Michael Bradley has an editorial at the National Sports Journalism Center titled Let’s hope media outlets remember what “E” in WWE means. The editorial is about ESPN’s seemingly sudden adoption of WrestleMania as a legitimate sports event deserving of their coverage. It’s also, to an extent, a reaction to Richard Deitsch’s Sports Illustrated article about how this all came about.
Bradley overall argument is that while it’s not out of line for ESPN to give WWE coverage, covering it like it’s a legitimate sporting event creates ethical issues if it was done solely to eye more eyeballs on the network and it’s related properties. In a key passage, he writes:
“Forging alliances with legitimate leagues is one thing. Trying to build an audience by making something that isn’t real sport seem more legitimate is far more cynical and potentially explosive. First comes the WWE. Then comes full highlights of the Globetrotters’ next game. After all, that team has fans all around the world.”
Bradley also adds that “It’s fun to talk about Lesnar and his fellow rasslers, but it’s not journalism.” It’s not clear if he means that it’s not clear if he means that it’s not sports journalism or that he feels pro wrestling coverage inherently can’t be journalism.
Source: WrestlingINC.com
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