Scoop Jackson's article from Espn the lack of black sports editors

David himself left newspapers for a time because it was more lucrative to do so. Brian Burwell did, also. And Phil Taylor, and Roy Johnson. All left daily newspapers for better and more lucrative jobs; and J. Whitlock and Steven A. could have left newspapers behind if they wanted.
There are others, also.
That's one reason the numbers are so low, but no one's mentioning it.

 

Wilbon could have left The Post (and newspapers) a number of years ago for more money and a higher national proflle but Kornheiser talked him out of it, in large part by telling him that he had an obligation as a black journalist and columnist to be a role model.

 

Wilbon's black?

 

Used to be, back in the day

 

A lot of people on this board have it all wrong. How can people get mad when there surely aren't enough blacks covering sports. Blacks in politics. Blacks anywhere. Open your eyes, it's a saddening and unfortunate truth, but black people still don't have the same opportunities as whites. We may not like it, and racial matters have improved. But be honest.
Ever covered an NFL game? How about MLB? Besides the NBA, I've never seen many black journalists at top events. I get sick of hear journalists complain about blacks getting better treatment and jobs. That's a complete myth and slightly reactionary.

 

That's a good point. Just taking the 4 guys you mentioned -- Aldridge, Burwell, Taylor and Johnson -- all of them easily could have been SEs if they had chosen that career path, especially Johnson.

That said, there are still too few people of color running sports departments.

 

Scoop may have a point but his argument is ridiculously flawed: First, I think a group of kids could probably name more white athletes than white sports journalists. Except for those on TV, they wouldn't know most white sports writers (As we all know, young people aren't reading the paper). Second, to act like it's easier for a black kid to play pro ball than become a sports journalists is so ridiculous, I would be embarrassed to have made such a claim. I definitely think it's great for newsrooms to diversify, and I have to admit I have probably benefited from that need myself. But, I would hope my ability and willingness to work hard would get me further than a minority status. I also have a probelm with claims that problems persist because athletes can't connect with sports writers who don't share their race. By that argument, you would have to say women should only interview female athletes, leaving them out of some of the biggest beats in the field. The fact is, a good journalist can get a story out of an athlete because that's their job – not because they share a race or gender.

 

Plus, we're not out there to be "down" with these assholes anyway. Being buddy-buddy is as much detriment as it is help.

 

ballscribe

A lot of what you said rings true. Except for this

Scoop is exceedingly bad. I don't give a shit what color he is. There simply are not other writers in high profile jobs like his, who are as undeserving and underwhelming as he. This is subjective, obviously. A hire like that gives a bad name to such efforts to diversify.

 

If you really feel that way, than a hire like that doesn't give "diversity" a bad name. It gives the hirers at ESPN a bad name, period. ;D

I'm tellin' ya, I'd argue that his profile is all that high. I read and watch as much sports tv/radio/web/newspapers as anyone I can think of, but I had never heard of this guy until people started ripping him on this site. Then again, I rarely get to Page 2.

 

[quote author=Scoop Jackson=topic=29392.msg750667#msg750667 date=1152933747]
Then I make the point: "Which means you all have a better chance to make it to the NBA then you do doing what I do for a living."

I wish I wrote well enough to describe the looks on their faces. Every time.[/quote]

This is the quote that caught my attention.
Scoop has managed to land a high-profile job with the self-professed inability to properly describe these kid's reaction.
<sigh>

Sadly, this is more an indictment of sports writing -- and journalism in general.

 

This, too, is an issue in journalism and not restricted to gender.
There are a lot of papers where the old guys are firmly entrenched in positions, content to churn out mediocre work, knowing that their throne is safe as long as they want it.