NYT's 'Captain Obvious': Notion of Liberal Viewpoint at ESPN is 'Novel Development'

May 1st, 2017 7:54 PM

To The New York Times' own “Captain Obvious" -- Marc Tracy -- the idea that "a liberal viewpoint" emanating from "mainstream sports broadcaster" ESPN is a "novel development." Apparently, Tracy hasn't left his liberal New York cocoon in quite a while, or he would realize what we all know: ESPN is every bit as biased as his own liberal newspaper.

Today Tracy wrote about "An unusual strain of partisanship — at least in the sports corner of the news media," which "emerged last week after ESPN announced it was laying off dozens of employees. The public reaction included jeers at the network for what some viewers perceived as a leftward slant in ESPN’s coverage, a reflection of how the country’s raw political nerves and cultural divisions have spilled over into a world that many value as a pristine redoubt from worldly concerns: sports."

Marc, the luster wore off that pristine redoubt quite some time ago.

Birds of a liberal flock stick together. Writing about ESPN, this NYT writer quoted one of his own ideological brethren. Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports and now a professor at the Columbia Journalism School, said: “I think people are looking for bias, and opinion, and information that in some way involves some hidden signal or indication that there’s a political bias in one direction or another.” Of course, a former champion of bias at CBS isn't going to substantiate anything more than a vague hint of unfairness coming from one of his own. He's long been part of that problem.

With ESPN, no deep probing of anything hidden is needed. Nothing is submerged politically or socially at ESPN, which always swings from the left side of the plate on social and political issues. Not when "MSESPN" -- as Fox Sports' Clay Travis calls it, revels in men kissing men at the NFL draft, not when ESPN fires Curt Schilling for diversity of opinion and certainly no deep probing is required when the network recognizes Bruce Jenner as a "woman" and gives him its loftiest award.

One brave ESPN veteran, longtime Sports Center anchor Linda Cohn (pictured above), said the network owes some of its demise to its political posturing, during a recent radio interview. “I felt that the old-school viewers were put in a corner,” and “If anyone wants to ignore that fact, they’re blind.”

Then, with eyes wide shut, Tracy proves Cohn's point: "The claim that the layoffs somehow resulted from disenchantment with political bias is most likely untrue. Industry analysts have tied ESPN’s job cuts to radically shifting habits of media consumption — notably the fact that millions of people are turning away from cable TV, which for decades has been ESPN’s mother lode for revenue — and to other business-related factors."

The behind-the-Times writer did not acknowledge the recent poll which cited 61 percent of those surveyed saying ESPN is liberal, compared to 3 percent seen as conservative. If this isn't indicative of disenchantment and customer erosion, then what is? Nevertheless, Tracy goes on to quote Brian Wieser, an analyst at Pivotal Research, who says, “I’m not aware of a tangible connection that has expressed itself through any data. There are much more obvious things to point to.”

Tracy adds that John Skipper, president of ESPN, had said: “We’ve done a great job of diversity. But the one place we have miles to go is diversity of thought.” That's like saying we're winning when we're not losing. And even though ESPN commissioned a study of its own that found measureable left-wing bias, it isn't interested in throwing its viewers any change-ups.

Good businesses are dynamic. They change with the times. But those like The New York Times and ESPN, which are stuck in left gear, are static ... and paying the price with a shrinking and more disenchanted public. But wonders never cease. At least the Times is now aware that there may be some liberal bias in sports media. Next thing you know, Skipper might become aware of a hint of bias at the NYT.