Final week, Charissa Thompson opened her yap on the podcast Pardon My Take and, for causes nonetheless largely not understood by the remainder of us, thought it was super-cute to confess that she has, prior to now, made up sideline experiences. How lovely!
“I’ve mentioned this earlier than, so I haven’t been fired for saying it, however I’ll say it once more. I might make up the report generally as a result of A, the coach wouldn’t come out at halftime or it was too late and I used to be like, ‘I didn’t need to screw up the report,’ so I used to be like, ‘I’m simply going to make this up,’” Thompson mentioned on the podcast.
“To begin with no coach goes to get mad if I say, ‘Hey, we have to cease hurting ourselves, we have to be higher on third down, we have to cease turning the ball over and do a greater job of getting off the sphere.’ Like, they’re not going to right me on that,” she defined. “So I’m prefer it’s high-quality, I’m simply going to make up the report.”
After a major quantity of backlash on social media from journalists who A, take their jobs severely and B, discover it offensive to misinform the general public, Thompson put out a press release half-heartedly strolling her feedback again, however the injury was already executed.
“When on a podcast this week, I mentioned I might make up experiences early in my profession once I labored as a sideline reporter earlier than I transitioned to my present host position,” Thompson mentioned. “Working within the media I perceive how vital phrases are and I selected unsuitable phrases to explain the scenario. I’m sorry. I’ve by no means lied about something or been unethical throughout my time as a sports activities broadcaster,” she wrote.
So the place to even begin with this?
First off, what’s Charissa Thompson doing on a Barstool-affiliated podcast, contemplating that Barstool made their title, largely, off misogyny, harassing ladies, and assuring the “cool ladies” that they’re, in reality, cool, and it’s the folks declaring their document of sexism which are truly the issue? Thompson calls different sideline reporters “a few of her finest buddies,” however Tracy Wolfson has been focused by Barstool earlier than. So has Sam Ponder. So have dozens of different ladies working in sports activities media. (Full disclosure: I’ve additionally been focused by Barstool for years.)
Pour one out for the sisterhood, I assume.
However secondly, there are such a lot of issues ethically unsuitable with Thompson admitting that she made up experiences that she then disseminated to a mass viewers. Your job as a journalist is to not discover one thing, something, to say, however to report what is definitely occurring. Taking a look at reporting as filling air time or having to should say one thing when the digicam is on you isn’t the job. The job is to get info to the viewers, and veteran sideline reporter Laura Okmin defined superbly learn how to deal with coaches that received’t converse or be interviewed in the course of the sport, blowing Thompson’s “Generally they received’t discuss to me!” protection proper out of the water.
Okmin has instructed me prior to now that she, and most sideline reporters, just do as a lot prep in the course of the week for the sport because the staff within the broadcast sales space. She pours over the identical stat sheets, sits in on the identical conferences, does the identical interviews. But she has to determine learn how to get huge quantities of details about, not simply the sport however the staff and its gamers, to an viewers, in an simply digestible format in lower than a minute. That could be a job that takes actual talent, dedication and hustle. By means of exposition, please take pleasure in this video of ESPN’s Molly McGrath completely hauling ass (in heels) to get the post-game interview:
“However so what? We by no means get any information from sideline reporters anyway. Who cares?” Such was the chorus from a sure faction of the fanbase following Thompson’s feedback. I’m unsure learn how to clarify to those that reporters mendacity to the general public is one thing they need to care about, however right here we’re. Secondly, you want solely assume again to Kaylie Hartung’s reporting on Joe Burrow’s season-ending damage on Thursday night time or Lisa Salters on the sphere throughout Damar Hamlin’s collapse on nationwide tv to know that’s not true.
Thompson justifying her pretend reporting by claiming that “nobody will get mad at me” for it’s so revealing of how she views sports activities journalism that she ought to most likely lose her job over it. How can anybody belief any info she imparts to the viewers once more? A journalist’s job is to not stay within the good graces of these she covers, particularly not NFL head coaches and gamers, although I’ll acknowledge the incestuous relationship between professional sports activities and broadcast “companions” as of late. However the truth that Thompson appears to assume the first drawback with making up false experiences is a coach being mad at her is revelatory.
I’m not going to take us down the street of “broadcasters” versus “journalists.” Everyone knows that sports activities media way back made the calculation that ladies on the airwaves should be engaging, along with working twice as exhausting as their male counterparts to be taken severely, and that dedication has led to lots of people who don’t essentially care concerning the ethics of reporting stepping into the sphere. It’s clear that ladies in sports activities media nonetheless should work more durable than their male colleagues so as even get a foot within the door, a lot much less a main position in an NFL broadcast. Thompson popping out and admitting how unseriously she takes her job, a job 1000’s of girls would kill to have, looks like a slap within the face to each single girl working in sports activities media — from highschool sports activities to the professionals, it doesn’t matter what medium they work in.
There’s a conflict on journalists taking place throughout our nation and all over the world. To this point in 2023, 60 journalists have been killed on the job. T-shirts advocating the killing of journalists are in mainstream circulation and accessible for buy as we converse. Elon Musk, the proprietor of X, has often denigrated precise journalists and promoted “citizen journalism,” which isn’t fact-checked, sourced, edited, or corroborated. A big portion of the American public thinks journalists lie and make up info, though anybody who has labored for a reputable outlet will inform you shouldn’t be true. Sure, the media does get tales unsuitable every now and then. However failure and fabrication usually are not the identical issues. Charissa Thompson simply gave all those that imagine journalists are liars and fabulists a complete podcast to hold their hats on.
So right here’s to the Laura Okmins, Suzy Kolbers, and Tracy Wolfsons. Right here’s to the Pam Olivers and Andrea Kremers and Lesley Vissers. Right here’s to the Lisa Salters and Kristina Pinks and Molly McGraths, the Kaylee Hartungs, Karthryn Tappens, and Melissa Starks. To all the ladies working in sports activities media who do their (too usually thankless) jobs with integrity and tenacity and poise — thanks.
