Despite the fact that I grew up falling asleep  to Jim Hunter and Fred Manfra calling Orioles games on the radio every night, I haven't really followed sports journalism over the past few years. Over the weekend, though, I found a really intriguing New York Times profile of ESPN columnist Bill Simmons that brings up points that can be applied to other areas of the media industry.  I have never read one of Simmons' columns (I may start reading him now), but a few things things stuck out at me while reading this seven-page profile.

First, it's that Simmons doesn't even pretend to be unbiased -- that's why people love him. He writes as a true sports fan and doesn't even attempt objectivity. In this day and age, it's refreshing for any journalist actually admit this fact.

    "For Simmons, this distinction — between fan and columnist — doesn’t really exist. Unlike         many sportswriters, for whom detachment is a point of professional pride, Simmons makes         no pretense of neutrality."

In today's 24-hour news cycle, the line between opinion and news has become extremely blurred, yet most journalists aren't willing to admit this fact, especially when it comes to politics.

But for me, the larger takeway was the profile's commentary on the sports conglomerate that has become the Entertainment Sports Programming Network (that's right -- as a matter of fact, I do feel cool for knowing the full ESPN acronym). Simmons acknowledges that ESPN overexposes its anchors and commentators on a regular basis, and that he is, in fact, very protective of his appearances so that this doesn't happen to him. But at the same time, he's launching a new website. But as you'll see in the below excerpt, Simmons basically argues that ESPN is overexposing its employees by shifting them away from writing to on-air appearances and commentary -- immediate response situations rather than writing columns that can take days to research and write.

    During halftime at the Lakers game, Simmons spotted Stephen A. Smith, an ESPN                 colleague and a walking cautionary tale of the pitfalls of 24-hour sports. ESPN’s myriad             outlets generate an insatiable demand for content that has an unfortunate tendency to             transform sports writers into yammering caricatures. “Screaming A. Smith,” as he has been     called, may be the most widely mocked of the bunch. “We have to do a better job                     protecting our talent,” Simmons said as Smith passed by, not noticing Simmons. “He’s a guy     who should be writing more. We let him become too big a yakker.”

The most interesting point raised in the article is the fact that ESPN has become so big -- and such a pervasive part of the sports landscape in the United States -- that it does not only report the news, it creates and/or encourages the storylines and narratives that attract more viewers and give it even more influence. To some extent, this is the media's job: find the interesting angle and get the story out there. But ESPN takes it a step further: they create the storyline. The profile uses the perfect example of ESPN hyping the Lebron James decision, then bashing him for causing all of the hoopla after the fact. This type of thing is not new by any means, but in a way, ESPN pioneered this type of "journalism." This is, in a sense, what many news outlets have become, even outside of the sports world (Fox News, Politico, to name a couple).

Nothing about what I wrote is new. But to me, it's refreshing to hear a member of the media acknowledge it and even try to fight it and stay true to his passion -- writing -- even if he does work for the machine that makes it all go round and round.


Other articles that caught my eye:

Offshore-Drilling Giant Transocean Launches PR-Agency Review; Ad Age, June 3, 2011.
    There's not really much that can be said about this one...

Facebook party spins out of control; Associated Press, June 5, 2011
    Besides the inaccurate headline, there is a lot unexplained by this article. How did the party     become viral? The article implies the reason so many people came was because the event         was marked public on Facebook. Last time I checked, many events are marked public on         Facebook, and not nearly that many people end up attending.

Anthony Weiner's talkathon isn't saying much; Politico, June 2, 2011
    You know it's bad when the media becomes your PR advisor.

And finally, we'll end with an article that demonstrates the easiest way to lose your next reelection campaign. Really, it's very simple: Cut veterans benefits.