Originally posted by pinstripers
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1. From a corporate perspective, there is a difference between making a comment, especially in the course of conversation, and publishing it as a headline. Headlines are read in the voice of the network brand (ESPN is obsessively self-aware in this regard), whereas spoken comments are normally attributable to their speaker. Naturally, a network has a degree of control over who is allowed to access their broadcast platform.
2. Rose's comment was inappropriate, from the perspective of culturally appropriate commentary for broadcast radio in the 21st century America. He really shouldn't have said it, especially with his history with alcohol. That said, surely, the fact that he is not 'really' a journalist (his appearance on the network is clearly not because of his formal media education) plays a significant role in how his comments were handled. Also, the fact that he was commenting on Gronk's drunken partying makes for a massively different situation than Lin's ability to take care of the basketball.
In a nutshell: false equivalencies are unhelpful.
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