We have been waiting for the first column from Jim Brady, the ESPN Public Editor, formerly known as the Ombudsman. It finally was released last week, but it was a strange time for it to be published, late on Wednesday, just as people were in holiday mode for Thanksgiving Weekend.
Brady introduced himself and what he’ll be scrutinizing as the Public Editor. It’s a very nice column, but why ESPN chose to do what essentially was a news dump before the holiday weekend makes it look as if it’s not treating the position seriously.
ESPN has been without an Ombudsman/Public Editor since December 2014 when Robert Lipsyte filed his final column. When it finally chose Brady, it was hoped that he would address several topics that have needed an Ombudsman/Public Editor and perhaps he will when he writes his second column.
In his inaugural effort, Brady did set some rules on communicating with him through social media:
A few quick rules of the road for whichever communication platform you choose:
- I won’t be able to respond to everything, so don’t take it personally. But everything posted or emailed will be read.
- The best kind of feedback comes when there are details. Broad complaints are the hardest to report and address.
- It’s a free country; you can say whatever you’d like. But if you are one of those people who gains courage only when in the glare of a computer or phone screen, and you choose childish obscenities and rants rather than constructive feedback, I’ll exercise my own right to ignore you.
I will also use both social feeds to let you know what I’m working on, but I won’t be using them to make snap judgments without facts. My job is to do reporting to get the full story, not react off the cuff.
So the ESPN Public Editor is now off and running. Here’s hoping the Worldwide Leader will choose a higher profile time to release Brady’s second effort.
