Coverage is unfair

Shannon Owens

Orlando Sentinel

ESPN was right to pull the LeBron James story detailing a wild night of partying in Las Vegas off its Web site Wednesday.

But not because the story had no value. People have a strong interest in reading or watching stories about the personal lives of professional athletes.

ESPN was right to pull the story because it would have created yet another double standard of coverage for James.

Why should he be singled out for routine behavior and choices in the fast-paced social lives of athletes? Nothing illegal (that we know of) happened at this party. And let's be real, this isn't the first or last wild party an athlete, CEO, politician or average guy with cash to blow will engage in.

In fairness, the article was not a smear campaign against LeBron. It was just more air and space about the "King" with no rings.

sowens@tribune.com

Problem of perception

Paul Doyle

Hartford Courant

The almighty Nielsen numbers say ESPN got everything it wanted from airing the excruciating LeBron James infomercial earlier this month. "The Decision" was a ratings bonanza, but does that justify the fallout?

Pulling the ESPN.com story prompted speculation that Team LeBron pressured the World Wide Leader to protect the star's image. An ESPN spokesman said the story was posted prematurely before going through the editorial process.

The problem for ESPN is perception — by partaking in "The Decision," ESPN opened itself up for critiques of all future coverage of LeBron. And a media company that produces so much quality work and employs some of the best sports journalists in the country doesn't need that baggage.

pdoyle@tribune.com

Nothing new here

Diane Pucin

Los Angeles Times

So LeBron James went to Las Vegas, partied, did some drinking, socialized with some underdressed women and this was a news flash?

ESPNLosAngeles.com writer Arash Markazi, who authors a new "Behind the Velvet Ropes" blog, wrote a breathless account of an evening spent with James. It seemed a harmless if unsophisticated account of observing a rich athlete in Vegas until ESPN pulled the piece.

It had been "inadvertently" posted before editing was the official ESPN response, but there is another interpretation — that James pressured ESPN to pull the story. That conspiracy theory might not have traction except for the sophomoric "The Decision" show that James and Co. foisted on ESPN. So we've learned once again that ESPN is clumsy when dealing with big stars. And Markazi might find the ropes less velvet and more steel curtain from now on.

dpucin@tribune.com

Other media envious

Shandel Richardson

Sun Sentinel

Leave ESPN alone.

There, I said it. The self-proclaimed World Wide Leader in Sports has been under fire since LeBron James turned his free agency into an hourlong program. Big deal. The network catering to athletes is old news. Lance Armstrong and Kevin Garnett appear on ESPN commercials.

So why all the fuss over ESPN's intimacy with LeBron? The average fan could not care less about the relationship between the two. When is the last time you walked into a bar and overheard two fans discussing ESPN's objectivity in covering the NBA? They care about one thing: if the ball goes in the hoop.

This is a media-created story, and a case of other news outlets disgusted with the taste of sour grapes.

srichardson@tribune.com