Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
I actually can't believe this happened. Of all the dumb things to think up when adding a headline to a story about Jeremy Lin, 'Chink In The Armor' may just be the dumbest. And it happened on the ESPN website.
See screenshot and update below.
Via Myles Brown.
Seriously, this is real. It was up on the mobile versions of the ESPN sites, including the ScoreCenter app, which would seem to indicate it was on the main site at one point or another. I'd guess it takes a bit of time for headlines to refresh across the different platforms.
In what world is this ever okay? And how does the person writing the headline not pause to think "Hey, we're running this headline that contains a derogatory term for Asians along with a giant picture of Jeremy Lin"? The puns have been beaten into the ground already, but perhaps headline writers should stick with those instead of branching out and coming up with such gems as the one pictured above.
I understand how this happened, but it's no excuse. Friday nights, especially this time of year, are skeleton crew nights. There are few, if any, checks and balances -- much fewer than a normal day -- in the middle of the night on a Friday, when this went up. But still, this shouldn't slip through the cracks.
The headline was unintentional -- it had to be unintentional. Someone is going to get buried for this, making it a hard lesson to learn. But dang, don't plaster the word "chink" underneath Lin's name on a huge national website without understanding exactly what the backlash will be. It's not edgy or funny; it's a ridiculously terrible mistake.
Related: ESPN anchor uses "chink in the armor" in Lin segment on the air.
UPDATE, 9:15 a.m. ET: ESPN has issued a statement on the headline use.
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Brian Floyd:
ESPN Uses 'Chink In The Armor' Headline For Jeremy Lin Story
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Brian Floyd:
ESPN Uses 'Chink In The Armor' Headline For Jeremy Lin Story
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Comments
This isn't "dumb"
It is racist, insensitive and a firing offense.
If the editor didn’t know it was offensive, he or she should be fired for being ignorant. And I would find it hard to believe that said editor didn’t know it. Not to mention that unless there is one person working at 2:30 am in Bristol, several people had to pass on this.
"It's as sweet as it ever was, I'll tell you. Now, hopefully, we started something and we can win some more championships, but we're going to enjoy this one right now. Have a little champagne." --Julius Erving, May 12, 1976, ABA champion Nets locker room.
by Net Income on Feb 18, 2012 11:08 AM EST reply actions 5 recs
Charge your phone.
I miss baseball.
by Figgi4life on Feb 18, 2012 3:42 PM EST reply actions 4 recs
Haha
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by ConnorOSU on Feb 18, 2012 6:21 PM EST up reply actions
NBA is going through some dark times.
by Putnan Prince on Feb 18, 2012 6:55 PM EST reply actions
Hard to believe someone wouldn’t think that term was offensive. I still think he’s a good player, don’t care where he’s from.
by Deniece Thomas on Feb 19, 2012 4:13 AM EST reply actions
It is inconcievable to think this was a mistake.
When you consider the number of people who be involved with creating the masthead, the people that approved it, the web designers who put it into place; there is simply no way somebody didn’t catch it, and say something to somebody.
Second, when you consider the number of puns in the media since the Lin’s explosion on the national scene; the only way this headline makes sense is when you consider the association a word like chink has for Asians. Even if discussing Lin’s flaws, the double entendre is so obvious as to make us fools to believe it was an honest mistake.
ESPN has slowly diminished it’s reputation by replacing sports reporting with sensationalistic attention grabbing. This incident has more than likely killed it off altogether.
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing. ~ Vince Lombardi
by MexiBruin on Feb 19, 2012 11:17 AM EST reply actions
ESPN sucks!
Go Blue!
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by dezznutz1001 on Feb 19, 2012 1:08 PM EST reply actions
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