ESPN denies silencing New Orleans's jeers for ex-president Bush
Michael RostonPublished: Wednesday September 27, 2006
The television sports network ESPN has been accused of covering up jeers directed at former President George H.W. Bush by football fans in New Orleans during a September 25th Monday Night Football broadcast. ESPN denied the allegation when contacted by RAW STORY.
This week, ESPN broadcasted its Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons from the New Orleans Superdome. The game was the first played in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region a year ago. Television broadcasts from the Superdome, one of New Orleans's major evacuation sites, first brought the enormity of the crisis to the public.
In Monday night's game, the Saints dominated, winning 23-3. Saints fans made the game's atmosphere raucous, and players from the Atlanta Falcons complained that the crowd's noise was so loud that it was difficult to concentrate on playing.
The game began with musical performances by Green Day and U2. Former President George H.W. Bush, who raised money with former President Bill Clinton for Katrina relief efforts, was asked to conduct the ceremonial coin toss that determined which side would have possession of the ball first.
On Monday night, the "I Have No Life" blog at the website Beyond Hollywood reported that the fans in New Orleans had booed President George H.W. Bush as he flipped the coin.
A subsequent Tuesday morning post on a Daily Kos diary written by "davefromqueens" claimed that in the TV broadcast, cheers could be heard as Bush was announced and stepped onto the field, but that live booing was then heard as the broadcast switched to microphones on the field where Bush was flipping the coin. "Davefromqueens" concluded that "ESPN shut off the sound of the Superdome crowd for a few seconds and played this audio of fake cheers."
Bill Hofheimer, of ESPN Communications, gave RAW STORY an "emphatic NO" when asked if ESPN had played fake cheers and whether this was part of the network and its shows' policy. He added "This did not happen Monday, nor does it happen with any ESPN telecasts. The claim is unsubstantiated and false. ESPN presented the game and the events surrounding the game as they happened."
No major news media outlet reported on the crowd's reaction to former President Bush's appearance.
An AP report said that "as 150 Katrina first-responders watched from the sidelines as former president George H.W. Bush walked to the middle of the new field for the coin toss, there was little doubt how important the night was for New Orleans."
A New York Daily News story showed that "the Saints owned the night almost from the moment U2 and Green Day finished their pregame concert and former President George Bush performed the coin toss."
A report in the Shreveport Times called "former President George H.W. Bush, who tossed the coin," an "honored guest," as did the New Orleans Times Picayune, which called the former president a "VIP."
At AOL Sports, the blogger "Mighty MJD" criticized ESPN, saying that if the accusations of changing the crowd's reaction were true, it was "massively unethical to alter broadcasts in an effort to protect certain political figures and/or shape the way the public feels about them." However, MJD did not remark about the boos during his live blog of Monday night's game.
Link Here
The television sports network ESPN has been accused of covering up jeers directed at former President George H.W. Bush by football fans in New Orleans during a September 25th Monday Night Football broadcast. ESPN denied the allegation when contacted by RAW STORY.
This week, ESPN broadcasted its Monday Night Football game between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons from the New Orleans Superdome. The game was the first played in the Superdome since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region a year ago. Television broadcasts from the Superdome, one of New Orleans's major evacuation sites, first brought the enormity of the crisis to the public.
In Monday night's game, the Saints dominated, winning 23-3. Saints fans made the game's atmosphere raucous, and players from the Atlanta Falcons complained that the crowd's noise was so loud that it was difficult to concentrate on playing.
The game began with musical performances by Green Day and U2. Former President George H.W. Bush, who raised money with former President Bill Clinton for Katrina relief efforts, was asked to conduct the ceremonial coin toss that determined which side would have possession of the ball first.
On Monday night, the "I Have No Life" blog at the website Beyond Hollywood reported that the fans in New Orleans had booed President George H.W. Bush as he flipped the coin.
A subsequent Tuesday morning post on a Daily Kos diary written by "davefromqueens" claimed that in the TV broadcast, cheers could be heard as Bush was announced and stepped onto the field, but that live booing was then heard as the broadcast switched to microphones on the field where Bush was flipping the coin. "Davefromqueens" concluded that "ESPN shut off the sound of the Superdome crowd for a few seconds and played this audio of fake cheers."
Bill Hofheimer, of ESPN Communications, gave RAW STORY an "emphatic NO" when asked if ESPN had played fake cheers and whether this was part of the network and its shows' policy. He added "This did not happen Monday, nor does it happen with any ESPN telecasts. The claim is unsubstantiated and false. ESPN presented the game and the events surrounding the game as they happened."
No major news media outlet reported on the crowd's reaction to former President Bush's appearance.
An AP report said that "as 150 Katrina first-responders watched from the sidelines as former president George H.W. Bush walked to the middle of the new field for the coin toss, there was little doubt how important the night was for New Orleans."
A New York Daily News story showed that "the Saints owned the night almost from the moment U2 and Green Day finished their pregame concert and former President George Bush performed the coin toss."
A report in the Shreveport Times called "former President George H.W. Bush, who tossed the coin," an "honored guest," as did the New Orleans Times Picayune, which called the former president a "VIP."
At AOL Sports, the blogger "Mighty MJD" criticized ESPN, saying that if the accusations of changing the crowd's reaction were true, it was "massively unethical to alter broadcasts in an effort to protect certain political figures and/or shape the way the public feels about them." However, MJD did not remark about the boos during his live blog of Monday night's game.
Link Here
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 1:05 PM
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