Two Black sports journalists no longer have jobs at major outlets. Longtime NFL insider Josina Anderson has been released from ESPN and Jason Whitock didn’t renew his contract with Fox.
Anderson will be replaced by five other reporters including Field Yates, Jeremy Fowler, Dan Graziano, Dianna Russini, and newcomer Kimberley Martin, Touchdown Wire reported.
The 41-year-old sports journalist had been with ESPN for nearly nine years. And although her work was highly regarded, “she ran into trouble at times with ESPN executives,” The New York Post reported. “After the Myles Garrett incident in which the Browns defensive lineman hit Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph with Rudolph’s helmet, Anderson tweeted, ‘I would bet Myles Garrett will say he heard Mason Rudolph call him something egregious. Never seen Garrett act like that, ever.'”
“She also tweeted out an image in which she said Rudolph grabbed Garrett in a private area. She later apologized for it and said other angles proved her original tweet was incorrect,” The New York Post reported.
Many social media users said the writing was on the wall for Anderson, especially after her controversial tweet.
Still, she was popular. One person questioned the reason for her departure, “She was awesome, but another Black woman gone from that network. You gotta toe the party line you know.”
Another tweeted, “really thought she did a great job.”
Meanwhile, Jason Whitlock is gone from Fox Sports (FS1). He is the former co-host of the popular show “Speak For Yourself” (SFY) with Marcellus Wiley. Whitlock’s contract expired on May 31 and the sides were not able to come to terms on a new deal.
Whitlock joined FS1 in 2016. Outkick The Coverage’s Ryan Glasspiegel and Bobby Burack broke the news of Whitlock’s departure. Some considered Whitlock a “polarizing” host.
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His show, however, was gaining viewers. As Outkick sports reporter Bobby Burack tweeted, “Before the pandemic hit, Speak for Yourself had been garnering viewership momentum. It did a good job providing football conversation this past year up against The Jump and High Noon.”
Whitlock has removed any mention of Speak for Yourself or FS1 from his Twitter profile, The Spun reported.
