NBC Sports President Dick Ebersol said yesterday that
Bob Costas' comments that NBC doesn't fulfill a journalistic
role when it televises the NBA were taken out of context,
according to Mike Bruton in the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER.
Ebersol, who added that he had spoken to Costas and there
was "no problem," said the AP story neglected to mention the
manner in which the question that preceded Costas' answer
was asked. Ebersol: "They left out the whole setup to it,
which is whether there's a conflict between being a business
partner and journalism. There is no question there's a
vetting process which is totally conducted by me not the
producers. ... I cannot think of a single major issue in the
seven years we'd been partners with the NBA that we have not
looked at if from both sides." Ebersol cited that Costas
has had "contentious interviews" with NBA Commissioner David
Stern on the air and noted NBC's coverage of the NBA's labor
problems last spring (PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER, 2/28).
WHAT ABOUT BOB? In N.Y., the POST's Phil Mushnick says
Costas "merely stated the obvious." Mushnick: "NBC Sports
under Ebersol has served as a promotional tool of all the
sports it carries. ... Unfortunately, Costas is one of the
very few sportscasters secure enough to offer such candor."
Costas: "Dick and I have occasional philosophical
differences, but he's a good friend and I owe him a lot"
(N.Y. POST, 2/28). The DAILY NEWS' Bob Raissman notes
Costas' "remarks clearly indicated a certain amount of
frustration in dealing with the parameters of an
organization" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/28).
