ESPN staffer says colleague got NBA assignment because she is black

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Steve Timko

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Jul 4, 2021, 4:47:40 PM7/4/21
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Kevin M.

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Jul 4, 2021, 6:06:02 PM7/4/21
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Rachel Nichols has already blown through two other careers (I actually liked “Continuum“) before becoming a sports commentator… she’s got more lives than a cat. I won’t dispute that what she said was poorly worded and wrong, but I suspect her intention was to state that ESPN has a diversity problem, and that for them to choose a token black woman over one of the handful of token white women doesn’t fix the underlying problem. So I suspect the intent was accurate, but the words chosen to express that intention were not the words she’d have chosen in public. That’s not me defending her, her words ought to be dealt with, but this one doesn’t seem to be on the scale of other open mic gaffes.

On Sun, Jul 4, 2021 at 1:47 PM Steve Timko <steve...@gmail.com> wrote:
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PGage

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Jul 4, 2021, 6:06:57 PM7/4/21
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So, this is a complex story, and reasonable people can interpret it differently. But I don’t think it is accurate to say Nichols leaked the audio accidentally. Last year she was talking on her phone in her hotel room in the NBA “Bubble” and apparently did not turn off the in room feed to ESPN that she used to file her reports. Someone at ESPN recorded it and sent it around to other employees, without her consent or knowledge. 

We have known parts of this story since last year - Deadspin framed it much differently. If interested, I suggest reading both today’s NYT story, and the original Deadspin story, both linked below. 

I have a couple of points about all of this:

1. ESPN Management sucks. Nothing new, but yet more confirmation

2. There are calls within and outside of ESPN to somehow discipline Nichols - this seems totally unwarranted. In the end I disagree with Nichols, but she was basically venting about losing a plum assignment, in a private, personal phone call. I can see why Taylor is pissed, but Nichols did not say that Black people don't deserve top jobs, nor did she say Taylor didn’t deserve better jobs. She simply said Taylor did not deserve the job that Nichols that she deserved more, and attributed her getting it to ESPN’s problems with race in the white heat of the NBA Bubble during the height of the George Floyd triggered Reckoning.

3. I do get why African Americans in and out of ESPN are so outraged - the “they only got the promotion because they’re Black” card is played routinely by white employees trying to leverage their privilege to get or keep the best jobs. I’m sure Taylor feels the way many Black employees feel when they find a white colleague who mouths the liberal platitudes of a putative ally to their face is in private, and to powerful others, saying something potentially damaging. Dont sit next to her in the Staff break room if you like, but using this to try to get her fired is inappropriate and distracting from the actual social justice issues involved. Taylor won the competition for that job - take the win and build on it. (And BTW, she has done a good job in that role the last year - I hate almost everyone else on the show besides her).

3. Both of these women are good at their jobs, but Nichols has more seniority, and I can see why she would think she deserved it. However, while I don’t think anybody should get a job just because of their identify - it would be silly to say identity should never play a role. In a game dominated by African Americans, followed intensely by African Americans, during a time of social unrest which was directly and profoundly effecting African Americans, and which for a time genuinely raised questions about whether the playoffs would actually be completed, it is not only *not* “political correctness”, but exceedingly reasonable, that if two employees are even closely equally qualified for the job, ESPN consider making the African American the Host of the coverage.

4. What I find more potentially scandalous about the incident is not what Nichols said, but the fact that as a top ESPN NBA reporter she apparently has the kind of relationship with the advisors and agents of top players that she uses them to process her personal employment conflicts with. If we heard Maggie Habberman running to Steve Bannon in 2017 because she was pissed she did not get a key assignment at the NYT, that would probably be a story in itself.



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Jim Ellwanger

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Jul 4, 2021, 6:14:44 PM7/4/21
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ESPN’s Rachel Nichols is not the same Rachel Nichols who starred on “Continuum.” (On Wikipedia, they are “Rachel Nichols (journalist)” and “Rachel Nichols (actress),” respectively.)


David Bruggeman

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Jul 4, 2021, 6:48:25 PM7/4/21
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The confusion between the two was even greater when actress Nichols had a few roles with a hair color much closer to that of commentator Nichols than actress Nichols' usual blond.

Not sure I've written a more tortured sentence than that one.

David

Kevin M.

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Jul 4, 2021, 7:17:22 PM7/4/21
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A Tale of Two Nichols

My bad.

