Skip Bayless, Jalen Rose, and Stephen A. Smith address the media’s role in sports on ESPN’s “First Take”

Today on ESPN’s First Take, Skip Bayless, Jalen Rose, and Stephen A. Smith took on the topic of the role of the media in sports today. As media personalities, blogs, and the 24/7 news cycle has taken over, what is crossing the line in the name of reporting?

The discussion arose because on Tuesday’s show, Jalen Rose called out Skip Bayless for allegedly lying about his high school basketball stats/career.

Skip was obviously hurt that Jalen took a page from his book to call him out. The beauty of the platform allowed for the topic to be discussed and addressed on Wednesday’s show. Which, of course, led to the broader discussion of the media’s role in sports today.

For me, I think the beauty of today’s media is that there are varying viewpoints that we’re allowed to explore. There absolutely is a line between analyzing and bashing. The catch-22 for athletes in 2012 is that many want to be considered brands. They use all aspects of their lives to aid in their financial gain, which sometimes opens the door to closer scrutiny on issues they may not be comfortable discussing. Such is the life of a public figure. I feel as if all 3 made valid points (Jalen managed to make his, minus the yelling), but the fact remains that while it’s a slippery slope, you also can’t say the athletes aren’t benefiting from the increased coverage.  This isn’t a black-and-white issue; the answer(s) are in varied shades of gray.

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