Maybe the best way to avoid disparaging remarks is better writing. Stop using clichés.
http://www.blogger.com/goog_172004221
Posted Wednesday 22nd February 2012 from Twitlonger
Poynter
Federico on ESPN headline: ‘It was an awful editorial omission and it cost me my job’
http://tinyurl.com/7xsw35h
Romenesko
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/02/18/really-espn/
Daily News
http://tinyurl.com/83jaf5x
ESPN made YouTube take down the Max Bretos video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3FcpAM7OVk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
ESPN Apologizes For Max Bretos "Chink In The Armor" Re: Jeremy Lin
All 17 seconds of air time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR-U-UFA8iU
The headline should not have happened at an organization as big as ESPN. There has got to be at least two sets of eye balls that review any post; headline or story or teaser, before publication. It is worse than the same phrase being used on-air as the anchor did.
ReplyDeleteWhen you write something down, the letters are stuck. You can't take it back once it's published. When you're ad-libbing you don't get time to reflect (although now that everything is on YoutTube, you have to be extra careful), and personally, I've heard the phrase 'Chink in the Armour' and didn't even know the first word is derogatory towards Asians and Asian-Americans.
Part of the reaction is a byproduct of our society is hyper-sensitive. Was the editor or anchor trying to harm Lin or an entire demographic? You'd have to pretty cynical, and take it out of context. The firing seems a bit extreme to me even though it is worse than just dropping the same words on-air.
Lesson is; always double check what you want to put out in the open.
As a broadcast student, we're always taught how to incorporate witty puns into our writing, especially with headlines and teases. But I think there's a time and place for everything, and editors should have known better than to use this kind of thing at a professional news outlet like ESPN.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I know the feeling when you're in front of the camera especially during a live taping as with ESPN. You say something without necessarily realizing that it might have a double meaning or be offensive to a group of people. So in that regard, I do understand where the anchor may have been coming from.
I think there needs to be a balance struck between our society's constant worries on being "politically correct," and also being more sensitive and think before we speak. As a journalist, you should always assume anything you say will be picked up somewhere, so if you won't stay by what the say or report, don't say it.
To be honest, I do not think the print reporter should have been fired. While the headline is certainly offensive, I do not think the reporter set out to be racist in his writing; I've heard that cliche before and it just seemed like an accident that he used it to describe a Chinese-American basketball player. As he stated in subsequent interviews, it was late at night when he wrote it and the result of thoughtlessness, not deliberate racism.
ReplyDeleteMy Asian friends were outraged--my Facebook newsfeed absolutely exploded with screenshots and angry comments about how something like this could have gotten past editors and how the focus has been on Lin's race and not talent (though I disagree, I think there's been equal emphasis on both, and I don't think that's discriminatory given that the NBA isn't exactly known to have Asian players). It's interesting to note, however, that none of my friends are journalism majors, and thus do not have a firsthand understanding of the crunch of deadline and how headlines are often thrown together as the last piece of an article. As Tom mentioned above, broadcast students are taught to be "punny" and yes, ESPN should have been more professional. It's a huge organization with the resources to think their headlines and scripts through. Nonetheless, my sympathies lie with the reporters who made this error and faced serious career consequences.