Richard Deitsch · @richarddeitsch
18th Feb 2012 from Twitlonger
The words on the ESPN headline regarding Jeremy Lin are indefensible and offensive, and no doubt ESPN will be feeling the heat for them for some time.
But as someone who has called out ESPN many times for its inanity and the Baylessization of some of its content, I want to cite them for being proactive and owning their mistake today.
You've heard from their top digital content executive, they've apologized on multiple platforms, and the company's PR staff responded immediately and publicly [http://frontrow.espn.go.com/2012/02/statement-on-jeremy-lin-headline/].
Is this an element of damage control? Of course. And ESPN can often be clumsy in with damage control as we saw in the Bruce Feldman situation. But I can assure you the overwhelming majority who work in Bristol feel awful about what happened, and as of this writing, they've backed that up in my opinion.
What I imagine this will do is create a discussion at multiple sports news organization about language and how it can you in trouble in multiple places, from online to your Twitter feed. That conversation will be a good thing.