Throughout its history, ESPN and its sister networks have been the targets of criticism[1] for programming choices, biased coverage,[2] conflict of interest, and controversies with individual broadcasters and analysts.[3][4] Additionally, ESPN has been criticized for focusing too much on the Dallas Cowboys, LeBron James,[5][6][7][8] Los Angeles and New York teams in general (particularly the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees), Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge, Lionel Messi, basketball and American football and very little on other sports such as the National Hockey League[9][10] (NHL) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Other criticism has focused on issues of race and ethnicity in ESPN's varying mediated forms, as well as carriage fees and issues regarding the exportation of ESPN content.[11]
Some critics argue that ESPN's success is their ability to provide other enterprise and investigative sports news while competing with other hard sports-news-producing outlets such as Yahoo! Sports and Fox Sports. Some scholars have challenged ESPN's journalistic integrity calling for an expanded standard of professionalism to prevent biased coverage and conflicts of interest.[12] Mike Freeman's 2001 book ESPN: The Uncensored History,[13] which alleged sexual harassment, drug use and gambling, was the first critical study of ESPN. And then in 2011, a detailed oral history[14] about ESPN by James Andrew Miller and Tom Shales called Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN[15][16][17][18] was released.
- ^ "Behind the Scene Scandals That Took Place At ESPN". Hooch.net. October 20, 2016.
- ^ "Was Knicks Game 7 fanfest a new low for ESPN's NBA Countdown?". Awful Announcing. May 19, 2024. Retrieved June 18, 2024.
- ^ Freeman, Michael (December 11, 2001). ESPN: The Uncensored History. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-0878332700.
- ^ Furdyk, Brent (March 31, 2024). "The Shady Side Of ESPN". Nicki Swift. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
- ^ Salao, Colin (May 23, 2023). "ESPN is Receiving Heavy Criticism for Its NBA Playoffs Coverage". TheStreet.com. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ Pantuosco, Jesse (May 23, 2023). "ESPN showed Nuggets celebration for all of four seconds before panning to LeBron". Awful Announcing. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
- ^ Contes, Brandon (May 24, 2023). "Charles Barkley rips ESPN's LeBron James-Los Angeles Lakers favoritism". Awful Announcing. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ Contes, Brandon (May 27, 2023). "Charles Barkley 'disappointed' LeBron used the 'fools on ESPN' to overshadow Nuggets". Awful Announcing. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
- ^ Axelrod, Ben (June 20, 2024). "Why are ESPN's morning shows ignoring Stanley Cup Final?". Awful Announcing. Retrieved June 21, 2024.
- ^ Contes, Brandon (August 30, 2024). "ESPN's 'First Take' never mentioned Johnny Gaudreau's death". Awful Announcing. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
- ^ Earnheardt, Adam C. (July 17, 2015). "Chapter 20 Afterword: Challenging the Worldwide Leader in Sports". In McGuire, John; Armfield, Greg; Earnheardt, Adam C. (eds.). The ESPN Effect: Exploring the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Peter Lang. pp. 265–270. ISBN 978-1433126000.
- ^ Oates, T. P.; Pauly, J. (2007). "Sports journalism as moral and ethical discourse". Journal of Mass Media Ethics. 22 (4): 332–347. doi:10.1080/08900520701583628. S2CID 143559022.
- ^ Freeman, Martin (2001). ESPN: The Uncensored History. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780878332700.
- ^ Weiss, Will (June 7, 2011). "Bronx Banter Book Review: The ESPN Book". Bronx Banter. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
- ^ Shales, Miller, Tom, James Andrew (May 24, 2011). Those Guys Have All the Fun: Inside the World of ESPN. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316125765.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Yoder, Matt (May 26, 2011). "Those Guys Have All The Fun Book Review". Awful Announcing.
- ^ Lewis, Andy (May 25, 2011). "'Those Guys Have All the Fun:' Book Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Brownfeld, Paul (May 27, 2011). "Book review: 'ESPN: Those Guys Have All the Fun'". Los Angeles Times.