I like Erin Andrews. No pun intended … but, for one thing, she is someone’s daughter. In fact, I believe her dad was a long-time news anchor in Tampa. I met Erin a few years ago at a fundraising luncheon for the Broadcasters Foundation of America in Naples, FL. And while I’m not at all that familiar with her work as a sideline reporter or sports analyst, I am very concerned – and more than a little uneasy – when someone in our tribe utilizes the same coercive tactics that have been used so many times against our profession to stifle or impede free expression.
David Fields and his legendary (and generous) father Joe Fields are highly respected broadcasters and it should be left to them – and ultimately to their Entercom listeners – to reign in, tone down or moderate any excessive rhetoric by Kirk Minihane and his colleagues at WEEI.
But our friends at Fox Sports should not be in the job of censorship through coercion by economic pressure.
It’s commendable that Fox Sports would stand up and support one of its own. But they – of all people – should not be in the economic boycott game.
–William O’Shaughnessy, a former president of the New York State Broadcasters Association, was chairman of Public Affairs for the National Association of Broadcasters in Washington. He has been a point man and advocate for the broadcasters of America on First Amendment and Free Speech issues, and is presently chairman of the Guardian Fund of the Broadcasters Foundation of America. He operates two of the last independent stations in the New York area: WVOX and WVIP.
The article was concern with “to stifle or impede free expression”. When did it become part of journalism to think calling a woman a dirty name and showing so much HATE become the norm? Guess that station is use to pushing the envelope that it took having the advertising taken away for them to decide they need to clean up their act. They forget the men whose show it is had a hand in it cause they had words of their own to egg him on. No one stopped them using free expression but with that comes a lesson they should have learned when a child during time outs. Say what you want but now it’s time to pay the piper! Love that Fox had enough and took up for Erin Andrews! Anger management seems to be needed or they need to find a new profession.
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