ESPN ditches their 'stick to sports' policy, politics are now fair game

If you're like most hockey fans, you flip on the game to get away from the world a bit. You turn on the game, watch some hockey and just forget about all of your troubles for 20 minutes at a time. Personally, when I'm watching hockey I'm not worried about my bank account, my sore back, the oil change that I'm overdue for... I just sit and watch some hockey. And, frankly, I'm at peace with the world when I'm watching hockey. 

When I'm watching hockey I couldn't care less about what Donald Trump said, what Justin Trudeau is up to or whoever the media has decided to "cancel" on any given day. In other words: I watch hockey to watch hockey. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. I'll assume that most hockey fans see things similarly. 

When NHL players instituted a two day walk-out last month, I'll admit that at first I was annoyed. What's it going to accomplish, was my first thought. But, being an open minded person, I listened to what the players were saying and tried to see things differently. To be honest, I'm still not sure where I stand on things but the fact of the matter is that the NHL's two-day protest took me out of my own comfortable bubble and forced me to look at things differently. If that's more your cup of tea, well buckle up because it looks like more social activism could be coming to your sports coverage. 

CNN media analyst Kerry Flynn reported today that sports broadcasting giant ESPN has effectively dropped its "stick to sports" policy and will now allow its writers and broadcasters to openly express their political opinions in writing and live on-air.

"We have said we aren't covering pure politics, but clearly we cover it when it intersects with sports, including in the last 24 hours as the sports world became a focal point of social unrest," ESPN spokesperson Mike Soltys told Flynn during the NHL's protest.

 While ESPN's coverage of the NHL is mostly on life support, it'll be interesting to see how their new policy affects the way in which other broadcasters report on sports. Imagine NBC, Sportsnet or TSN spicing up their broadcasts with overt political activism. Is this the way we want sports broadcasting to go?

For the full article from Flynn, click below: