ESPN's first ombudsman - Soccer Implications?

[JRstriker12]

http://poynter.org/forum/view_post.asp?id=9601

GEORGE SOLOMON JOINS ESPN AS OMBUDSMAN

Long-time Washington Post sports editor and columnist George Solomon will become ESPN’s first-ever ombudsman beginning July 1. In this newly created position, Solomon will critique decision-making, coverage and presentation for studio and event production, including SportsCenter, ESPN Radio and, occasionally, programming outside the news and information genre.

At least once per month, Solomon will share his thoughts via a column on ESPN.com, which will be linked from the front page. He has signed on for an 18-month term.

The Wash Post has some decent soccer coverage. I wonder what's Solomon's opinion of soccer and ESPN's soccer coverage in general. It will be interesting to see if he ever discusses that subject.

The only question is will his e-mail box be full of "I hate ESPN" or "why does ESPN hate soccer" messages from BS posters. ;)

[aleaguer]

True or false: Isn't George Solomon an old fart? I mean, one of those old school sports editors who was at a desk job for a million years and never left the office?

The only thing I ever remember reading of his was a column in which he denigrated soccer and MLS, so that may have been where this opinion of mine was formed. He may not be a dinosaur, but that's the vibe I got.

First time something runs over into a Soccer Saturday game, we'll see how he responds to the (I'm sure measured and respectful) comments of the Bigsoccer faithful.

[Stogey23]

I can't be the only one wondering what an Ombudsman is, am I?

[aleaguer]

om·buds·man
Pronunciation Key (mbdzmn, -bdz-, -bdz-)
n.

1. A man who investigates complaints and mediates fair settlements, especially between aggrieved parties such as consumers or students and an institution or organization.
2. A government official, especially in Scandinavian countries, who investigates citizens' complaints against the government or its functionaries.

Basically, a watchdog. Supposedly looks out for the interests of the readers/viewers/listeners.

Given ESPN's ego and thin skin, I doubt this concept will last, and if it does, it won't really serve your interests. ESPN isn't interested in serving anyone's interests but their own, really.

[Bonji]

I have a friend who used to work for the Ombudsman to the EPA. Kristine Todd Whitman decided to shut down their office because they were making too much noise about the EPA doing a bad job. Be clear, if the Ombudsman starts making too much noise, he will be canned. It sounds like ESPN created a job for a big name in sports to see if he could add anything to the network. I wouldn't expect too much action out of him.

[PYordan]

Just wait until he finds out that bass fishing, poker, and bowling get higher ratings than MLS. We'll see how long it takes him to bash a two hour block of programming that doesn't even let you program commercials except for once every 45 minutes.

[geordienation]

Ombudsmen are fairly standard at bigger media organizations.

Some call them Reader Representatives and stuff like that, but they all do the same thing: take a critical look at the publication (or web site) and the content that they produce. If there's a big reader stink, they will often try to dig for the story behind it.

They are not subject to editing or prior review, so their views are their own. Typically they're on a special contract that says they can't be fired for criticism of the publication.

Solomon was sports editor at the Post for 30 years. He's got an intimate knowledge of all the major leagues (and tours -- he's a big golf and tennis fan). Additionally, I think his kid does freelance production for ESPN (I want to say for "Around the Horn").

Would you call him a "friend of soccer"? Not especially. But I think he gets that it's here and isn't going away. He's of a similar ilk as Kornheiser in that soccer isn't what he's going to be sitting down to watch on a Saturday afternoon, but he knows what a big deal the World Cup is.

He's not a basher. I think that's pretty much all you can ask for.

[Freestyle2000]

Just wait until he finds out that bass fishing, poker, and bowling get higher ratings than MLS. We'll see how long it takes him to bash a two hour block of programming that doesn't even let you program commercials except for once every 45 minutes.

Not if he's doing his job.

The traditional role of the ombudsman is as sounding board, someone who takes viewer complaints, ruminates on them, and analyzes the content of the newspaper with said complaints in mind. Think of Solomon as a meta-journalist - he doesn't report, he reports on what the reporters report.

