Originally published at: ESPN Backs Beijing? Memo Shows Network ‘Forbids’ Talk of Chinese Politics Following NBA Fallout | Sean Hannity
A recently released internal memo from ESPN is raising eyebrows among sports fans across the country; revealing the network “forbids” discussion of Chinese politics after Beijing’s latest bout with a General Manager from the NBA.
“Chuck Salituro, the senior news director of ESPN, sent a memo to shows mandating that any discussion of the Daryl Morey story avoid any political discussions about China and Hong Kong, and instead focus on the related basketball issues. The memo, obtained by Deadspin, explicitly discouraged any political discussion about China and Hong Kong. Multiple ESPN sources confirmed to Deadspin that network higher-ups were keeping a close eye on how the topic was discussed on ESPN’s airwaves,” reports Deadspin.
ESPN is set to broadcast from China this week. The woke league with the woke broadcasting network. All shilling for Chinese communists. Y’all think they’ll say anything at all? Ha ha. The hypocrisy is crazy. When the NBA pulled out of Charlotte ESPN praised them to high heavens. pic.twitter.com/Y3ZySBJc7c
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) October 7, 2019
It gets worse. ESPN, which is majority owned by Disney, forbade discussion of Chinese politics in its coverage of the NBA China scandal, according to this @laurawags scoop. https://t.co/xOLsNhvPUZ
— Isaac Stone Fish (@isaacstonefish) October 8, 2019
The controversy began when the General Manager of the Houston Rockets posted -then deleted- a pro-democracy tweet in support of Hong Kong demonstrators.
The Chinese government immediately canceled a series of NBA broadcasts; calling the comments a threat to their “sovereignty.”
“Any summary of the tensions between China and Hong Kong is going to be necessarily reductive, but a summary of what’s actually going on at least provides basic context for the rest of the discussion. The idea that Chinese politics are simply too complex to talk about on sports TV just isn’t convincing,” adds Deadspin.
Read the full story here.
