CBS sideline reporter Evan Washburn offered a unique take on Charissa Thompson’s recent admission of making up sideline reports at times, despite finding it “shocking” like many others across the industry. His differing view promises to raise eyebrows as he breaks from the ranks with a nuanced perspective on the latest episode of the Awful Announcing podcast.
“My view on it was — and this isn’t just specific to sideline reporting — I would say everybody does the job kind of their own way,” he told host Brandon Contes. “Now, there are parameters in which you have to play, and that would fall outside the parameters because you would never want to lose the trust of the coaches and players and the people that you cover, but I kind of think about in the sense that I don’t lump myself in with a whole group because I kind of view it like I’m doing my version of the job and I’m doing it my way.
“It didn’t affect me because I never looked to anyone really as like OK, well that’s how I’ve got to do it, or if they do it that way, then I’ve kind of find a way to match that. That goes back to the idea that it takes a little, or it took me a little while, to figure out how you get comfortable in this position, especially covering the NFL. While it may appear on air that what I’m doing is just like what any sideline reporter is doing, I know I’m approaching it with my specific brand and version of things. And so, I don’t really get that concerned with other people’s approach.”
Washburn didn’t feel like Thompson’s controversy gave sideline reporters like himself a bad rap.
“No, because honestly, I was more interested and struck by how it illuminated the position,” added Washburn. “A lot of people learned about the behind-the-scenes of the job that probably had no idea. So, in some odd way, that could be beneficial. I think one of the things — and the word ‘trust’ to me always comes up — all you have is your name and your reputation. And I think about this a lot in this job where everything to me is a cost-benefit analysis, whether it’s when I’m talking to (host Brandon Contes), or I’m talking to a coach off camera or a player off camera, and then how does that conversation, how does that push forward on the camera or the broadcast.
“You always have to be thinking, ‘OK, is this situation worth risking or challenging the trust level or the reputation or relationship that you built with whoever it might be?’ And I found that if you have that mentality and you really evaluate things, you can still be yourself; you’re getting — this is me — I’m not holding anything back necessarily. But I’m also not looking to just kind of be carefree about everything at all times and not think about, ‘Hey, how does what I’m going to say impact whether it be the people you work for, work with, or cover,’ because in this business that’s kind of the lifeblood of it.”
The full episode of The Awful Announcing Podcast with Evan Washburn will be released Friday morning. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.
