National Sports Journalism Center

"The arrogance of newspapers is galling," The Big Lead writes. "For years, they have let their biggest names – for instance, Tony Kornheiser and Mike Wilbon of the Washington Post, Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, Bill Plaschke and J.A. Adande at the LA Times, Stephen A. Smith when he wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, etc – appear on ESPN TV shows and radio shows in the name of ‘exposure” for the paper.’ . . . ESPN has helped make some of these writers national “stars” and in some cases, they have done less for their newspaper (Wilbon), or left it altogether (Kornheiser, Adande, Smith). . . . Now that ESPN is penetrating regional and local markets and going directly after advertising money that newspapers have been hemorrhaging for years, isn’t it time for editors to see ESPN as a legitimate, local, rival?"