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Only posted this, cuz I thought it was interesting considering how big ESPN is
ESPN can define boundaries and keep its edge, too
By Le Anne Schreiber
ESPN Ombudsman
(Archive)
Updated: December 16, 2008, 12:23 PM ET
<snip>
Put it in writing
Last July, when I first asked several ESPN executives why they did not have an official guidebook of journalistic standards and practices for their employees, I was told that such a document had been proposed several times, but there had never been much of an appetite for it. Apparently, the appetite has grown.
John Walsh, ESPN's senior vice president and executive editor, has formed a committee, headed by Patrick Stiegman, vice president and executive editor/executive producer of ESPN.com, to create a standards and practices guidebook. Though still in development, it is likely to address such topics as sourcing, attribution of credit in reporting, editorial/advertising relationships and conflicts of interest.
A second committee, headed by Gary Hoenig, general manager and editorial director of ESPN Publishing, is working on guidelines for commentary. The guidebook will not only be put into the hands of all employees, it will be made available publicly (perhaps as a file on ESPN.com) so that fans can judge for themselves whether ESPN is meeting its own standards.
According to Walsh, the enormous growth in hires at ESPN in recent years has forced recognition of the need for formal guidelines. Based on figures provided by ESPN's human resources department, the number of on-air and online freelancers, which includes many of ESPN's announcers and studio show analysts, has nearly doubled since 2000 and now exceeds 1,000 people. The number of full-time positions at ESPN.com has increased 500 percent since 2000.
Without a guidebook, keeping those employees on anything close to the same page about standards will remain a haphazard process. For the past five years or so, ESPN has had an editorial board, headed by Walsh, that meets monthly to discuss issues of journalistic ethics, the agenda often determined by problems that arose during the month. Policy memos are framed and distributed via meetings or e-mails to those who need to know. Then, it is not that the policy memos are forgotten, but they seem to not get into the hands of the next 100 hires or the newly promoted who need to know.
The Sports Guy dilemma
Needless to say, I fully support the effort to create this guidebook, despite the potential for downside risks, especially in the area of commentary. The concern is that commentary guidelines be too constricting, censorious, a list of banned words or thoughts. To air that fear, I talked to the person who I imagined most harbored it -- ESPN.com's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons.
When I told Simmons about the guidebook in progress, he said, "You mean they are planning on cracking down?"
When I suggested he think of it as clarifying rather than cracking down, he said, "So I'm writing a column and I have to consult the rule book."
I reversed field and asked him what he found most troublesome about writing for ESPN.com.
"When you are supposed to push the envelope," Simmons said, "but you are afraid of the repercussions of every decision, I think it affects you. I don't really blame the editors, because those guys aren't really sure where the lines are anymore, so they're going to take stuff out that is anywhere close to the line. But if you're going to take something out, the reason can't be 'We'd rather be safe than sorry.' You have to put some thought into it and say, 'If this stays in, what are the potential repercussions?'"
What if guidelines meant editors didn't have to resort to the better-safe-than-sorry stance, because they knew and could articulate where the lines were, and didn't have to wait to see how PR would draw the lines after some genuine or manufactured public outcry?
"If these guidelines could help me do my job, great," Simmons said.
I am not privy to all the bumps in the road that led to gaps in Simmons' recent production of columns and podcasts, but I do know this: His niche at ESPN.com -- representing the voice and mentality of a fan, ranging outside of sport into other areas of pop culture -- is a uniquely problematic one for ESPN. Pop culture of the moment for ESPN's demographic is Comedy Central, YouTube and media blogs that dissect the follies of CNN, Fox and, yes, ESPN. For Simmons, those unfettered voices are also his competitors, and I have no doubt he worries about becoming the rule-bound fogey among them.
If ESPN wants Simmons, or anyone, to fill that niche, they may have to make niche-specific, show-specific, platform-specific guidelines that allow ESPN the flexibility to respond to changes in the cultural landscape while remaining consistent on basic journalistic values.
In the case of Simmons' podcasts, the addition of a simple disclaimer -- "The B.S. Report is a free-wheeling conversation that occasionally touches on mature subjects" -- solved the problem. It is a solution appropriate to podcasts, which require intentional downloading, that would not work for ESPN.com columns, which require only one idle click to access.
