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Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

James Andrew Miller and Jim Trotter on Dan LeBatard and ESPN

Sports Media with Richard Deitsch

Audacy

News, Business News, Sports, Sports News

4.3 • 721 Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2019

⏱️ 68 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode 62 of the Sports Media Podcast with Richard Deitsch features two guests: First up is best-selling author and media writer James Andrew Miller, the host of the podcast, “Origins with James Andrew Miller. He is followed by longtime NFL writer Jim Trotter, who serves in a multitude of roles for NFL Network and NFL.com and previously worked at ESPN, Sports Illustrated and the San Diego Union-Tribune. In this podcast, Miller discusses ESPN Radio host Dan Le Batard’s criticism of President Donald Trump and Le Batard’s criticism of his own network  for not having “the stomach for the fight” when it comes to ESPN’s  coverage of issues of race unless “there is some sort of weak, cowardly sports angle that we can run it through;" where the line is for an opinionist in relation to ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro’s dicta that it is not ESPN job “to cover politics, purely” and what that even means; the reaction of employees and management inside and outside of ESPN to Le Batard’s comments; whether there is a difference between saying something on ESPN’s airwaves and personal social media feeds; whether ESPN’s social media policy can stand heading forward; what is likely next in this story, and more. Trotter discusses working at ESPN and discussing issues of race; how he viewed Le Batard’s comments from afar; his thoughts on whether there are any parallels to  Jemele Hill’s situation at ESPN; how he views ESPN’s social media policy and whether it is tenable; whether others at ESPN will head in the same direction as Le Batard, especially as we head toward an election year; why some issues are more important than policy; how sports has always been connected to race and politics; how he sees this will play out heading forward, and much more. You can subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, Radio.com and more. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Ladies and gentlemen, gentlemen, gentlemen.

0:06.0

Hey everybody, this is Richard Deich and welcome to the sports media podcast. My producers are Terrence Malgoin and Joe Inglebreck. Today we have two guests. First up is James Andrew Miller. He has been a guest on this podcast many times. Jim Miller is a best-selling

0:22.6

author, and for this podcast specifically, the best-selling author of the oral history of ESPN.

0:29.1

Jim Trotter, the fine and well-respected NFL writer now works for NFL Media, previously worked

0:36.5

at ESPN and Sports Illustrated.

0:39.3

And we will be discussing and we will be focused on what is going on in ESPN right now

0:44.0

regarding Dan Lebertart's comments about Donald Trump as well as ESPN.

0:51.1

And specific to Lebertar's comments about ESPN not having the stomach for the fight

0:58.7

in reference to where the line is between commentators discussing race, political issues,

1:06.2

social inequity, et cetera. So Jim Miller and I start with a discussion on this sort of,

1:13.7

from how this is playing inside ESPN, what might be happening heading forward. And then

1:19.9

Jim Trotter follows. And that's a discussion with a former ESPN employee who had to deal

1:25.5

with these social media guidelines. And it's also very, very close with Jamel Hill and Jim Trotter, for those you

1:32.1

who don't know, a person of color.

1:34.2

So this issue is something very, very important to him, given the comments that

1:40.6

Lebertard made.

1:41.6

I think you're going to enjoy this podcast.

1:45.7

And we tried to be sort of as honest as we can. I'm sure some of you will not. But those of you keep an open mind,

1:51.6

I think it's going to be interesting for you. So Jim Miller first and then Jim Trotter second.

1:56.3

Coming up on the sports media podcast.

2:01.8

All right, Jim Miller has been a guest on this podcast many, many times.

2:06.3

He is, of course, a multiple times, New York Times bestselling author.

...

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