As if you needed another reason not to watch ESPN.
The network’s senior news director has reportedly instructed staff to avoid discussing Chinese politics while discussing … Chinese politics. Put another way, he has asked them to cover the biggest sports-related news story of the week in such a way as not to upset ESPN’s parent company, Disney, and its corporate partners in China.
The NBA is in hot water with American fans this week after Houston Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey tweeted in support of the pro-democracy Hong Kong protesters, writing, “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” The NBA is in hot water because it sided with the Chinese government, which has murdered literally millions of people and continues to oppress millions more, in condemning Morey’s since-deleted tweet.
As all of this has unfolded, ESPN, which dedicates a massive amount of its programming to sports commentary and analysis, has been weirdly silent as to why anyone would object so vehemently to Chinese rule, as the Hong Kong protesters. Don’t get me wrong: The network has spent plenty of airtime over the last couple of days discussing Morey’s short-lived tweet. But much of that commentary has been negative toward the Rockets general manager, as if he just said something inappropriate. Also, there has been virtually no discussion on ESPN as to why anyone would oppose the country that has imprisoned an estimated 3 million people in concentration camps.
As it turns out, there is a reason for that.
The report continues, carefully documenting the ESPN personalities who have gone out of their way this week to ignore the reality of Chinese brutality. The Hong Kong demonstrators, for example, were described Monday merely as “anti-government” protesters during a SportsCenter news segment.
“Daryl Morey, a good man, an exceptional executive, and a conscientious human being, what were you thinking speaking up on this issue?” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith asked Monday during his radio program. “You don’t just think about yourself before you act. That’s what boys and girls do. That’s what children do.”
He added, “Daryl Morey had an obligation to think about the Houston Rockets organization and about the National Basketball Association before himself. You have an obligation to adopt and embrace the interest of those you collect a paycheck from.”
I would understand it if the network wanted merely to stick to sports, as it claims is its goal. But ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro explicitly said last year that the network would not shy away from covering the intersection of politics and sports. “When Tiger is talking about the president, when the anthem story, every time that there is an intersection, ESPN is the place of record,” he said. “Of course, when you tune into ESPN, we should be, we need to be covering those stories, if there is a connection to sports.
Since then, the network has not shied away from tackling hot-button political issues, including immigration, race, and gun violence.
But now the story involves serious human rights abuses in a country in which Disney — which once had the stones to threaten the state of Georgia over a fetal heartbeat bill — has a significant financial investment, and suddenly ESPN would like very much to avoid politics again and stick just to sports. Brilliant.
