NFL

ESPN and Their Alleged Political Agenda

Posted Sep 26, 2006 6:25PM By mjd (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NFL Fans, NFL Gossip, NFL Media Watch

Text SizeAAA
According to Daily Kos (and many thanks to Deadspin for the link), ESPN did their best to put a pro-Republican spin on the events that look place in the Superdome last night. A writer there, "davefromqueens," says that George Bush Sr., in the Superdome for the game's opening coin toss, was loudly booed by the crowd and that ESPN edited this out of their broadcast and opted to insert some pre-recorded cheers instead.

I'm not in a position to say if that's true or false. I didn't record the game, I can't go back and listen, and even if I could, I know less than nothing about television audio production. But I will say that if it is true, that it's completely unacceptable, and that at least a few people there should go into work tomorrow and hand in their resignations. And then be hit by a bus in the parking lot.

For last night's purposes, they were a news organization. They were covering a game; presenting the game and the surround events to the general public. And again, if this is true, they chose to prevent a distorted view of reality. No matter if you loathe Bush Senior, or if you're going to name your children after him, you should want the truth. If ESPN is going to air the game, it is their obligation to present it as it happens, not what they would have liked to see happen.

I'm not going to recap all of the Daily Kos's reasons for believing that ESPN did in fact alter the crowd noise (but I'd encourage you to go read them). I will say, though, that I did find it extremely curious that the former President Bush was so well-received in the Superdome last night. My guess would have been that it's still going to be a long time before any Bush not named Reggie is really embraced in that city.

The post also cites other instances from ESPN's history where they've dubbed in artificial cheers for republicans at sporting events, and boos for democrats. I'm not going to say that I do believe it, and I'm not going to say that I don't. I do, at the very least, find it believeable, especially in the case of Bush Senior last night in the Superdome. Even if you don't buy that ESPN's pushing a political agenda, I'd find it very, very easy to believe that ESPN, the NFL, and the Saints at least wanted the broadcast to have a very happy, hunky-dory, "everything-here-is-dandy" kind of vibe to it. Either way, if the accusations are true, the truth was sacrificed. And ESPN sacrificed it. No one should want to tolerate that.

I should also point out that Daily Kos, if you aren't familiar with it, a blog run by and geared towards democrats and liberals, so they do have an agenda of their own. The difference is that Kos is pretty upfront about their views, and everyone knows what to expect when they visit that site.

ESPN, on the other hand, is a news organization and a sports television channel, and they are presumably without political bias. It is massively unethical to alter broadcasts in an effort to protect certain political figures and/or shape the way the public feels about them. I hope like hell that it didn't happen.

Related Articles

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)



NFL Team Photos




Latest NFL Photos