I personally like Solomon. The Post's sports section was fantastic under him, soccer got its due props, etc. He was one of the few editors in the country to assign a beat writer to a WUSA team (though Brian Strauss had other writing duties at the paper as well). He gave Steven Goff lots of space even when MLS didn't always deserve it.

More than just soccer, I'm hoping Solomon will be a good voice to yell at ESPN for crap like Tilt, Playmakers and the shoddy news-to-endorsed-player/celebrity-interview ratio on Sportscenter.

RS

[monster]

Just wait until he finds out that bass fishing, poker, and bowling get higher ratings than MLS. We'll see how long it takes him to bash a two hour block of programming that doesn't even let you program commercials except for once every 45 minutes.
Why would a guy who was the editor of one of the nation's top sports sections not understand the lay of the land before accepting the job? I think he's pretty cognizent of the situation and isn't there to make value hdgements.

Others have said it, but it's important to note that an ombudsman does not tell the network what to do. He/She culls through feedback and tries to distill all the voices into quality feedback without being involved in the decision-making process.

[Beau Dure]

I have a friend who used to work for the Ombudsman to the EPA. Kristine Todd Whitman decided to shut down their office because they were making too much noise about the EPA doing a bad job. Be clear, if the Ombudsman starts making too much noise, he will be canned. It sounds like ESPN created a job for a big name in sports to see if he could add anything to the network. I wouldn't expect too much action out of him.

Are you sure it was Whitman? She's been fairly critical herself of the restrictions the EPA faced.

Anyway -- so far, I can't recall an ombudsman being canned for making too much noise. If Daniel Okrent didn't get the boot at the NY Times, no one will. (Okrent just stepped down after serving the full 18 months for which he was appointed.)

But it's interesting to see a TV network do it. They can easily hide him with an obscure column on the Web. I'd be more impressed if they gave him a weekly spot on the 6 p.m. SportsCenter.

[Fulham Fan]

Ombudsmen concern themselves with questions of fairness and whether their own organization is guilty of a bias. So, maybe ask him about ESPN's view towards international soccer when it's already buying tons of match rights and has set up ESPN Deportes. Ask him about MLS's apparently strong popularity among children, and whether a spectator sport that is popular among children (MLS, skateboarding, Streetball, whatever) is deserving of poor treatment or outright dismissal, and if so, does ESPN consider itself on the whole to be concerned strictly with adults? Would it be fair to classify MLS as a kids' entertainment? If there were a "Sportscenter for Kids," would MLS go in that show?

Ask him anything to get more information about the network's opinion of the league and the sport. Make things specific. If soccer is viewed by ESPN as a sport deserving of respect for its popularity abroad, then does MLS belong in a sort of weekly, "World Sport" round-up? Where does MLS go? Where does it belong? I think you can argue to an ombudsman that everything belongs somewhere, and it would be interesting to hear him answer such questions. Arrogance is not supposed to be admired by ombudsmen.

[JRstriker12]

Ombudsmen concern themselves with questions of fairness and whether their own organization is guilty of a bias. So, maybe ask him about ESPN's view towards international soccer when it's already buying tons of match rights and has set up ESPN Deportes. Ask him about MLS's apparently strong popularity among children, and whether a spectator sport that is popular among children (MLS, skateboarding, Streetball, whatever) is deserving of poor treatment or outright dismissal, and if so, does ESPN consider itself on the whole to be concerned strictly with adults? Would it be fair to classify MLS as a kids' entertainment? If there were a "Sportscenter for Kids," would MLS go in that show?

Ask him anything to get more information about the network's opinion of the league and the sport. Make things specific. If soccer is viewed by ESPN as a sport deserving of respect for its popularity abroad, then does MLS belong in a sort of weekly, "World Sport" round-up? Where does MLS go? Where does it belong? I think you can argue to an ombudsman that everything belongs somewhere, and it would be interesting to hear him answer such questions. Arrogance is not supposed to be admired by ombudsmen.

Repped!

Good post and great suggestion. I would be intersting to see him answer some of these questions.

