Minority sports reporters

That is so true. Athletes are people.

 

Agreed. Seems like the situation can be a viscious cycle of sorts. I've got good friends who shied away from what would have been handsome steps up on the basis of not wanting to be surrounded by a bunch of old white guys.

 

'Cause goodness knows all old white guys are assholes.

 

OK, so if that's the case, how are we supposed to break the hold all these old white guys have on the business? Doesn't someone have to be the first minority in the club?

 

Simple ... kill Whitey.

 

Hey, that's what the NBA and NFL pretty much did. And MLB is on its way.

 

You're showing your, quite flatly, stupidity in this post.

1. Whatever his faults, Jim Gray does precisely what you're claiming he doesn't do. Barry after 715, Kobe after the rape charges, Tyson after the ear biting, Rose in the stands at the All-Star game. He meets your standards more than anybody else on this list.

2. Stuart Scott is an ass-kisser. Most people prefer their asses kissed and egos stroked. Same for Cheryl Miller. You can't honestly believe she has any objectivity, can you? They're the equivalent of ET reporters. They get less than the truth - they concoct propaganda for willing interviewees.

3. Curious if you had some proof that Yao ming would respond more favorably to Craig Sager than Stephen A. Smith.

4. If you assign women to cover women-only sports...wait, fuck! They already do!

These are some poor examples and arguments.

 

To follow up on what Alma said, there also are a number of athletes who see through a minority stunt hire. I've seen plenty of instances where an African-American athlete rejects an African-American reporter's attempt to gain extra insight based solely on their skin color instead of journalistic merit.

Specifically, college basketball, football and pro baseball (all levels).

 

If you're a good reporter, you'll get the job done regardless of the color of your skin. If a reporter is getting lousy answers, it is because he or she isn't doing the job, not because of race or gender.

To say white reporters can't get quality answers out of minorities is every bit as bad as those who blow off all minorities and women as "diversity hires."

Are there minorities or women who don't get a fare shake in the business? Yes. Are there any who are good but can't get a job at all no matter how hard they try? I sincerely doubt it.

There are also white guys who can't get a fair shake, either. It's happening on both sides for a variety of reasons.

And there are sports reporters of all races and genders who flat out suck. Just like there are people of all races and genders in all fields who suck.

The system doesn't work and the lousy approach management types use to fix it isn't helping. Recruit minorities and women. Try to get them interested earlier so there is a deeper pool of talent to draw from. And then... yes, I'll say it again... .hire the best damn candiate available.

 

Yeah, well I know plenty of white scribes who can do it all and have been getting screwed too. Is that because of their race?

Diversity is a big-time goal at a LOT of papers. With the relatively small pool of non-white/male candidates, to say anyone is being held down because of their profile is laughable.

The reality is there aren't a ton of minorities or females trying to become sports writers. I went to a school with a large, respectable J-school and it was almost all white. And this was a school with a decent amoint of minorities. I have noticed the same thing elsewhere. I have no reasoning for this, but that's how it is. I'm not going to go on some campaign to get more minorities and women go into sports writing, just as I'm not trying to groom more Asian garbagemen or more white UPS deliverers or more hispanic teachers -- or whatever. All are equally arbitrary.

If you think the reason the sportswriting profession is wilting is because of racism, I don't know what to tell you.

 

Your thoughts are genuine but here i think is the crux of the problem. The SE's aren't old white men. They are young white men, which means that the cycle is continuing. Until the cycle end, people of color and women are going to continue taking it where the sun ain't shining. And here's a flash, there's no KY jelly and no kiss.

 

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