The whole Erin Andrews story continues to build momentum as more media outlets “discover” it. We’ve been doing a fair amount of reading on the subject, and we thought we’d present some other things being written and offer some commentary on that commentary. And yes, that is a picture from the ESPYs of Andrews, Michael Phelps and Demi Moore.

Sports Media Watch: The good folks here compiled a list of a lot of the early reaction while also hitting on something we tried to get at yesterday:

All of this seems generally harmless, especially by comparison to the hidden camera video. But it creates a climate where Andrews is prominent more because of her looks than because of her talent. A climate where its okay to make lewd jokes about her and turn her into what amounts to a sexual object.

Couldn’t agree more.

That post brought us to this one from Rumors and Rants. That blog perhaps said what others were thinking (for the record: we have not seen the video, nor do we wish to), which in essence summarized the entire problem:

Now that I’ve given that background I feel I should tell you that I’ve seen the video(s). While they are completely creepy in every way, I have to say that despite the grainy quality, it is absolutely Erin Andrews. And she looks incredible. She looks better than any of us could have ever hoped. She has absolutely zero flaws. So while I hope they catch this creep, Erin Andrews has nothing to be ashamed of.

Again, therein lies the problem. We have heard a couple other people who have seen the video articulate the same thing, but it not only misses the point that Andrews was violated but again objectifies her to the extreme. And, while there are those who would say she has fanned the flames in the past by playing up her attractiveness, saying in essence “it’s really creepy, but boy she looks hot” is giving implicit consent to the creep who made the video in the first place.

Deadspin has been all over this from the start, of course. Some of it has been interesting reporting. Founder Will Leitch chimed in today with a well-written, though flawed, piece about the whole situation. He writes about the guilt many folks might be feeling in terms of creating an atmosphere where such a thing could happen. He singles out the maker of the video for blame, which is correct. But where Leitch loses us is with this statement: From my experience, the environment was anything but “hostile.” Its lack of hostility always seemed like the point.

Hostile doesn’t have to be “mean” or “over-aggressive.” It’s a collective environment in which someone can tell something just isn’t right. And there was always a wink-wink undercurrent that was unsettling. You can’t just post pictures or videos, or write a headline with a vague double entendre, then walk away and pretend only the people reading or watching had dirt under their fingernails.

Leitch continues, looking back at old posts he made regarding Andrews: Was I ever over the line? Was Bruce Pearl when he hugged her? Was Rick Sutcliffe when he constantly commented on her dress? Was ESPN, and sports media in general, when they realized that attractive women on the sideline helped ratings? Did I contribute to this awful thing that happened? Did all of us? I don’t think so. I really don’t.

Sorry, Will, but of course we all contributed to it. Deadspin was at the forefront. We chimed in with some higher-profile pieces that, while hopefully respectful, fed the beast and certainly boosted our own visibility. Nobody but one person threaded a camera into a hotel room, but we helped fuel the environment by which such a thing would become THE STORY.

Leitch also praises the (primarily witty) Deadspin commenters in his piece. Readers then see those commenters disintegrate into awfulness on the very same post. “Was this a gross violation of her privacy? Obviously. But it’s not like she was physically harmed, had Bernie Madoff lose her life savings, or committed some major crime. She was just…naked. Worse things happen to people literally every second, including recently.”

Reading that, and listening to others talk, we have a feeling a ton of people still just don’t get it.

ESPN, of course, is ignoring it. That’s to be expected.

Still having Andrews’ contact information from those aforementioned interviews, we sent her a quick text message Monday to say how sorry we were about all that was happening. She replied with a simple, “Thank u.” Not much more to say, really. We can’t imagine what she’s feeling.

Finally, Erin Nicks at The Universal Cynic can’t imagine what Andrews is feeling, either. She does, however, have a well-rounded take that looks at things through a lens that we just don’t possess. Please, do, give it a read. A taste: How many female sports media personalities were subjected to largely-spread photos of them eating a sandwich, or tales of their visits to a media buffet that featured a “taco bar”? The minutiae of Erin’s life have always been up for discussion, and it largely has to do with her personal appearance. I suppose I should be appreciative that these bloggers are finally drawing the line publicly on the objectivity issue, but part of me also wonders how many of them immediately went looking for the video as soon as it was available.

Indeed.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 21st, 2009 at 3:02 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.