ESPN Had To Go There With Jeremy Lin

[TMC]

http://fangsbites.com/2012/02/espn-had-to-go-there-with-jeremy-li/

by Ken, under ESPN, Jeremy Lin, Train Wrecks
From the “What Were They Thinking?” Department, someone at ESPN put a
“Chink in the Armor” headline at its mobile and tablet site for Jeremy
Lin’s first loss. While it was not visible at its desktop site, many
people saw it and quickly put screengrabs on Twitter.

Loading Image...

The headline was removed, but not after an uproar ensued. I’m sure a
statement is being crafted by ESPN on this matter.

And Guyism points out that this isn’t the first time at ESPN a “Chink
in the armor” reference was used regarding Jeremy Lin this week.

http://guyism.com/sports/espn-really-enjoys-using-terrible-chink-in-the-armor-references.html

I’m going to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt that this was
unintentional, but as someone who’s been called “chink” growing up,
this is very offensive. The network has to be very careful in the
future.

h/t The Big Lead, SportsGrid, Bob’s Blitz, Busted Coverage, Romenesko

http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/02/18/espns-insensitive-jeremy-lin-headline-chink-in-the-armor/,
http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/espns-jeremy-lin-headline-was-chink-in-the-armor-then-it-was-changed/,
http://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/statuses/170850593320083456,
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/02/18/really-espn/

UPDATE, 9:08 a.m.: ESPN has issued a statement apologizing for the
headline.

Statement on New York Knicks Jeremy Lin Headline
Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline
referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05
am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform
editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary
action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize
for this mistake.
Hopefully, this is the last we have to hear of this.

UPDATE, 1:15 p.m.: ESPN has also issued this apology in regard to Max
Bretos’ using “Chink in the armor” on ESPNews Wednesday. It was read
on the air by anchor Jorge Andres at 12:35 p.m. today.

ESPNEWS Apology Regarding Jeremy Lin Question
Wednesday night on ESPNEWS, an anchor used an inappropriate word in
asking a question about Jeremy Lin. ESPN apologizes for the incident,
and is taking steps to avoid this in the future.

That’s it.

UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Here’s the video of the apology that aired on
SportsCenter this afternoon.

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/02/espn-sorry-for-offensive-headline-about-jeremy-lin-new-york-knicks-new-orleans-hornets/1#.Tz_Xa3nAMr4

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/g06pv1

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/february/espn-uses-a-very-unfortunate-headline-with-qa-chink-in-the-armorq-for-lins-first-loss.html

http://sportsrantz.com/media/2012/02/18/espn-jeremy-lin-chink-in-the-armor/

http://aeryssports.com/the-pigskin-arch/2012/02/18/negative-attention-is-better-than-no-attention-at-all/

http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2012/02/espn-apologizes-for-chink-in-the-armor-headline-regarding-knicks-guard/

http://blog.angryasianman.com/2012/02/chink-in-armor-really-espn.html

[Uncle Abogado®]

Post by TMC
http://fangsbites.com/2012/02/espn-had-to-go-there-with-jeremy-li/
by Ken, under ESPN, Jeremy Lin, Train Wrecks
From the “What Were They Thinking?” Department, someone at ESPN put a
“Chink in the Armor” headline at its mobile and tablet site for Jeremy
Lin’s first loss. While it was not visible at its desktop site, many
people saw it and quickly put screengrabs on Twitter.
http://fangsbites.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/chink-in-the-armor-e1329572733697.png
The headline was removed, but not after an uproar ensued. I’m sure a
statement is being crafted by ESPN on this matter.
And Guyism points out that this isn’t the first time at ESPN a “Chink
in the armor” reference was used regarding Jeremy Lin this week.
http://guyism.com/sports/espn-really-enjoys-using-terrible-chink-in-the-armor-references.html
I’m going to give ESPN the benefit of the doubt that this was
unintentional, but as someone who’s been called “chink” growing up,
this is very offensive. The network has to be very careful in the
future.
h/t The Big Lead, SportsGrid, Bob’s Blitz, Busted Coverage, Romenesko
http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/02/18/espns-insensitive-jeremy-lin-headline-chink-in-the-armor/,
http://www.sportsgrid.com/media/espns-jeremy-lin-headline-was-chink-in-the-armor-then-it-was-changed/,
http://twitter.com/bustedcoverage/statuses/170850593320083456,
http://jimromenesko.com/2012/02/18/really-espn/
UPDATE, 9:08 a.m.: ESPN has issued a statement apologizing for the
headline.
Statement on New York Knicks Jeremy Lin Headline
Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline
referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05
am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform
editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary
action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize
for this mistake.
Hopefully, this is the last we have to hear of this.
UPDATE, 1:15 p.m.: ESPN has also issued this apology in regard to Max
Bretos’ using “Chink in the armor” on ESPNews Wednesday. It was read
on the air by anchor Jorge Andres at 12:35 p.m. today.
ESPNEWS Apology Regarding Jeremy Lin Question
Wednesday night on ESPNEWS, an anchor used an inappropriate word in
asking a question about Jeremy Lin. ESPN apologizes for the incident,
and is taking steps to avoid this in the future.
That’s it.
UPDATE, 3:20 p.m.: Here’s the video of the apology that aired on
SportsCenter this afternoon.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/02/espn-sorry-for-offensive-headline-about-jeremy-lin-new-york-knicks-new-orleans-hornets/1#.Tz_Xa3nAMr4
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/g06pv1
http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2012-articles/february/espn-uses-a-very-unfortunate-headline-with-qa-chink-in-the-armorq-for-lins-first-loss.html
http://sportsrantz.com/media/2012/02/18/espn-jeremy-lin-chink-in-the-armor/
http://aeryssports.com/the-pigskin-arch/2012/02/18/negative-attention-is-better-than-no-attention-at-all/
http://www.sportsmediawatch.com/2012/02/espn-apologizes-for-chink-in-the-armor-headline-regarding-knicks-guard/
http://blog.angryasianman.com/2012/02/chink-in-armor-really-espn.html

In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I suppose we ought to
accept the word of the now-fired ESPN editor (whose name is Anthony
Federico) that this was merely an act of (monumentally) poor judgment
as opposed to an intentional racial slur The guy seemed genuinely
contrite in his statement to the media, has no apparent ax to grind
with Jeremy Lin, and Lin himself has apparently accepted his apology.
But those people who want to whine about "victims of political
correctness" in this instance are way off base. It's one thing to
be insensitive, but quite another to be completely obtuse. When you
consider the subject matter, it requires a truly stunning degree of
tone-deafness to miss the obvious implications of such a headline. And
whether he meant it to be hurtful or not, it's the job of an editor to
be aware of such distinctions. This one was simply too obvious to
miss; Mr. Federico deserved to get fired, if only for his own gross
incompetence.

[Martin Phipps]

Reaction from Chinese language media:

http://www.nma.tv/espn-calls-jeremy-lins-performance-chink-armor/

Martin