ESPN failed to provide balanced and impartial coverage of a controversy involving Texas Tech coach Mike Leach being fired for allegedly mistreating a player. As the father of the player was an ESPN analyst, ESPN's coverage focused only on Leach's actions and did not consider all sides of the story. This led viewers to lose trust in ESPN's objectivity. Going forward, ESPN needs policies to avoid conflicts of interest and provide more thorough, fact-based reporting on controversies from all perspectives to regain credibility with its audience.

1. ESPN
In an offsides position
A. Phillips E. Kanyua S. Vargas
T. Burlingame N. Gathright

2. The
FACTS
•• Texas Tech coach, mike Leach, placed
wideout, Adam James in a dark room
following a concussion.
•• As an ESPN Analyst and father of
Adam James, Craig James' relationship
with ESPN affected the coverage.
•• As a result of the controversy,
Mike Leach was fired .

3. The
Issues
•• ESPN failed to uphold •• ESPN lost credibility
Journalistic standards from viewers for the biased
in AlaMO BOWl broadcast. coverage.
•• ESPN never fully covered all •• ESPN didn't respect the wishes
sides of the story. of the audience.
•• ESPN Allowed Mike patrick to
cover a game that represented
a conflict of interest for him.

4. The Ethical Model of
Communitarianism
•• The Socially responsible thing to do
would require ESPN to SHARE ALL FACTS
about the LEACH controversy.
•• It's in the interest of
the community to
receive fair and
balanced coverage
of the story.

5. The Ethical Model of
Utilitarianism
•• ESPN should have considered the wants of the
greatest number of viewers, who were expecting
coverage of the game not the scandal.
•• ESPN's self-serving actions only
covered one side of the story.

6. The Model of
virtue-based Ethics
•• virtue-based ethics focus on how •• virtue-based ethics only require
ethical the individual is and their ESPN to cover Leach's character in a
habits of character. The analysis of balanced way, but ethical journalism
Leach's actions only considered his demands complete coverage of the
character. circumstances of the situation.

7. Addressing the
PROBLEMS
•• ESPN believes the •• ESPN has yet to cover •• ESPN owes its viewers
coverage was balanced this story with a reevaluation of its
and fair even after the thoroughness, own ethical guidelines
receiving thousands professionalism and if it wishes to keep its
of complaints. objectivity that one omnipotent presence
would expect from in the sports world.
•• The negative a news-reporting
commentary tarnised organization.
Leach's character

8. Future
recommendations
•• ESPN needs to produce balanced
reports with facts from both sides
of the story.
•• ESPN should avoid scheduling
analysts with conflicting
motives.

9. Future
recommendations
•• when reporting, judge based on a situation
ethics model, considering the factual
content of the situation.
•• Use Utilitarianism to gauge
whether the greater good
would be served by the
chosen coverage. Ask, "is
what we are discussing
applicable to why the majority
of our viewers are tuning in?"

10. The
end