If you haven’t been on the Internet in the last few weeks, you may have missed the #Linsanity and the infinite pun potential that is 23 year-old Harvard graduate and New York Knicks star player, Jeremy Lin.
ESPN, it seems, didn’t pass up the opportunity for their own piece of the word play action when they broadcast the headline “Chink In The Armour,” following the the Knicks’ loss last night to the Hornets. The worldwide leader in sports coverage publicised the headline via its mobile site following a similar incident in which an on-air commentator made the same comment verbatim on air on Friday night.
Earlier today ESPN issued an official statement that reads:
“Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 am ET. The headline was removed at 3:05 am ET. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.“
Forbes Online points out that there has been no ownership over the wrongdoing, instead blame has been delegated to the ‘mobile site.’ A headline, such as this, is something that’s (usually) given a lot of thought, so intentional racial slur or not, somebody at ESPN is about to find themselves unemployed and on the wrong side of the poverty Lin. Sorry.
Via Deadspin
