Fired over a "tremendous amount of sex"

Would've been 5 ER and no QS had Collins not GIDP to end the 6th.

 

... Also their prerogative.

(FWIW, I agree with Rocky Wirtz.)

 

Her level of professionalism was not befitting her position. And the team she covered was uncomfortable with the association. That's business.

 

If a boss/employer/broadcast partner (team/program) doesn't want to be associated with a reporter who was on videos four years ago playing along with "big black dong" uttered, that is absolutely their right.

Especially for people who are on-air, our on-air work is our brand. That's what we represent at all times. You don't just say "I'm covering the Blackhawks today so I am not the person talking about Haley stroking himself".

Just as AJ Clemente's brand is saying "fuckin' shit". We all have our approach in this business.

It's all part of the, well, the package.

 

Last 2 posts are spot on. Said it much better than I did.

 

If her bosses at CSN had decided to fire her, that would have been fine.

They didn't.

They fired her at Rocky Wirtz behest. Rocky Wirtz, the guy who owns the team they ostensibly cover.

That folks can be worried about the Koch brothers, but not concerned by this is interesting to me.

Comcast already employs hundreds, if not thousands, of journalists. And, they are partnerships with teams in a number of RSNs.

If they'll roll over on something as dumb as this, who else will they roll over on?

 

They will roll over on anybody. And YF, everybody knows this. This is a case where being in the industry would help you, because there is not a single person who works at an RSN anywhere who thinks he/she is immune from the team's pressures.

All the lip service about them being an independent voice is just to try to trick the viewer.

 

YF,

This horse left the barn decades ago. Perhaps it never was in the barn.

This instance is just different in that it wasn't what a commentator or reporter said about a team's performance but about the reporter herself.

We see this all the time, whether it is commentators with the Big Ten Network pussy-footing around Indiana football in the 4th quarter of a 46-17 loss to anyone, a FOX Sports Net being careful in its analysis of the baseball team that puts 130 games on their network or any Coach's Show on Sunday mornings where the host has to find a positive spin of the Colorado Buffaloes' latest 55-7 defeat.

It's part of the gig. It's the part that stinks.

I covered the Packers for a few years and that was the only NFL team I covered where you really did have to be real careful about what you said in your reporting. We'd all love to be Jim Rome but, if they threaten to pull your access, you're useless in your career.

 

OK. Sure.

But, then don't try to tell me that "up to half the staff" at the LA Times is ready to quit if the Koch brothers buy Tribune.

Because if a guy with a title of senior news director is willing to tell Rocky to pound sand, or resign, then I don't have a lot of confidence in anybody else in the industry to stand up to "meddling" bosses.

And, even the column I excerpted bashed Rocky, but didn't bash CSN.

Which I guess means you're right. There was no expectation of "journalistic integrity" from CSN.

So, who do we expect it from? Anyone?

 

I'm going to stop discussing this with you. For the last time, there is a huge difference between a journalistic entity like the LA Times and an entertainment outlet like a regional sports network. They are not there to break news and there is no adversarial relationship between the two -- they are simply adjuncts of the teams they cover.

But you're so far down that road that you've taken your comparison as fact when the two things simply aren't similar. I wish you'd realize that, but it's clear you won't.

 

I'm sorry you want to drop out of the conversation, because it's just getting interesting.

Because this is the point I actually disagree with you on.

There's not much of a difference between the two -- especially when it comes to sports.

The rules are bent constantly. And, everyone justifies each instance where they are bent. And, then they act like it's a rare exception, and not an indictment of the entire industry.

 

All right, I'll bite, though I am tiring of the conversation because you really do just have a fundamental misunderstanding.

The LA Times does not have a business relationship with the Dodgers. Their writers certainly have some self-interest in playing nice to a certain degree, but the decision-makers have nothing to do with each other.

In the case of CSN Chicago or any other RSN, Susannah Collins' job exists for the sole purpose of making the Blackhawks look good. The team and the RSN are in business together to present the best product they can, to get the highest ratings they can. Their interests are exactly the same and their business relationship makes that abundantly clear.

The notes about independence and who's deciding what are just fluff to establish credibility in the eyes of viewers who don't follow the situation very closely. But as to the employees, there is no doubt about what happens when you cross the teams.