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The element of ESPNs coverage that seems to stand out is its sensationalist approach. Many of the articles, discussing either recent sporting occurrences, future games, or overviewing analytical articles all seem to have the approach of making the news a sensation. While understandably clickbait headliners are commonplace in news media, ESPN uses them to an extreme. Perhaps the most memorable is some of the jargon it uses, some of it is popular in the sports genre but at times it attempts to capitalize on the slang of the younger audiences to draw attention. Some distasteful coverage was present in the form of articles addressing rumors or personal relationships or grievances between sports figures, largely based on assumptions and written to fuel feuds. ESPN does attempt to cover major sports, particularly the NFL, NBA, and MLB alongside some less popular sports and college sports in great detail, including all scores, statistics, shifts in teams, and coach/player/pundit commentary. However, in addition to this, it goes further into territory of sensationalism and some of the articles place it in the territory of yellow journalism, only aimed at the sports industry.
The positioning, coverage, and detail of the articles on ESPN is targeted at sports enthusiasts actively engaged in following their respective sports and other associated activities ranging from strategy to predictions to individual players. The coverage oftentimes goes beyond a basic overview of games, matches, or sports events, it is in-depth and analytical. This type and amount of detail is beneficial to those who are either significant fans of the sport or are engaged in activities related to it. This may include elements such as sports betting or fantasy leagues among others that require the tedious amount of details or strategic analysis, not only to describe a recent event, but to predict performance of teams and players for the future.
The sites coverage does seem fitting for the previously described audience. It is a sports news network which offers highly patriarchal, politically biased, and at times potentially conflicting coverage. Despite offering statistics and some objectivity, many of the articles seem to openly demonstrate bias and lack coverage for key events in female sports (Brady, 2017b). ESPN itself has also been involved in a number of disputes regarding its coverage practices and potential conflicts of interest, with the very same sports betting and fantasy league organizations (Brady, 2017a). In some way, it is reflective of the audience, the passionate, mostly male sports fan base which often engages in the activities of betting and fantasy league alongside typical cheering for their teams. There is little interaction on its website itself as articles do not offer comment sections, but in terms of journalistic integrity or promoting equality, the network does not respect the widespread sports audience that goes beyond the traditional young adult and middle-aged males.
References
Brady, J. (2017a). ESPN navigating uncharted political, social and controversial waters. ESPN. Web.Â
Brady, J. (2017a). ESPN shows progress, faces challenges, regarding women in sports. ESPN. Web.Â
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