Did ESPN’s Jemele Hill have the right to call President Donald Trump a white supremacist on her personal Twitter account? Do sports journalists need to check their personal opinions on social media? Check out this week’s podcast.
-30-
Tag Archives: Jemele Hill
Don’t allow sources to approve anything before publication
Jemele Hill interviewed Janay Rice for this essay that was published in ESPN’s magazine and on its website.
No matter what anybody tells you, never allow a source to approve a story before it gets published. Your credibility as a journalist gets crushed if you allow a source to control a story, no matter how hard you might attempt to explain that nothing important was removed.
This is why I am bothered by ESPN’s interview with Janay Rice, wife to suspended NFL running back Ray Rice.
Last year, Sports Illustrated allowed LeBron James to review a story, but the magazine did not offer approval rights. Still, avoid this approach as well, because readers will question your integrity, believing a source probably did have some control over the final product. As outlined in the Society of Professional Journalism’s Code of Ethics, we must remain independent.
