Making jocks a joke again - transforming ESPN into a leftist platform that would not “stick to sports.”
The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” began its drift into progressive politics in the latter part of the Obama years by promoting gay football player Michael Sam’s unsuccessful attempt to join the NFL, bestowing on Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe courage award, and backing the social justice agenda pushed by the hard left.
No dissenting opinion was allowed in general. Curt Schilling was unceremoniously dumped for expressing views that were hardly controversial to anyone who is not a committed leftist. It was not OK for Schilling to compare Islamic terrorists to the Nazis, but perfectly acceptable to compare ISIS to the Tea Party, as Tony Kornheiser did.
Kornheiser remains employed by ESPN, as is his equally-liberal co-host Michael Wilbon. And Stephen A. Smith. And all the social justice warriors from Bomani Jones to Rachel Nichols, Michelle Beedle, Kate Fagan, to Sarah Spain. ESPN’s mass layoffs somehow spared all of its most stridently political talking heads, making it clear that Skipper is doubling down on his leftist agenda.
ESPN’s management and apologists consistently claim that the network’s financial troubles have nothing to do with its leftward lurch, insisting that subscriber cord-cutting isn’t ideological. But a number of surveys in recent years have clearly debunked this claim as a vast majority of its viewers expressed their displeasure with the politicization of sports programming. ESPN’s bottom line is being hurt by lower ratings and reduced advertising revenue as sports fans abandon its non-live sports shows in massive numbers.
The “Worldwide Leader in Sports” began its drift into progressive politics in the latter part of the Obama years by promoting gay football player Michael Sam’s unsuccessful attempt to join the NFL, bestowing on Caitlyn Jenner the Arthur Ashe courage award, and backing the social justice agenda pushed by the hard left.
No dissenting opinion was allowed in general. Curt Schilling was unceremoniously dumped for expressing views that were hardly controversial to anyone who is not a committed leftist. It was not OK for Schilling to compare Islamic terrorists to the Nazis, but perfectly acceptable to compare ISIS to the Tea Party, as Tony Kornheiser did.
Kornheiser remains employed by ESPN, as is his equally-liberal co-host Michael Wilbon. And Stephen A. Smith. And all the social justice warriors from Bomani Jones to Rachel Nichols, Michelle Beedle, Kate Fagan, to Sarah Spain. ESPN’s mass layoffs somehow spared all of its most stridently political talking heads, making it clear that Skipper is doubling down on his leftist agenda.
ESPN’s management and apologists consistently claim that the network’s financial troubles have nothing to do with its leftward lurch, insisting that subscriber cord-cutting isn’t ideological. But a number of surveys in recent years have clearly debunked this claim as a vast majority of its viewers expressed their displeasure with the politicization of sports programming. ESPN’s bottom line is being hurt by lower ratings and reduced advertising revenue as sports fans abandon its non-live sports shows in massive numbers.
