I wanted to talk a little about the Ray Rice domestic abuse charges he is facing as it pertains to sports broadcasting. When you are in a position where you in the public eye constantly you have to very careful in what you say or do. Ray Rice was recently suspended by the National Football League for knocking his then fiancee (now wife) out. What I want to talk about is a sportscaster who made comments on the incident.
Ted Robinson, a long time broadcaster for the San Francisco 49ers, was recently suspended for comments he made about the situation. "The 57-year-old Robinson spoke to KNBR radio on Monday and said Rice's now-wife, Janay, was partly to blame for not speaking up" (Associated Press para. 2). When dealing with a delicate situation such as domestic abuse Robinson should have been more careful with what he had to say publicly. It does not matter if that is what he believes, his job is to present the facts as they are and not speculate and give his opinion on the matter for the simple fact that it could offend many people. In this case that is exactly what happened. People who have suffered through domestic abuse consider themselves to be victims of a vicious act and there was nothing that they could do to stop it. Robinson has since apologized for his remarks.
I just wanted to bring this particular situation to light to show other potential and current sports broadcasters that what they say on air can affect their job. Robinson was lucky he was only suspended because in some cases the person has been fired for their remarks. Just be mindful of the situation at hand and think of the potential consequences of an action before acting.
Associated Press, . "San Francisco 49ers radio broadcaster suspended for comments about Ray Rice's fiancee." Fox News. FOX News Network, LLC, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 17 Oct. 2014. <http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/09/11/san-francisco-4ers-radio-broadcaster-suspended-over-comments-about-ray-rice/>.
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