[Beau Dure]

I doubt he'll tackle soccer coverage. I'd imagine he'll be dealing with issues like whether it was fair to air an inflammatory locker-room tirade like it was the "Buckwheat's been shot" footage on the old Saturday Night Live. He might lay the smack down on a couple of ex-jock pundits unfairly ripping people on the air. I doubt he'd address whether ESPN needs to air more soccer. Not really typical ombudsman fare.

Then again, this isn't quite a "typical" ombudsman since it's a sports-specialty TV network and not an all-purpose newspaper (where the ombudsman rarely strays from the political pages), so perhaps I'll be surprised.

[DAGSports]

I doubt he'll tackle soccer coverage. I'd imagine he'll be dealing with issues like whether it was fair to air an inflammatory locker-room tirade like it was the "Buckwheat's been shot" footage on the old Saturday Night Live. He might lay the smack down on a couple of ex-jock pundits unfairly ripping people on the air. I doubt he'd address whether ESPN needs to air more soccer. Not really typical ombudsman fare.

Then again, this isn't quite a "typical" ombudsman since it's a sports-specialty TV network and not an all-purpose newspaper (where the ombudsman rarely strays from the political pages), so perhaps I'll be surprised.
I thought ESPN already had a number of former Boston Globe and NY Times sports editors directing the newsroom and execution of SportsCenter/sport-specific studio shows, plus Al Jaffe apparently reviewing on-air talent's performance on a somewhat regular basis. Not sure I see what this guy is going to do, other than possibly opening up to the fans through an online column.

[Eastern Bear]

Solomon will be right there w/ Tony Kornheiser, Jim Rome, and Frank Deford. Don't count on him helping soccer any. In Post colum recently he responded to a letter about ManU being the most popular team in the world by saying "he didn't live in the world. He lived in NY. THe Yankees were the most popular team in the world." blah-blah-blah. He's a blow hard.

[JRstriker12]

I thought ESPN already had a number of former Boston Globe and NY Times sports editors directing the newsroom and execution of SportsCenter/sport-specific studio shows, plus Al Jaffe apparently reviewing on-air talent's performance on a somewhat regular basis. Not sure I see what this guy is going to do, other than possibly opening up to the fans through an online column.

He won't be directing the news room or the excution of the sports programing. He's supposed to take a critical and independent look at ESPN and provide criticism if needed as well as address viewer concerns. If he does his job right, his iew mayvery well go opposite of those Globe and NYT sports editors. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about ESPN in general I think.

[Fulham Fan]

Not sure how revealing it is, but Solomon answered several readers' questions about soccer in this 1999 online interview:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/chats/gsolomon072799.htm

[scaryice]

Not sure how revealing it is, but Solomon answered several readers' questions about soccer in this 1999 online interview:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/longterm/chats/gsolomon072799.htm

Hmm...

"We can't create stars: Nevertheless, I consider Kolzig and Bondra stars; Richmond , Strickland and Howard stars, Ripken is a star, so is Darrell Green. Several D.C. Uniteds are stars; Mystics have two stars. "

[monster]

Please resist the urge to be SoccerFan and crucify a guy for the words he used to give the team a compliment six years ago.

[SJJ]

This IS an interesting topic. He is taking a 25-year-old netwok, and has the opportunity to mold the job how he sees fit (not necessiarially for his 18-month term, but whomever has the job years down the road).

Interesting that this position gets created after ESPN gets Monday Night Football. I know that they've had the Sunday, but now they have the Big Mama of the NFL. (Maybe he'll even make sure they don't have another Desperate Housewives opening-segment fiasco!)

I guess some general questions:

More investigative journalism? If SportsCenter is mostly just highlights, where can some deep investigations get airtime? During a 12:40 a.m. Outside the Lines?

Does the ESPNews channel really do anything?

One related to soccer: Is it a channel's mission to PROMOTE a sport? Meaning, should a sport gain some popularity before they show it, or should they show some sports (like lacrosse or softball) in order for it to gain popularity?

One take on this: I'm of the opinion that the WNBA is "shoved down our throats," getting much more play then they deserve. But I cringe when some people say that soccer is "shoved down" at them. I think soccer is getting the proper amount of airtime for the fanbase that's supporting it.