Corrupting High School Sports

I came across this article today, and felt I should share it on this blog.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1154208/index.htm

It outlines a “March Madness”-style tournament for High Schools that ESPN has organized called the ESPN RISE National High School Invitational.

The ever-increasing popularity of collegiate football and basketball has already made high school athletics recruiting a hot topic.

But what is unique about this case is that ESPN is the one pushing the impetus for the change this might bring to high school athletics.

Some high school coaches in the article are quoted as saying top basketball players are foregoing playing for run-of-the-mill school basketball teams so they can enter this newly established tournament on an “elite” team.

My concern would be the further de-emphasis we are putting on education for top athletes.

Some might argue that high school athletics lost their innocence a long time ago, perhaps when HS football games began to be sponsored and shown on ESPN. But I say there is certainly no time like the present to try to bring things back to a reasonable level.

What Does the E in ESPN Stand For?

If you are a regular watcher of ESPN, you are probably familiar with the “This is SportsCenter” commercials. They usually portray ESPN employees and professional sports stars working together inside the ESPN HQ in Bristol.

They are often very clever and funny. Below is an example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13IWM_QGIvw

I used to think these were harmless, entertaining commercials. But now I’m not so sure.

We learn in Media Ethics that journalists should aspire to be completely free of bias and to maintain independence from sources and subjects.

Now, I know these are commercials. But ESPN even pretending to put the people they cover in the same workplace with the anchors and reporters seems kind of strange. Or at least not like something a regular news journalism outlet would do.

Perhaps that’s why they are called the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.

Hello, and welcome to my Ethics in Sports Journalism Blog!

In this space, I will be commenting on the ethical state of sports journalism at least once a school week as part of my honors thesis for The Pennsylvania State University Schreyer Honors College.

My goal is to create a 20-30 minute radio documentary in the Spring of 2010. This blog will be a supplement and a way for me to gather my thoughts about various topics.

It may be that the ethics of sports journalism are in good shape. But there is also the possibility that the line between commentary and sports journalism is becoming blurred.

I hope to analyze what the industry might be able to improve.

Please visit often, feel free to comment, and enjoy the blog!