Dan Steinberg of the ultra-Left Washington Post, has written about former ESPN reporter Britt McHenry, easily the most courageous conservative among the 100 people laid off in April. What I took away from his story is that if you're a conservative in the media, it's an "awakening" and you'll draw negative headlines and you don't deserve any credit for being courageous.
McHenry, a former intern in Fox News's political division, recently criticized Colin Kaepernick in a blog and admitted she has never been this vocal before. Even though she had issued conservative-themed tweets while in the employ of ESPN, McHenry said, “The opinion was going to really ruffle media feathers. And I’ve never done this.”
She did recall one tweet after she claimed ESPN dumped her because of her conservative views. Steinberg related how she did not want to be seen like a "bitter ex."
McHenry told Steinberg her "politically conservative viewpoints are dramatically underrepresented in sports media, both at ESPN and beyond. She said her Twitter account was monitored for political content while she worked at ESPN, and that she sometimes raised eyebrows in Bristol with political sentiments she tweeted and political tweets she favorited." Steinberg wrote:
Colleagues at ESPN urged her to take the word “conservative” out of her Twitter biography, and she did so. She mostly "swallowed her long-standing conservative views while working for ESPN over the past three years, and was 'very very very careful' about steering clear of politics. Now that her situation is changed, though, she’s having “sort of an awakening” as she plans her next step."
McHenry told Steinberg: "When there’s a panel talking about how great Colin Kaepernick’s stance is, why wasn’t there a person to counter that? So it’s nice to be able to kind of say things. And I don’t care if people hate on me, I really don’t.”
Though the WaPo writer told of McHenry's emerging conservative boldness, he had to drag up her past and how she had once drawn a lot of criticism for berating someone towing away her car. Funny how WaPo doesn't keep reminding us of Marv Albert's far-worse misdeeds or the mental meltdowns of Keith Olbermann. Here's what he wrote:
And that brings us to McHenry’s history. The former reporter and anchor at WJLA, Washington’s ABC affiliate, has been somewhat of a polarizing figure since going viral for berating and insulting a Northern Virginia towing company employee during a disagreement caught on tape more than two years ago. That incident, for which McHenry apologized, led to a week-long ESPN suspension and turned her name into Internet gold.
Steinberg kept right on going negative from there. He claims many readers of his piece "will argue that there’s no courage in criticizing Kaepernick" and "her political turn will further alienate some of her potential consumers." (Wow, media lefties never alienate people!) He made sure to mention the New York Daily News called McHenry "Jerk of the Week" and the San Francisco Chronicle suggested she was one of the “yahoos and jackals unfairly criticizing Kaepernick."
So when a media person expresses conservative views it's a negative turn, but when status-quo lefties go PC that's perfectly normal and to be expected. In effect, that's what Steinberg is saying. No wonder McHenry said views like hers are under-represented in the media. "It’s across the board. It’s all sports media," she said."
Despite the criticisms by Left-stream media, McHenry says sideline reporting may not be in her future. She says she may enter the political media realm. "Whatever she does next, she wants to remain free to express her opinions. Which means you’ll likely see her name in more headlines," Steinberg concludes. Interpreted as, conservative statements are singled out for headline news, but if a reporter is a leftist lemming, then there won't be any negative headlines.
