If you answered anything other than, "a gossip column," you're either an editor for ESPN or an idiot
And so we are treated to another chapter in the LeBron James saga of media saturation. A column goes up and comes down in the course of ten hours, only to later to blow up online as another example of rampant ethical miscues that have plagued the worldwide leader since The Decision
By all accounts, Arash Markazi did exactly what he told his editors at ESPN-LA he was going to do. He went to the Tao nightclub in the Venetian hotel and casino and spent the night in the company of King James and his army. Markazi, by all accounts, has a great deal of access across Las Vegas
The article in question is fairly innocuous by NBA nightlife standards. Star and entourage take up residence in VIP section of nightclub, star surrounded by legions of bodyguards and yes men, and star catered to all night by nightclub staff. The only controversy outside of James beating Lamar Odom in a dance off (I would have thought spending that much time with the Kardashians would have him better prepared) is a one off remark from James about his preference for panty-less women acrobats, an almost universal sentiment held by twenty-five year old men I can assure you.
The article, seemingly edited and formatted for print, was down almost before it was able to be swept up by the summer's growing fascination for all things James and media conspiracy theories. However, in pulling the article, ESPN opened itself up for a great deal more criticism than it would have received had it just let another irrelevant "after hours" piece run on one of its local affiliates. Some in the sports blogosphere would have picked up on it, but most would have shaken the article off as another superficial glimpse into the life of a celebrity athlete who has the fame and resources to live like many of us sometimes dream we could.
Why did ESPN pull it? Editor Rob King cited Markazi's failure to, "identify himself as a reporter or clearly state his intentions to write a story." That certainly hasn't stopped many of the great journalists of the past (not to say Markazi's piece even belongs in the same universe as the work of Talese). And it seems likely that Markazi, while not explicitly stating his intention to write a story, was probably not purposely vague or deceitful when speaking with James' crew about his background, and his being well known around town further casts doubt on his ability to go undercover.
So what is the problem with all of this? It isn't necessarily ESPN's on-again-off-again relationship with journalistic ethics, since it is becoming widely known that ESPN has painted itself into a corner as both a news source and a entertainment provider. And since ESPN has spent the summer cozying up to James, any questionable move is bound to end up, and rightfully so, the topic of the day on Deadspin or The Big Lead.
The real problem, in my mind at least, is that ESPN wants to punish a writer for doing exactly what they sent him out to do. Markazi went to Las Vegas to spend the night partying with LeBron and write about what he saw. When he returns with a predictable piece about fame and excess and what it is like to be the most wealthy and popular twenty-five year old on the planet set loose in the kind of town where even a unpopular, poor twenty-five year old can find himself in any number of questionable situations, the editors feign surprise and ax the story.
ESPN is having enough trouble juggling the dual responsibilities of being the worlds largest sports news source as well as the worlds largest sports entertainment provider. To try to juggle worlds biggest sports gossip provider as well is a recipe for disaster that is compounded when a case of cold feet gets a questionable story yanked.
A friend of mine, after reading the piece in question, asked me what the big deal was. I didn't really have an answer. There is nothing in Markazi's piece that we haven't heard 100 different times from TMZ or the New York Post. The only really interesting bits are the reaction that other NBA players had to the spectacle, a simple shake of the head. Perhaps Chuck Klosterman said it best in a tweet yesterday, "For 3 weeks, people whine about seeing too much LeBron coverage. Except when ESPN spikes a story about him. Then it becomes essential news."
For almost thirty years the people at ESPN have known exactly what they were doing, and executed the plan so effectively that ESPN has become the unquestioned leader in sports coverage. It seems to me there are two ways to go: ESPN gets its act together after a regrettable stretch of poor judgement, or we all see just how hard it is to be the top dog when you want to have your cake and eat it too.
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