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John Edwards

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Jul 5, 2021, 12:26:06 AM7/5/21
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This version wasn't leaked by Nichols. It appears the Times is working with the full version that was downloaded by an ESPN employee.

Nichols might, however, have leaked a version of the story to (the new and definitely not improved) Deadspin last year, as their story was super-friendly to her, focusing on the fact that the video existed and was passed around ESPN, rather than what she and the other person said.

I suspect that the NYT story might explain why details of Taylor's contract negotiations were leaked to the NY Post (presumably by ESPN management) and may be part of why those negotiations don't seem to have gone anywhere.

And, yes, PGage is right, if it came out that Jim Acosta vented to Jen Psaki about CNN assignments and other assorted palace intrigue, it would be a huge scandal. In sports, it just gets a shrug.

John


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PGage

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Jul 5, 2021, 1:32:23 AM7/5/21
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Almost certainly you are right (which is why I linked both articles); Not so much on leaking the recording (people close to Nichols apparently tried to leak to Deadspin last year, presumably not knowing a new wind was blowing there - Deadspin was cozy with people close to Nichols, and spun it her way. Taylor’s people may have leaked more of the recording to the NYT, but certainly served as OTR sources, and the Times story spun her way.

Brad Beam

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Jul 5, 2021, 3:30:14 PM7/5/21
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From: tvor...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tvor...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Kevin M.

>A Tale of Two Nichols

JW

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Jul 6, 2021, 1:31:14 AM7/6/21
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PGage

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Jul 6, 2021, 9:10:19 AM7/6/21
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Mariotti’s take is the problem, not the solution:

1. Pitting ethnic minorities against women or each other in the competition for scarce resources is an old trick, and just what the White Men who run sports broadcasting want.

2. Both of these women are good at their jobs, but the job in question is not primarily being an investigative reporter. Pretending that somehow Nichols is objectively better than Taylor, and would get the job if merit were the only consideration, is exactly what male reporters would have said about Nichols 20 years ago.

3. Nichols may be well connected among the agents and managers of star players (as we now have recorded evidence for) but Taylor is well connected among the actual players. As we know, the tension between access and objectivity is a real problem for all reporters, but there is something unseemly about making Nichols seemingly inappropriately close connections to the powerful men behind the players the backbone of the argument that she is the better journalist.

4. I long for higher journalistic standards at ESPN, but let’s not kid ourselves (or, more importantly, allow Mariotti to blow smoke up our asses): the job in question (Hosting NBA pre-game and halftime coverage) is not even on the pretend side of ESPN’s fictive journalism firewall. The host of these shows is the face of the network coverage (coverage the network has paid more than a billion $ for, not earned with journalistic shoe leather). Their job is to connect with the public and bring some sanity and coherence to the chaotic zoo that increasingly is encouraged around them. 

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PGage

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Jul 6, 2021, 9:23:45 AM7/6/21
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David Bruggeman

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Jul 6, 2021, 9:37:23 AM7/6/21
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I also find it difficult to believe that Mariotti doesn't still have an axe to grind, his explanations (even if they are 100 percent accurate) to the contrary.

David

PGage

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Jul 6, 2021, 5:41:37 PM7/6/21
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Nichols taken off NBA Finals duty.

As I said originally, I don’t think this is warranted as a punishment. However, I can see how having her there is untenable given how the majority of the on air cast is likely to feel about her. 



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Kevin M.

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Jul 6, 2021, 5:45:15 PM7/6/21
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I suspect, should she choose to do so, their decision is actionable and she could sue. But we all know that more often than not the female broadcaster who sues will likely not work in broadcasting again, regardless of any civil settlement or verdict. 

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PGage

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Jul 6, 2021, 6:44:14 PM7/6/21
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In America people can sue for almost anything, but I doubt she could really win. The management at ESPN has great discretion in making assignments, and they have been a lot more arbitrary that this with no consequence in the past.

Bob Jersey

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Jul 13, 2021, 7:58:05 PM7/13/21
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Jimmy Pitaro speaks: “I do want to be clear on one thing: Maria Taylor was selected as ‘NBA Countdown’ host last year because she earned it... Please know our commitment is that assignments and opportunities at ESPN are based on merit and any concerns, remarks, or inferences that suggest otherwise have been and will continue to be addressed.”


