Deadspin is a blog that loves to roast ESPN and its many shortcomings. Reporter Laura Wagner criticized The worldwide leader in (liberal) sports, led by its new president Jimmy Pitaro, for sticking to sports and rolling over like a lapdog to please its NFL Monday Night Football master. Her insults follow remarks by ESPN's new president, Jimmy Pitaro, that were reported in a recent story published by The Washington Post about the network's relationship with the National Football League.
Wagner wrote: "After five months in charge at ESPN, company president Jimmy Pitaro got up in front of a bunch of reporters on Friday and revealed his big new vision for the network. Based on Piatro’s comments, ESPN will stride boldly into the future by sticking to sports and playing lapdog for the NFL."
ESPN sticking to sports? Wagner seems to have her eyes wide shut.
"Here he is showing his ass about the inherent and inextricable relationship between sports and politics," Wagner said of Pitaro:
“If you ask me is there a false narrative out there, I will tell you ESPN being a political organization is false,” he said. “I will tell you I have been very, very clear with employees here that it is not our jobs to cover politics, purely.”
It's been well documented that when ESPN does go political, it lists far to the Left. Whether it's ESPN television, radio or websites, the network is a Clinton- and Obama-loving, Trump-hating outfit. And don't forget that Pitaro (appearing with Mickey Mouse in photo) came to ESPN from Disney, a hard Left company. But he's not doing enough to please the radical leftists at Deadspin. Wagner pressed her attack on Pitaro and ESPN:
"Pitaro is so willing to demonstrate what a 'good partner' ESPN is to the NFL that he has told the league that ESPN will not air the national anthem ahead of Monday Night Football broadcasts."Pitaro also has told the league that ESPN does not plan to air the national anthem ahead of its Monday night telecasts. The policy is not a change from previous seasons, but the network articulated its plans directly to the league for the first time.“They have not asked,” Pitaro said. “But we have proactively just as a courtesy and as good partners let them know what our plans are.”
In Wagner's pointed opinion, ESPN is making a big mistake by punting on the national anthem on Monday nights. That also prevents any would-be protests from being aired on national television, Wagner writes, denying social justice warriors their two minutes of shame. These are, of course, opportunities for crucial "journalistic matters" after all, she says:
"You’d think an ostensible news outlet would be interested—compelled, even—to provide coverage of ongoing protests being staged by athletes in the most popular sports league in the country, but who has time for journalistic matters when there are wheels to be greased."
It's not just about the Star Spangled Banner either, Wagner points out. The relationship between ESPN and the NFL has been strained because the network reported on concussions and CTE issues and, following the narrative of other media, complained about less-than-attractive Monday night team "match-ups:
"Earlier this year, it was reported that the NFL and ESPN were feuding over a number of issues. ESPN was mad that the NFL kept giving them shitty Monday night games; the NFL was mad that ESPN reporters were doing their jobs by publishing investigative reports on issues that are unflattering to the league. It’s clear that Pitaro is going out of his way to play nice and soothe whatever problems the NFL and ESPN have with each other, even if he has to debase himself to do so. The strategy seems to be working so far."ESPN will always find itself in the paradoxical position of having to cover and report on the very leagues it is in partnership with. The network’s opposing interests will never exist in harmony, and the best the reporters and commentators who work at ESPN can hope for is that those in charge value their reporting more than they value keeping the NFL happy. That doesn’t seem to be the message Pitaro is sending."
In Deadspin's view, "reporting" means blatant support for social justice warrior protests.