My overall point: Setting firm guidelines for news coverage and news-related commentary that has a direct impact on players, teams and leagues does not have to constrict other forms of engagement with sports fans. If the boundaries are clear, there are ways for ESPN to be as edgy as it wants.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=schreiber_leanne&id=3772091
ESPN can define boundaries and keep its edge, too
By Le Anne SchreiberESPN Ombudsman
(Archive)
Updated: December 16, 2008, 12:23 PM ET
<snip>
Put it in writing
Last July, when I first asked several ESPN executives why they did not have an official guidebook of journalistic standards and practices for their employees, I was told that such a document had been proposed several times, but there had never been much of an appetite for it. Apparently, the appetite has grown.
John Walsh, ESPN's senior vice president and executive editor, has formed a committee, headed by Patrick Stiegman, vice president and executive editor/executive producer of ESPN.com, to create a standards and practices guidebook. Though still in development, it is likely to address such topics as sourcing, attribution of credit in reporting, editorial/advertising relationships and conflicts of interest.
A second committee, headed by Gary Hoenig, general manager and editorial director of ESPN Publishing, is working on guidelines for commentary. The guidebook will not only be put into the hands of all employees, it will be made available publicly (perhaps as a file on ESPN.com) so that fans can judge for themselves whether ESPN is meeting its own standards.
According to Walsh, the enormous growth in hires at ESPN in recent years has forced recognition of the need for formal guidelines. Based on figures provided by ESPN's human resources department, the number of on-air and online freelancers, which includes many of ESPN's announcers and studio show analysts, has nearly doubled since 2000 and now exceeds 1,000 people. The number of full-time positions at ESPN.com has increased 500 percent since 2000.
Without a guidebook, keeping those employees on anything close to the same page about standards will remain a haphazard process. For the past five years or so, ESPN has had an editorial board, headed by Walsh, that meets monthly to discuss issues of journalistic ethics, the agenda often determined by problems that arose during the month. Policy memos are framed and distributed via meetings or e-mails to those who need to know. Then, it is not that the policy memos are forgotten, but they seem to not get into the hands of the next 100 hires or the newly promoted who need to know.
The Sports Guy dilemma
Needless to say, I fully support the effort to create this guidebook, despite the potential for downside risks, especially in the area of commentary. The concern is that commentary guidelines be too constricting, censorious, a list of banned words or thoughts. To air that fear, I talked to the person who I imagined most harbored it -- ESPN.com's Sports Guy, Bill Simmons.
When I told Simmons about the guidebook in progress, he said, "You mean they are planning on cracking down?"
When I suggested he think of it as clarifying rather than cracking down, he said, "So I'm writing a column and I have to consult the rule book."
I reversed field and asked him what he found most troublesome about writing for ESPN.com.
"When you are supposed to push the envelope," Simmons said, "but you are afraid of the repercussions of every decision, I think it affects you. I don't really blame the editors, because those guys aren't really sure where the lines are anymore, so they're going to take stuff out that is anywhere close to the line. But if you're going to take something out, the reason can't be 'We'd rather be safe than sorry.' You have to put some thought into it and say, 'If this stays in, what are the potential repercussions?'"
What if guidelines meant editors didn't have to resort to the better-safe-than-sorry stance, because they knew and could articulate where the lines were, and didn't have to wait to see how PR would draw the lines after some genuine or manufactured public outcry?
"If these guidelines could help me do my job, great," Simmons said.
I am not privy to all the bumps in the road that led to gaps in Simmons' recent production of columns and podcasts, but I do know this: His niche at ESPN.com -- representing the voice and mentality of a fan, ranging outside of sport into other areas of pop culture -- is a uniquely problematic one for ESPN. Pop culture of the moment for ESPN's demographic is Comedy Central, YouTube and media blogs that dissect the follies of CNN, Fox and, yes, ESPN. For Simmons, those unfettered voices are also his competitors, and I have no doubt he worries about becoming the rule-bound fogey among them.
If ESPN wants Simmons, or anyone, to fill that niche, they may have to make niche-specific, show-specific, platform-specific guidelines that allow ESPN the flexibility to respond to changes in the cultural landscape while remaining consistent on basic journalistic values.
In the case of Simmons' podcasts, the addition of a simple disclaimer -- "The B.S. Report is a free-wheeling conversation that occasionally touches on mature subjects" -- solved the problem. It is a solution appropriate to podcasts, which require intentional downloading, that would not work for ESPN.com columns, which require only one idle click to access.
My overall point: Setting firm guidelines for news coverage and news-related commentary that has a direct impact on players, teams and leagues does not have to constrict other forms of engagement with sports fans. If the boundaries are clear, there are ways for ESPN to be as edgy as it wants.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=schreiber_leanne&id=3772091
