Sideline reporter gave fake news

[BurnsWhenIPee]

So what are the options here?

1) Nothing happens, and Fox and Thompson pretend none of this ever happened
1A) She quietly disappears for a little bit, then returns without explanation and nothing more is said about it
2) She resigns or is fired

If it is either 1 or 1A, I think the reaction will be fascinating.

If I'm a coach who already doesn't like doing the sideline reporter shirt, I'd blow it all off now. If she's going to make shirt up anyway, why the fork would I make time that I don't have for that garbage?

I applaud the other sideline reporters who have been so vocal in this criticism, but do they have any muscle in keeping this story alive and pushing for change (firing)?

What about Erin Andrews, who seems to have caught some shrapnel from all this?

 

[Fdufta]

https://x.com/SaraCivian/status/1725301767720649210?s=20

Now this, coming from this one… this is funny.

 

[Fdufta]

Another aside from this: Recently, a friend shared a time stamp of a Pardon My Take podcast to check out, re: Harbaugh. I've never listened to them before. The friend said they're good interviewers. I tended to agree. Case, point? They're so good they got this lady comfortable enough to admit what she did in that forum.

 

[jr/shotglass]

Hate to get all old man yells at cloud, but they came of age at a time where journalism was taken seriously and they took journalism seriously.

Yeah, I'll stand on that cloud with you and shake a fist, to boot.

What about Erin Andrews, who seems to have caught some shrapnel from all this?

I'm not going to overlook that part, either. Andrews didn't exactly paint herself in glory here. And frankly, I hold her to a higher standard, fair or not.

 

[exmediahack]

Lisa Guerrero is a real reporter who took her job on the sidelines seriously, despite horrific backlash and in spite of colleagues who tried to undermine her. Don't loop her in with this!

Lisa does a nice job with Inside Edition.. an actual investigative reporter. 25 years ago (or whenever MNF hired her), it wasn't a good fit for her at that stage but I don't blame her for taking the job. It was a great opportunity.

 

[exmediahack]

They do have a podcast together. Apparently Thompson shared a version of this story on that podcast two years ago, saying she sometimes paraphrases coaches so they don't sound dumb. The story has now been upgraded to making stuff up.

Charissa needs better stories for these appearances. Always have four "go-to" stories at your disposal, where they are self-deprecating but do NOT put your job at risk.

I doubt the actual pros who do this (Salters, Rowe) think Thompson is one of them. She's an anchor, a host. Her sideline reporting days have been, for the most part over, for a decade.

My larger issue with the sideline reporting world is the reporters who end up f***ing the athletes they cover. That's a bigger concern, for impartiality, than making up answers to Coach's two questions at halftime.

Amid all the outrage, her leaked naked office video is… Laz-E-Boy-worthy.

 

[exmediahack]

Hate to get all old man yells at cloud, but they came of age at a time where journalism was taken seriously and they took journalism seriously.

Does that occur to the same degree now? I kind of doubt it. Not in a time where image and the cult of celebrity has never been more valued over substance. Plus, even if there are reporters who take the journalism side seriously, the networks certainly don't. With rare exception, the industry is predicated on looks. In sports and otherwise.

Had a sports director in a spot I used to work in I was talking with about this once. I was giving him shirt because a guy who came into the market long after he did, who worked about a quarter as hard as he did, and who had very little charisma on-air in any case, went from local yokel to national network studio anchor (still is, I think) in the span of, like, five years.

"How come your ass isn't working for the network. You're a helluva lot better than that empty suit," I said.

I thought it was good-natured ribbing, but I had touched a nerve. He said, quite seriously, "If you want my honest answer, I'm not good-looking enough."

I've never forgotten that. I guess those who get into the TV business know on some level what they're getting into, but I'd hate to have quality of my work bypassed for the hot guy or girl of the moment.

This is more true than you know.

If you don't make "The Show" by about age 30, you're never going to get there.

I'm a decent-looking guy, take care of myself, still have my hair, but I know I'll never be a big market anchor because there are certain physical features I don't have. In other words, I'm a ginger. No big markets hire pale gingers in 2023.

Looking back, I wish I would have kept myself about 15-20 pounds lighter in my 20s.

 

[Songbird]

I'm a decent-looking guy, take care of myself, still have my hair

 

[Sam Mills 51]

So many problems on so many levels.

If you're Thompson, how can you continue in that gig (yes, the easy TV money. Silly me.)?

If you're Pam Oliver and some of the others who have long been toiling at the job with the network, doing everything they can not to turn into something overly vapid, the "ask two questions before halftime" stuff, the "try to evoke emotions" question from the winning QB/point guard/coach, how can you not shout up the chain that, while they're still busting their butts to do their work, you promoted Thompson?

If you're Andrea Kremer or Tracy Wolfson and you paid the dues and never got the chance Thompson did, how do you feel knowing she moved up?

No matter what any of us think of sideline reporters, this soils what most of them – and let's face it, Thompson is proof that not all of them do the work – try to do. If you're the coaches, why go to any effort with a sideline reporter? If you're Erin Andrews, how can you continue working anything with someone who discredits what you try to do with every appearance and word she speaks?

TD;DR, journalism needs all the credibility it can get and hang onto. What Thompson did further eats at it. That's a problem.

 

[Sly]

I've always wondered about that "H" in her name and I can now confirm that it stands for "hoax"

 

[exmediahack]

That's about 99.4% correct. I do have better hair.

 

[exmediahack]

So many problems on so many levels.

If you're Thompson, how can you continue in that gig (yes, the easy TV money. Silly me.)?

If you're Pam Oliver and some of the others who have long been toiling at the job with the network, doing everything they can not to turn into something overly vapid, the "ask two questions before halftime" stuff, the "try to evoke emotions" question from the winning QB/point guard/coach, how can you not shout up the chain that, while they're still busting their butts to do their work, you promoted Thompson?

If you're Andrea Kremer or Tracy Wolfson and you paid the dues and never got the chance Thompson did, how do you feel knowing she moved up?

No matter what any of us think of sideline reporters, this soils what most of them – and let's face it, Thompson is proof that not all of them do the work – try to do. If you're the coaches, why go to any effort with a sideline reporter? If you're Erin Andrews, how can you continue working anything with someone who discredits what you try to do with every appearance and word she speaks?

TD;DR, journalism needs all the credibility it can get and hang onto. What Thompson did further eats at it. That's a problem.

It's all part of the cycle of sideline reporters. Pam Oliver was once the "young, hot" sideline reporter. Except she had the journalistic chops. She got moved down for Erin Andrews a decade or so ago.

The other element to what the sideline reporter does is the obligatory "sit down"/flirt-fest (for some) with an athlete. Phyllis George ain't walking through that door. Are those even relevant anymore?