the guy ESPN wants to lead an extension specifically catering to a race? Plus, how many times does a
network have to fire someone before they realize that he’s detrimental to their
brand??
Previously I posted a letter that I wrote to the then
ombudsman, Robert Lipsyte, concerning the decision to bring Whitlock back to
ESPN. You can read that post here:
Below is the brief, general response returned to me from the
station:
“I cannot respond personally to
all the mail I receive, but every complaint is read and noted. When complaints are specific to a show or an
article on ESPN.com, they are forwarded to the producer or editor in charge of
that content. When there are several
complaints on the same topic, I will look to address them in my blog or monthly
column. (The same is true for positive
comments.) I cannot assure you that your
complaints or mine will result in action, but I can assure you they are not
lost in some cyberspace void. They are
read, thought about, and disseminated.
Thank you,
Robert Lipsyte”
Well, at least someone at ESPN read my grievances…but are
they listening?
-Maelstrom