B

PGage, to Steve Timko, July 4th:

Tom Wolper

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Jul 14, 2021, 10:29:58 AM7/14/21
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On Tue, Jul 13, 2021 at 7:58 PM 'Bob Jersey' via TVorNotTV <tvor...@googlegroups.com> wrote:
Jimmy Pitaro speaks: “I do want to be clear on one thing: Maria Taylor was selected as ‘NBA Countdown’ host last year because she earned it... Please know our commitment is that assignments and opportunities at ESPN are based on merit and any concerns, remarks, or inferences that suggest otherwise have been and will continue to be addressed.”


Yeah, that's what he'd say whether it's true or not.

PGage

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Jul 14, 2021, 10:55:42 AM7/14/21
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I think it is true that she earned it. She is good at her job.

The myth is that anyone ever gets a job on merit alone. First, merit is complex and difficult to quantify, and second once candidates reach a minimum level of technical competence, other factors often become as or more important. This happens all the time, in most industries. 

Both of these women are more than qualified for the job, and when Pitaro says Taylor got it on merit he is clearly correct. He implies, but does not quite say, she got it on merit alone, and this is clearly not true (as it is not true in most cases).

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Tom Wolper

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Jul 14, 2021, 1:45:28 PM7/14/21
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On Wed, Jul 14, 2021 at 10:55 AM PGage <pga...@gmail.com> wrote:
I think it is true that she earned it. She is good at her job.

The myth is that anyone ever gets a job on merit alone. First, merit is complex and difficult to quantify, and second once candidates reach a minimum level of technical competence, other factors often become as or more important. This happens all the time, in most industries. 

Both of these women are more than qualified for the job, and when Pitaro says Taylor got it on merit he is clearly correct. He implies, but does not quite say, she got it on merit alone, and this is clearly not true (as it is not true in most cases).

There are a small number of these jobs and in this case there were two qualified candidates for one opening. Management has to choose one and the one not chosen is going to have hurt feelings (regardless of gender). If called to account for the decision, management is going to say exactly what Jimmy Pitaro said. The statement itself isn't really meaningful, it's what management has to say in that situation. I believe, though, that if it were a choice between two men for one job that Nichols video would not have leaked.

PGage

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Jul 21, 2021, 3:24:11 PM7/21/21
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As widely expected, ESPN announced this morning (less than 24 hours after the end to the thrilling NBA post-season) that Maria Taylor was leaving the network. Her contract expired yesterday.

Taylor is expected to announce soon that she will be joining NBC, and may wind up as host of the SNF pregame show (plus other assignments).  I don’t think many will assume she got that position just because she is Black.

As the linked article points out, this puts ESPN at a crossroads with its NBA coverage, with no obvious solution. It seems unlikely they can give the job to Rachel Nichols, whose complaints about being passed over for the job last year were recorded without her knowledge and later made public by unknown ESPN staffers. It is not even clear that Nichols can really return to her side line job, though I think I did hear her asking questions for ESPN at post game press conferences. 

Even before this I found ESPN’s pre and halftime NBA shows almost unwatchable (Taylor made them less bad, but still not good). Meanwhile, over at TNT, the ore and half time shows are often more interesting than the games they wrap around.

I have long felt that ESPN’s NBA problems stem from their institutional fear of staffers becoming more popular and important than the brand.  They will now choose between more relatively unknown folks for these shows, trying to challenge TNT with former superstars, or come up with a completely different approach.





Bob Jersey

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Jul 24, 2021, 3:44:38 PM7/24/21
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Taylor introduced during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, where "she will join Mike Tirico as host for Prime Plus, and will also serve as a correspondent."  https://nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com/2021/07/23/maria-taylor-joins-nbc-sports-makes-debut-at-tokyo-olympics/ (link; hat-tip Awful Announcing)     B

PGage, in part, July 21st:

PGage

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Jul 24, 2021, 8:43:34 PM7/24/21
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That was the rumor as to why she announced so quickly after the NBA Finals she was leaving, but there was some question if they would be able to work it out.

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Kevin M.

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Aug 25, 2021, 9:23:03 PM8/25/21
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Nichols’ series “The Jump” is axed, and she’s been pulled from NBA coverage.



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Steve Timko

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Jan 16, 2024, 9:02:37 PM1/16/24
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Nichols gives her side of the story.


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