Just a few days after the “Chink in the Armor” headline was taken down underneath the image of Jeremy Lin, ESPN fired the employee responsible for the offensive headline.
Lin had addressed the controversy during a news conference Sunday, after the Knicks won against the Dallas Mavericks 104-97. Lin expressed,
I don’t think it was on purpose. At the same time, they’ve apologized. I don’t care anymore.
ESPN wrote,
We again apologize, especially to Mr. Lin. His accomplishments are a source of great pride to the Asian American community, including the Asian American employees at ESPN.
Through self-examination, improved editorial practices and controls, and response to constructive criticism, we will be better in the future,” ESPN said.
Although we never will know what the true intentions were of the writer and copy-editors who wrote and approved that headline, let this be a hard lesson to ESPN that no matter what time of day or night something of that level is posted, it will get out there. Power of the internet, people.
When in doubt, just don’t write it. It’s just never worth taking the risk, using slang terms and phrases that could just potentially offend anyone. While sensational reporting may very well grab the attention of online readers, it is just never worth someone risking their career for something as silly and easily avoidable as submitting that controversial, four-word headline. What a writer might believe is a subtle pun or punchline might be taken critically and offend someone else.
And to have some (hopefully) closure, I close with a thought-provoking comment from AngryAsianMan:
I guess that’s an important component of how Jeremy Lin has inadvertently opened up the dialogue on what it means to be Asian in America. With all the hero worship and scrutiny of number 17, the lone Asian face on the court, will people think twice about making a dumbass Asian comment? I wouldn’t hold my breath, but like I said, it’s a start.
Courtesy of Yahoo! News, AngryAsianMan.com, and CNN.
