The first week of November was an unprecedented one in college sports. Penn State endured the brunt of media attention in what is one of the worst scandals in college sports history. First on the scene was ESPN, the so-called “Worldwide Leader in Sports.” From sending Tom Rinaldi and Mark Schwartz to State College for investigative journalism, to its coverage of the Penn State riots on the evening of Paterno’s firing, to the seemingly hundreds of analysts criticizing Joe Paterno and Penn State for “not doing enough” even if technically Paterno’s actions were legal, ESPN always threw the first punch.
To ESPN’s credit, the treatment of Joe Paterno and Penn State University was not unfair on the surface. Although there was a significant amount of sentiment from Penn State supporters about the breadth of coverage on the issue, it was a story involving the most recognizable coach in the country, a historical top 10 football program, and a scandal of all-time proportions. The network didn’t have much of a choice; it was a once-in-a-lifetime story (or so we initially thought), and the coverage and criticism of the university was in many ways warranted.
However, the network has been hypocritical in its coverage, treatment, and role in the Syracuse sex scandal involving former assistant coach Bernie Fine. The timeline of the scandal at Syracuse is as follows: Bernie Fine allegedly molested multiple boys throughout his 35 years as a Syracuse assistant. Only one victim, Bobby Davis, took steps to address and report the issue, and did so to the local police in Syracuse in 2002. The police wrongly informed him that the statute of limitations, meaning how long after the action took place that the alleged abuse could be reported, had already passed. Davis then took the tape to the Post-Standard in Syracuse, and it did nothing as well because it was only one source and was uncorroborated. Davis finally took the tape to ESPN, at which point the network chose to not report the issue over the air or to the police, and simply held on to it for 8 years.
ESPN should have reported this issue to the police when it received the tape. Legally, the network did nothing wrong by not going to a higher authority. Boy, does that sound familiar. For two weeks, the network and its analysts took countless shots at Penn State for what it legally did not do but still should have done. And those people were right! Penn State should have done more than was legally expected, but now the shoe is on the other foot. Now ESPN is the entity that should have done more. ESPN should have realized the gravity of the situation, and should have realized that the innocence and future of children were at stake.
Many supporters of ESPN have argued that it wasn’t the place of ESPN to report such an issue. Its job is to report and document the most important sports stories, and therefore this story wasn’t fit for publication. That’s fine. This is not an argument for publishing or not publishing a story. If ESPN doesn’t think it has enough evidence to be sure of the validity of the story before essentially ruining Bernie Fine’s life, then I respect that restraint. This is an argument for turning materials over to the police, and it again returns to the comparison to Penn State. Did ESPN do everything it morally should have, as Penn State didn’t? Didn’t ESPN have at least enough evidence to further pursue a grave issue, but chose against it, as the network ripped Penn State for doing? If the network truly believed what it preached for two weeks against Penn State, then it would have treated the Syracuse issue quite differently when it received the tape 8 years ago.
An argument in favor of ESPN has been that its reputation could have been tarnished if it was reported to the police, but then the allegations proved to be false. My response: “How so?” ESPN could have turned the tape over to the police and instructed the police not to reveal the source of the tape during the investigation. Then, the only point at which ESPN’s name would be revealed would be in a Grand Jury Investigation similar to that of the Sandusky trial. If the Syracuse case made it all the way to a Grand Jury Trial, there would have been significantly more implicative evidence found beyond just the tape. And to repeat, this point in the investigation would be the first time that ESPN’s name would need to be revealed. Would anyone objectively assess all the atrocities that occurred, see that ESPN provided the initial evidence against Fine, and as a result be angry or disappointed in ESPN? Would anyone distrust ESPN in the future for reporting an extremely explicit tape to the police? Of course not. ESPN would be celebrated for reporting evidence of child molestation to the police, as any news agency would, and its Public Relations would skyrocket. The argument that ESPN would have taken a PR hit for turning over the tape to the police is unfounded and illogical.
In the midst of my criticism of ESPN, it is important to note that this is a criticism of the network itself, and not necessarily all individuals that work there. It is unclear how many people knew about the tape, in much the same way that the extent of the knowledge of Sandusky’s actions at Penn State is unclear. However, the investigative journalism department at ESPN, which has always had a very good reputation, should take a considerable hit as a whole. The fact that Mark Schwartz, who was on Syracuse’s campus this week, had to be the face of ESPN and answer questions about why the network did nothing with the tape is unfair. We don’t know if Mark Schwartz specifically retained the tape and kept it from police, or if more likely it was a network decision. That is why I criticize ESPN for allowing its analysts to continue to criticize Paterno for two weeks. Someone at ESPN knew that the network had an explicit phone conversation indicating sexual abuse, and that same person knew that the network never did anything with that tape. Allowing ESPN personalities to bash Joe Paterno and Penn State without limitation for what the university didn’t do opens up the network to being seen as hypocritical when the Syracuse issue eventually comes forward, and that is exactly what happened.
ESPN may be the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” but it clearly didn’t handle itself well or with any consistency in the past two weeks. Someone in the network knew that, while Colin Cowherd and Mark May were engaging in diatribes against Penn State for its lack of awareness, ESPN had done the same thing 8 years ago with the Syracuse situation, with arguably more potential to do something about it. Before the network turned its microphones on and criticized Joe Paterno and Penn State, it should have opened up its archives to find the misplaced and forgotten Bobby Davis tape, and then looked itself in the mirror.
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great article bobby