Journalism of any kind is always a cutthroat industry, but attribution is key to keeping the playing field level. That’s why ESPN recently failing to do so bothers so many people.
In a recent segment on NFL Live, ESPN showed a graphic with a quote from Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor talking about quarterback Anthony Richardson. But there was just one problem: ESPN didn’t do the interview and didn’t credit the person who did.
Justin Melo of The Draft Network did the interview and complained about not being credited on Twitter.
“@espn just casually playing my story on TV with ZERO credit / mention,” Melo wrote, adding a laughing emoji.
Users on Twitter were annoyed that ESPN would offer no credit when doing so would have been so easy and obvious. Some even pointed out that it’s happened to them too:
All they had to do was say, “Jonathan Taylor told Justin Melo of The Draft Network”
— Peter Bukowski (@Peter_Bukowski) May 10, 2023
because it would’ve been SO hard to just put “– Justin Melo” at the end of the quote…
this sucks to see
— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) May 10, 2023
Fox Sports did this to me in the fall on my Marvin Harrison Jr. piece, stole quotes and never credited🤦🏾♂️ sadly becoming the new norm for big entities like that
— Devin Jackson (@RealD_Jackson) May 10, 2023
It’s becoming an increasing problem among major players in sports reporting to either obscure attribution or fail to give it at all.
Whether it’s a by-product of laziness, not caring, malignant behavior or a combination of the three, it’s bad for the industry as a whole.
We’ll see if ESPN decides to apologize for not attributing Melo’s work, but if they’re as guilty of this as some have said, that apology probably isn’t forthcoming.