Jay Mariotti Scandal - The Problem at ESPN: Employees with Dirty Laundry
ESPN is one of America’s leading sports networks and is known for delivering the best sports content. It is watched by a huge number of fans and is extremely popular. It is the pinnacle of sports reporting in the country and its hosts and reporters have become national celebrities. However, an interesting thing about the network is the fact that a lot of the hosts and contributors on the show have in the past been reportedly arrested, suspended, accused of doing dodgy things and not being upstanding citizens. The latest case involves Jay Mariotti, who is an outspoken presenter on ESPN. He was arrested following claims of domestic abuse on his girlfriend. He follows in a long line of people connected with the show to fall prey to the law.
ESPN, or to give it its full title, Entertainment Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network specialising in sports programmes. It was launched in 1979 by father and son duo Bill and Scott Rasmussen. The network’s signature programme is SportsCenter, which, according to Wikipedia, is the most popular sports show in the country. Other popular shows on the network are Around the Horn, Jim Rome is Burning, Outside the Lines, SportsNation, and PTI. ESPN also produces sports documentaries and original programmes for its viewers.
For some reason, ESPN has had more than its share of dodgy employees who seem to get into a lot of trouble. Sexual harassment is a big issue for the network and it could be that sports presenters start to think of themselves as famous sports stars and start to get fresh with the female employees of the company. An ESPN presenter named Mike Tirico was suspended for three months in 1992 following allegations that he groped a female co-worker and made sexual advances against another. He recovered from the scandal, though, to return and become a leading presenter for the network. A leading baseball analyst for the network, Steve Phillips, was fired from the company for having an affair with a 22 year old production assistant. The affair was revealed a few weeks after him and his wife had filed for divorce. The analyst was only suspended initially over the incident, but due to the media storm that was created, he was eventually fired. Yet another employee of the company, a leading NFL analyst, Sean Salisbury, left the company in 2008. He mentioned at the time that it was because of disagreements with the company that he could not continue there. It was later revealed that he had taken pictures of his private parts and shown them to female colleagues. His career never recovered and he now reportedly works on some obscure channel covering lingerie football matches. This is a very odd thing to happen to the network that so many of its employees get fired or suspended for sexual harassment. There seems to be a lot of pent up frustration at the place.
One of the worst offenses to take place to someone that worked at ESPN was when Jay Mariotti was arrested a few days ago. He was charged with assaulting his girlfriend and because this was a felony charge, it was the worst incident of its kind to happen to the network. Even though Mariotti was released on $50,000 bail, he is still due in court and his career at ESPN is in jeopardy. It is not known whether the company will fire him, but they really should if they want to maintain a sense of professionalism amongst their employees. Mariotti was known for his outspoken nature and his fiery temper and it got the better of him and he apparently unloaded on his partner. The network should really take a strong stand with the disgraced presenter and make an example out of him.
ESPN really needs to get itself sorted and purge the dodgy elements that plague it at the moment. The problem has been that often when someone has been accused of sexual harassment, they are suspended and then rehired by the company. That little slap on the wrist makes it seem that people at the company can get away with anything. The company needs to put its house in order and then it will retain its place as the best sports entertainment network in America.
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