Friday I raised the question of whether or not ESPN, after their censure of analyst Paul Azinger, were equally quick to reprimand another of their on-air talent, Kenny Mayne for his political Tweets.
The response from Andy Hall, who emailed me yesterday:
Dana,
Andy Hall with ESPN Communications here – in response to the question you raised in your blog about Paul Azinger:
At the time, Kenny Mayne was reminded about ESPN’s social media policy just as Paul Azinger was in this instance. We have dealt appropriately with similar circumstances and will continue to do so.
Sincerely,
Andy Hall
Andy Hall
Manager, ESPN Communications
No word as to whether Adam Schefter was also reprimanded for his political Tweets, but Hall implies as such in his email. As I return to this story two days later, something strikes me as odd, particularly this:
“Paul’s tweet was not consistent with our social media policy, and he has been reminded that political commentary is best left to those in that field,” spokesman Andy Hall told Game On! [Michael McCarthy’s USA Today column] in a statement.
Asked if Azinger, who won the 1993 PGA Championship, will be reprimanded, suspended or fired, Hall said Sunday: “He will not be fired – he was reminded about ESPN’s social media policy, and we’re all moving on.”
I asked this of Hall in my response to his email:
Just one question: Did Michael McCarthy reach out to you initially for a statement on Azinger or did you release a statement?
It seems very odd to me that a journalist would see benign remarks of an ESPN analyst on his personal Twitter account and run and tell the analyst’s employer and then ask if that analyst is going to be fired. I’ve searched for McCarthy’s posts on Mayne and Schefter and any requests made to ESPN for comment on those Tweets, but thus far have proved unsuccessful in finding any. You can make up your own minds as to why the discrepancy.