The latest example of this is ESPN, the so called world wide leader in sports. That company, which is owned by Disney (ESPN, LLC is 72 percent owned by The Walt Disney Company, 18 percent by Hearst, and 10 percent by the National Football League as of March 11, 2026) continued with staff layoffs this week and some big names were axed, including longtime baseball guy Karl Ravech and also NFL insider Tom Pelissero, who was a big kahuna with NFL Network, before they were absorbed by ESPN in recent months. Along with them, Ryan Clark (NFL Live on ESPN), Cam Newton, David Lloyd (SportsCenter), Stephania Bell, Bart Scott (NFL coverage) and Charles Davis, who like Pelissero, was with NFL Network before the merger, were also let go. And just three years ago, the ESPN network fired Suzy Kolber while NFL Network let go of Michael Irvin from the Sunday GameDay Morning show, which stunned many viewers.
These media/corporate mergers are a bullshit and should be condemned as such as the news media and the like continue to go in the direction of monopolies in this country. Monopolies were declared illegal a long time ago and back in the early 1980s, the phone companies were broken up into several smaller entities to prevent such things from happening. But that was back when the U.S. had a moral compass and big business was regulated so it couldn't just run rampant and go roughshod on the citizens of this country in pursuit of their greed.
That is not the case any longer.
Ever since that God forsaken decision by the U.S. Supreme Court called "Citizens United" in 2010 that allowed corporations to donate unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns, this country has gone to hell in rapid fashion. The SCOTUS got it all wrong with that one, but remember that current SCOTUS justice Clarence Thomas was in on that one and he has been taking bribe money from Southern millionaire mogul Harlan Crow for decades, so that explains a lot. Point is the rule of law in this country has gone out the window for the most part and that is the main reason for who is in the White House right now and why the media sucks in this country.
Money. Money. Money.
Having been a member of the fourth estate many years ago, I started seeing the writing on the wall back in the early to mid 1990s and exited stage left by my own choice. I wasn't selling out to corporate greed and being a puppet for the system. No way, no how.
As a member of the media from 1989 to 1995 while also serving a role with a professional sports team, I was definitely in a unique spot, especially for that time when local media wasn't gushing to be in on the good side of said local sports teams. In other words, being boot lickers which was a term thrown at now Baseball Hall-of-Fame broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson back in the early 1990s when he was blasted for his style of play calling for the Chicago White Sox. He even made fun of himself by waving black and white pom poms during a game to counter his many critics at the time.
It really is sad to see the gradual takeover by corporate media in this country and that continues to ooze into the sports world after so many news media outlets have been gobbled up by these corporations that continue to want to dominate how things are presented to the masses.
Remembering the late George Carlin comedy bit about it all.
Infotainment was a term designated to the industry many years ago as the news coverage became more and more maudlin in presentation over time (a perfect example of that is right where I live in Chicago with the WGN Morning News on TV, which is an embarrassment with the way they present news) to viewing audiences. Entertain people like a bunch of clowns and in recent years, ESPN and also NFL Network Sunday pre-game coverage of pro football has gone off the rails with the stupidity and buffoonery of the skits they do.
Just cover the games and enough with silliness and one-upsmanship presented to viewers. It really saddens me to have to write this way, but it is the candid truth and I am not swayed in presenting as such seeing how things are in modern day coverage. Bring on the bombastic Pat McAfee, Stephen A. Smith and others from NFL Network merger to entertain people is the way the suits at ESPN see things.
No corporate boot licking here. Never has been and never will be. There have been numerous advertisers that reached out to me through the years to present themselves on this blog, but I politely refused.
No monetization on Heftyinfo, which I started as a hobby in 2009 and continues to stay in that lane in my retirement as I see it as the best way for me.
The suits in charge at ESPN and other media in this country have no clue what they are doing as they only care about money. The hell with journalistic integrity.
It is sensationalism they are peddling disguised as journalism.
Money, money, money is all they care about. Sell it at all costs to the stupid American public is their mantra.
The hell with any ethics in news/sports coverage.
Do what we demand or else . . . My way or the highway.
Sounds a lot like Trump and company in Washington, D.C. politics.
The greed has been around forever though as is human nature and it continues to get worse.
I can remember when I was twelve years old and wanting to be involved in some capacity in sports to make a living when I was old enough to do so. I recall there were competing sports magazines at the time (and many of them to choose from at that) but in particular Sports Illustrated and Sport Magazine were the two main competitors for sports nuts back then. There were articles written in each publication in the 1977-78 time span about how greed was ruining sports. And how right they were nearly 50 years ago when those pieces were published.
Fast forward to today as it continually worsened with the games and in particular college sports, which have become an abomination of what they were as an amateur status decades ago. That topic would require writing a book to go over that history.
Again, having been a member of the media (sports coverage was my area) decades ago and also being a part of the three-peat NBA champion Chicago Bulls Organization (from 1987-1995) as the sound engineer/Bulls DJ at old Chicago Stadium and part of the first season in 1994-95 at the United Center in the Windy City, I was able to experience first hand the best of both worlds. Championship teams and the spoils of it all while also covering the events. Definitely a unique situation and many memories came from that time. Proud to have been a part of it all and again I speak from experience when I see the current state of events regrading the media in the present day.
And it isn't good.
Not from this retired American's vantage point.
What will happen going forward remains to be seen, but as for the corporate greed which will only continue to escalate, I wish all involved the best. But they must do so at their own peril because what they have is definitely a gift and they should choose wisely in their role as the fourth estate or else one day they just might be on the wrong side of history.
Be well sports and news brethren and in the words of media legend Edward R. Murrow . . .
Good night and good luck.
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