Food for Thought

Unless you're really obsessive about sports media, you may be unaware of Le Anne Schreiber, who serves as ESPN's ombudsman. She's sort of like a reader's representative who works on the inside, trying to the keep the World Wide Leader in check. Something stood out to me in her latest column as she wrote about the O.J. Mayo story that aired on the network's "Outside the Lines":

It was a breakthrough report, impeccably researched, and it is likely to provoke further inquiry into the too-cozy relationship between NCAA basketball programs and the rogue agents chomping to get an early hold on players expected to reap hefty pro contracts after they reach the NBA-mandated age requirement.

No complaints here. The report appears to be exemplary journalism.

Then she addressed an interview with Miguel Tejada that led to the MLB star walking out with the cameras rolling:

Many viewers also took it hard, objecting not to ESPN's uncovering the lie, but to the way it was exposed in a face-to-face interview, with cameras rolling as Tejada, after being asked to state his age, was presented with a birth certificate from the Dominican Republic proving he was two years older than he had just claimed. "Can't you ...?" asked a flustered Tejada, looking at the camera and making a scissors gesture with his fingers. When the questions kept coming, he disentangled himself from the microphone wires and walked out of the interview.

Viewers who wrote me called the interview "sleazy," "sneaky" and "distasteful."

ESPN also approached Mayo with the cameras rolling -- as he walked out of his final news conference as a Trojan. The two situations aren't identical: Mayo is famously difficult to contact and ESPN did not make that a centerpiece of its report. Still, ESPN had Mayo's cellphone number (it was on that bill apparently paid for by Rodney Guillory) and I wonder how much of an effort was made to allow him to respond before the report aired. Mayo has repeatedly said he was surprised by the allegations; ESPN said he declined to comment before the airing of the show.

This isn't to say anything was done incorrectly. I just wanted to point out that this profession isn't always as easy as reporting scores and records. Like the title says ... food for thought.