ESPN cuts = loss for independent sports journalism
By Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times
The headline news, and deservedly so: Massive layoffs at ESPN, cost-cutting that cost the jobs of dozens of high-profile reporters and personalities.
Beneath the headline: ESPN is dropping “Baseball Tonight” except for Sundays and special events and adding MLB Network’s “Intentional Talk” to its daily ESPN2 lineup.
It’s another slippery step toward the loss of independent sports journalism: A league that ESPN ostensibly covers is now providing programming for ESPN.
