Jemele apologizes

[JayFarrar]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3382818
click, print and read

 

[WaylonJennings]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

no, black women certainly have NOT had things handed to them on a platter. but i know damn well if you're a black woman today with an interest in sportswriting, your path to the top is paved with gold compared with other young people.

Do you realize, however, how many cultural and educational obstacles have to be overcome before they can ever even dream of getting to that point, though?

I get your drift, I do. But I think that we're overestimating here how treacherous the path is before they ever get to the point at which their path is "paved with gold."

And I'm speaking as a white male who has, at many moments of weakness, cursed affirmative action-style hiring for torpedoing my ambitions. Hell, I even had a female newsroom editor, just this year, tell me, "Well, your opportunities in this business are going to be very slim, being a white male." She wasn't being sarcastic, either.

All of this being said, I have about had it up to here with the "Come strong or don't come at all!" brand of column punditry.

 

[Alma]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

no, black women certainly have NOT had things handed to them on a platter. but i know damn well if you're a black woman today with an interest in sportswriting, your path to the top is paved with gold compared with other young people. i understand why that is and applaud newspapers and internet sites looking out for talented minorities.

That's kinda true and kinda not.

Frankly, minority journalists are exploited by some of largest newspapers/news organizations, who bring them in without much respect as to whether they're ready for a high-profile responsibility. Some of these journalists are thrown into the deep end, they're fair but not spectacular, and within two years they’re out of the business because nobody has bothered to mentor them or give them appropriate assignments.

Young journalists out of college are still young journalists out of college. Sticking them on the business beat at a 200,000+ circulation paper right out of the gate isn’t really looking out for a minority's best interest.

 

[PopeDirkBenedict]

Still believe certain Hitler references are legit. Never forget, and all that. The ******* should not be unilaterally excluded from all public discourse. That's ridiculous.

But it takes judgment, brains and maturity to play the cards correctly.

I understand that by never bringing up Hitler, we then forget him and marginalize him. But under what traditional sports context (excluding, say, a track star fleeing from state-sponsored genocide) is the reference in good taste?

 

[outofplace]

Still believe certain Hitler references are legit. Never forget, and all that. The ******* should not be unilaterally excluded from all public discourse. That's ridiculous.

But it takes judgment, brains and maturity to play the cards correctly.

I understand that by never bringing up Hitler, we then forget him and marginalize him. But under what traditional sports context (excluding, say, a track star fleeing from state-sponsored genocide) is the reference in good taste?

Here's a hint. Jemele Hill just gave us a good example of when not to do it.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/080614
it is not the first time her fingers have gotten ahead of her brain.

There's a loaded baked potato.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

I find it fascinating that a columnist who made a major issue of LeBron's Vogue cover--racist image of monstrous black athlete, King Kong to Gisele's Fay Wray-- would then use a Hilter reference to make a not-so-clever and really pointless 'joke.'

I've seen her a few times lately on that First Take show (former Cold Pizza), she is really good on TV....better than she is in print. I would not be surprised if that's where she ends up, ala Rachel N.

Jemele is good on TV.

Rachel Alexander, meanwhile, looks like an over-made-up corpse most of the time and has an awful delivery. But....she CAN write.

As long as it ain't about Mike Lange.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

It shows how little attention ESPN is paying to the written word.

Folks... it AIN'T just ESPN.

How many dedicated copy editors do your papers have to edit the stuff going online (including blogs) during the daylight hours?

The copy editor is the most woefully underappreciated entity out there right now.

 

[cougargirl]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

Waylon, either you forgot the blue font or have contributed to one of the two most idiotic statements I have ever seen on this board ...

Race is a very important yet very delicate issue in our society and while I wish people could speak more frankly about it, the only way to get a point across is to do it in an intelligent, structured manner. Not in judgmental, ignorant blather that ends up seriously offending people.

That said, the Hitler comment in the column got me because of the decision to characterize the ungodly phenomenon Hitler represented - an brutal, evil and state-sponsored regime that killed six million Jews and targeted people because of their skin, their sexual preference and their religious preference - in such a cavalier, almost flippant manner.

There is free speech, and then there is good judgment. Calling Hitler a "victim" is tasteless.

 

[forever_town]

The copy editor is the most woefully underappreciated entity out there right now.

I understand your point, but hasn't that ALWAYS been true of copy editors? Even before the days of BLOGS!!! or the Interwebs or even -- GASP! -- the computer?

The copy editor is the most thankless full-time job in newspapers IMO.

 

[Mediator]

However, I always appreciate a good Pol Pot comparison when talking about, say, lacrosse.

