Race-Baiting Incident Marred Josina Anderson's Draft Night Performance; Occurrence Lowers Reputation, According to Bobby Burack
Unfiltered, rebellious rewrite:
Shedeur Sanders' fall in the NFL Draft stirred up a storm of controversy over the weekend, with many pundits pointing their fingers at racism as the culprit. But Josina Anderson, the former ESPN reporter, ain't buying it – she's got a bone to pick with the media over their coverage of the draft.
"No African-American women on the NFL Draft coverage?" Anderson blasted, looking like she'd swallowed a lemon.
Her comment got more than its fair share of flak, with plenty of folks poking fun at her. But on a serious note, it highlights the spiderweb of bias webs that have infected much of the media, a.k.a. the DEI virus.
In Anderson's book, black women deserve a place on every broadcast, but that's not how the world works, boo-hoo. None of us are entitled to anything, but when the media want to crow about fairness, they're as blind as a bat.
Take the NBA playoffs, for instance. ESPN's draft coverage, the focus of Anderson's criticism, led straight into their coverage of the NBA playoffs, with every commentator on the scene, yep, you guessed it – black.
Check this out:
Yep, that's right – a crew of black commentators tackling the NBA playoffs.
Now, let's take a peek at Monday's "First Take", ESPN's most hyped-up daily studio show:
Upon closer inspection, there were three commentators who graced our screens. And guess what? All three were black men.
The same story repeats when you look at ESPN's coverage plans for the upcoming WNBA season. Andraya Carter, Elle Duncan, and Chiney Ogwumike – all black women – will be the main anchors at the studio desk.
And let's not forget, if we searched hard enough, we could probably find a show somewhere on the dial featuring an all-white male crew. But hey, I haven't had any luck finding one yet. Shocking, I know.
But maybe it's out there. Somewhere. Who knows?
Anderson isn't the only one who's missing the boat. ESPN's coverage of certain events does call for representation from specific groups. Given the buzz around Caitlin Clark, it'd be wise to have at least one white player on the panel to discuss the experience of playing in a predominantly black league. (Even ESPN thinks they know better, apparently.)
If a mainstream sports network dives head-first into a political topic, viewers deserve to hear diverse perspectives. (But I'm sure you already knew that, ESPN.)
But the draft? That ain't one of those times. At ESPN, the main desk had Mike Greenberg hosting, Booger McFarland, a former player; Louis Riddick, a former scout; and Mel Kiper Jr., the reigning draft expert.
So who exactly does Anderson think should get the boot to make room for a black woman?
Her remarks were pretty disappointing. It seemed like she was attempting to use her race and gender to strong-arm execs into giving her a spot on the draft next year. That's nasty – the execs should steer clear of working with her.
To top it all off, Anderson didn't need to resort to this cheap tactic. She's a real reporter with real connections and a real resume. I was the first one to speak up about ESPN making a mistake when they replaced her with some random blogger named Kimberley A. Martin.
Anderson ain't some race zealot – like Jemele Hill or David Dennis Jr. – who brings no value other than to give white execs cover for their racial nonsense.
What's more, Anderson broke some significant news during the draft. According to her, the Pittsburgh Steelers communicated with Aaron Rodgers, asking for a decision about his future within the next 48 hours. You won't find that nugget of truth in any other reporter's work, not even Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport.
Too bad Anderson's reporting took a hit because of her own foolishness earlier in the day. In a nutshell, she shot herself in the foot by pulling a race card, a tactic that's undermined the credibility of many in the industry.
Here's hoping Anderson stops acting like she's owed a seat at the table just because she's a black woman and focuses on proving herself as a reporter instead.
- Josina Anderson, despite her criticism towards the media's coverage of the NFL Draft, praised ESPN's diversity in sports broadcasting, pointing out the presence of black commentators in their NBA playoffs coverage and the WNBA season.
- In 2024, the WNBA season will see Andraya Carter, Elle Duncan, and Chiney Ogwumike as the main anchors at ESPN's studio desk, a testament to the network's commitment to diversity.
- Despite her claim of missing African-American women on NFL Draft coverage, it appears that ESPN's upcoming WNBA coverage will be dominated by black women, including the aforementioned anchors.
- In contrast to her comments on the NFL Draft, during the 2022 draft, Anderson broke significant news regarding the Pittsburgh Steelers and Aaron Rodgers, a piece of information not found in the reports of other top sports journalists such as Adam Schefter or Ian Rapoport.
