ESPN editor Anthony Federico shouldn't have been fired, and anchor Max Bretos shouldn't have been suspended.
The ESPN editor was responsible for the headline that appeared online after the Feb. 17 Knicks-Hornets game. It read "Chink in the Armor" and referred to recent sensation Jeremy Lin, an American-born guard for the Knicks of Chinese descent.
The headline was put on the ESPN website at about 2:30 a.m. and was taken down 30 minutes later.
Federico, who had been working for ESPN for six years after starting there as an intern, made an honest mistake late in the night and sent an unfortunately worded headline onto the Internet. It was taken down almost as quickly as it went up, but the damage was done.
But what damage? Who was hurt? Jeremy Lin? ESPN? The only person damaged by this mistake was Federico, and that could have been easily avoided.
The "victim" of this atrociously vicious attack by Federico, Jeremy Lin, said he didn't think it was intentional.
"I don't think it was on purpose," Lin said. "At the same time, they've apologized. I don't care anymore."
ESPN didn't lose any credibility with this error. They're just as strong today as they were last week, and no one is going to stop frequenting their site or their TV channel because of this event.
We feel ESPN threw an employee under a bus they thought was coming, but never arrived. It would have been more appropriate to punish Federico--suspend him, garnish his wages, give him a spanking, whatever--apologize and then learn from it. ESPN should put on their big-boy pants, conjure some integrity and not cut staff in an attempt to deflect criticism.
ESPN knew they were going to take their licks from the public. They knew they would be the punchline of a wealth of jokes, but every organization screws up. The Plainsman makes errors we regret, but we don't fire staff for mistakes that will inevitably be made.
Sure, the media went through the motions they have whenever anyone is accused of being racist--a weekly occurence these days. Important people came on TV and feigned outrage over the headline. Anchors praddled on, talk show hosts sipped coffee and talked about intolerance, but at the end of the day, people--most importantly Jeremy Lin--just didn't care.
Was it racist? That depends on whether you think intent matters when determining fault, or only perception. We feel both matter. We can't ignore the perceptions of those who view the headline, but we also can't assume the worst and punish a person without giving it serious thought. The headline could be taken as racist, but it's also a popular phrase that could have been used innocently.
Federico made a serious mistake, but an honest one.
Federico claims he's used the headline innocently many times before. While we can't know his intentions, we're willing to give him the benefit of the doubt--as ESPN should have.
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