 

[Starman]

So she's a black woman from Detroit ... so what? Go back to the FreePress then. Otherwise, write a national column that someone outside of Motown might care about.

Let's apply the same reasoning to Simmons' Boston fratboy blatherings.

 

[Simon_Cowbell]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

Waylon, either you forgot the blue font or have contributed to one of the two most idiotic statements I have ever seen on this board ...

Race is a very important yet very delicate issue in our society and while I wish people could speak more frankly about it, the only way to get a point across is to do it in an intelligent, structured manner. Not in judgmental, ignorant blather that ends up seriously offending people.

That said, the Hitler comment in the column got me because of the decision to characterize the ungodly phenomenon Hitler represented - an brutal, evil and state-sponsored regime that killed six million Jews and targeted people because of their skin, their sexual preference and their religious preference - in such a cavalier, almost flippant manner.

There is free speech, and then there is good judgment. Calling Hitler a "victim" is tasteless.

Well, Hitler probably was a victim of severe mental illness.

 

[TheMethod]

I think there are certain things that it is good for media outlets to have, among them:

Good writers
Relentless reporters
Insightful columnists
Diverse voices

ESPN should have all of those things, and does. I'm not sure one is more valuable than another, except that I would put a premium on reporting. A white man of equal ability would not have been given the job Jemele has. Of course he wouldn't. And it's too bad for that white man of equal ability, I guess. It's just that he's not qualified to have an African-American voice, because he's European-American. Just as Jemele Hill is not qualified to do Wright Thompson's job, because she can't write her name. It's that simple. I don't know if that's fair or not.

The shame is that Jemele Hill is a terrible columnist. And I find it surprising that she is the best ESPN could come up with to fill whatever need it perceived it had. Then again, in all my travels, I've only met two other black women who were sportswriters, so the pool from which to choose may actually be quite small.

 

[mustangj17]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

Anyone I know who has worked with Jemelle has said tremendous things about her work ethic. So I find it hard to believe she would be hired because of her skin color.

 

[WriteThinking]

Why was she not fired for this?

Because she can do whatever she wants

I think there is something to this.

ESPN writers, by and large, are the sort of "name" writers/columnists who are unlikely to be edited very much, if at all, just because of who they are.

I'd bet that is how the original, unedited version ended up posted for hours. I like how ESPN minimized that to the Boston Herald's Jessica Heslam by saying the column was changed within hours, as if that made it OK, and as if that's not eternity when it comes to the worldwide web.

The problem with Hill's column really was that it was exactly ESPN's style, in many ways. And, as such, it went unrecognized by others for its juvenile tone, trite subject matter and the load of hyperbole and exaggeration that it was.

This is an example of a sports person who needed to be careful of using inappropriate historical words or references just for effect or emphasis when they don't otherwise fit the context.

It's the same problem newspapers ran into and began cautioning writers about when they developed rules in the wake of 9/11 regarding references to Ground Zero, or saying something in sports was like going to war, or using quotes to the effect of, "It's war," or going overboard in designating someone a hero.

But then, those who forget history are doomed to repeat it...

 

[Mediator]

Agreed Mustang. I've heard the same things from ESPN bosses. I've heard her speak and, despite youth and relative inexperience, she is very level-headed and aware of her ummm.... unique place in the business. She made a horrid analogy here, but she's generally provocative, and the greatest sin she could commit in the eyes of ESPN would be to be boring.

Look at the ESPN roster of columnists if you get a chance. Now look at Yahoo, NBC Sports, CBS Sportsline... Hard to argue a minority's path is paved with gold.

I'm glad someone up there doesn't fit the mold, even if she's not perfect. And hopefully she grows from this.

 

[shockey]

I find it hard to believe she would be hired because of her skin color.

this might be the most naive post in the history of naive posts.

 

[JayFarrar]

Here's my question, why should she?
Honest question.
She's already got what most people consider the most plum gig in sportswriting — a full-time column for ESPN and on-air appearances.
What's next after that?
If improvement is the first step to promotion, she's got not reason for improvement because she can't really be promoted.
And again, if you don't like reading her, then why are you reading her?

 

[hondo]

i, too, understand that jamele has supporters on this board. that said, she sucks and has a huge forum for only two reasons, imo: the color of her skin and gender.

Yes, because everybody knows that black women have the world handed to them on a platter.

I'm sure talent and potential also have something to do with it. ESPN didn't just hire some random sistah from the streets.

Anyone I know who has worked with Jemelle has said tremendous things about her work ethic. So I find it hard to believe she would be hired because of her skin color.

I work very, very hard on my golf game. Doesn't mean the Tour should give me an exemption to the Travelers this week.