ESPN reporter Erin Andrews poses during the 2009 ESPY awards held July 15 in Los Angeles.
The case of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews and the peephole video showing her naked in a hotel room has stirred up plenty of controversy in the news business.
For those of you who haven't been following the story, a little background: Andrews is a sideline reporter for ESPN who, no doubt because of her good looks, has also been something of an Internet sensation ever since she started working for the network in 2004. Playboy magazine named her "sexiest sportscaster" the last two years running.
Recently a peeping tom video of the 31-year-old Andrews was posted on the Internet. The video shows Andrews fixing her hair, sans clothes, in a hotel room.
Andrews' lawyer says she was videotaped without her knowledge and has threatened legal action if and when the video voyeur is found.
Still, several TV networks and newspapers have aired or printed images from the video, including the New York Post, which published three screenshots.
In response, ESPN has banned Post reporters from appearing on any of the network's shows.
ESPN spokesman Chris LaPlaca said while it was legit for the Post to cover the Andrews incident as a news story, "their running photos obtained in such a fashion went well beyond the boundaries of common decency in the interest of sensationalism," according to The Associated Press.
The Poynter Institute's excellent journalism ethics expert, Kelly McBride, told the AP what should be obvious to anyone with a little common sense: It's not ethical for news orgs to show images from the Andrews video. First, it was obtained illegally (nearly every state has laws against video voyeurism) and second, there's no overriding journalistic justification for showing it.
It's not the Pentagon papers, in other words.
The issue also reopens an old wound among female sports reporters, who have long fought discrimination in the obviously male-dominated world of sports journalism.
Sportswriter Viv Bernstein says that when it comes to their looks, women who cover sports just can't win.
Bernstein writes that because Andrews is pretty, she has to prove, with every story she covers, that she's not just there because of her looks.
On the other hand, Bernstein says that even with decades of sportswriting experience behind her, "I would never be considered for a job like Andrews’ precisely because of my appearance."
But the controversy doesn't end there. USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan has drawn criticism for some tweets she posted about the Andrews video. "Women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house. There are tons of nuts out there," read one tweet.
To which one reader responded: "I can't believe that Christine Brennan of all people essentially suggested that Erin Andrews was asking for it."
Brennan said later her words had been misinterpreted, adding: "What happened to Erin was bad. I support her completely and will fight for her and all women."
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
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Comments
Yeah, I would just like to comment with regard to the ESPN/Erin Andrews story. I doubt that Ms. Andrews intentionally asked to be stalked and I certainly don’t condone stalking, but this whole incident is proof that journalism has lost its way in recent years, with management hiring people more for their looks instead of their actual abilities. I also don’t like the lack of modesty in female journalists in general.
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