ESPN’s Josina Anderson has not tweeted in a few days and you can probably guess why. The reporter took a lot of heat following her Michael Sam story on Tuesday, the one where she asked players about his shower habits. ESPN has since issued an apology for the segment saying, “we collectively failed to meet the standards we have set in reporting on LGBT-related topics in sports.”
Still, the situation irked Rams coach Jeff Fisher who tore into Anderson in an interview with the St. Louis Dispatch.
“I’m extremely disappointed in her piece,” Fisher told the Post-Dispatch on Wednesday, not long before the team boarded buses for Lambert Airport and the trip to Miami for Thursday’s preseason finale.
“I think it’s unethical,” Fisher continued. “I think it’s very, very unprofessional. Not only the piece itself, the content. The manner in which she did it.”
Unethical, unprofessional? Ouch. It doesn’t get any worse than that. Wait, yes it does. Fisher flat out accused Anderson of manufacturing the story, asking players questions away from the Rams facility.
“Obviously she came in, in all likelihood to see if there was gonna be a roster move at the 75 cutdown as it relates to Mike Sam. That didn’t happen. But she needed to do something, and it’s my understanding that she manufactured this story.
“She was out of line because she went and contacted several players on their personal time. Misled them with questions and then put this piece together.”
Again, let me reiterate. It’s 2014 and a news station reported on the shower habits of a gay man. I highly doubt Anderson’s piece was aired without oversight. So yeah, she’s not the only one to blame here. That being said, I wonder if a suspension is on the horizon? Anderson is a prolific tweeter and the fact she hasn’t said anything in a few days is telling.
