For nearly 24 hours through Friday afternoon, a "slice of the sports world was engaged in a Twitter uprising to force ESPN to end its reported suspension" of college football reporter Bruce Feldman, according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES. Thousands of Twitter posts were "expended in the #freebruce campaign, which rose to No. 4 on Twitter’s trends list," and ESPN on Friday said that it "had never suspended or disciplined Feldman." But after the flurry of Twitter posts Thursday from "other writers, bloggers, media folks, readers, fans and bystanders," the key question is whether a "social media storm" played a role in ESPN's ultimate decision. The network's "slow response to the #freebruce revolt emboldened the pro-Feldman forces." Sandomir: "Why not cut them off with a quick rebuke ('Bruce Feldman has not been suspended') Thursday night before the Twitter posts swelled?" ESPN execs and PR officials "were on their way back from Wednesday’s ESPYs show." Still, ESPN’s "three-sentence statement did not come" until 3:00pm ET, almost 24 hours after the initial report of his suspension, and it "was not accompanied by an executive explaining anything on the record" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/16). CBSSPORTS.com's Adam Jacobi wrote the idea that Feldman "was never under any disciplinary action, frankly, strains credulity." It took 20 hours for ESPN "to address this issue, and it's one that could have been resolved in, well, minutes" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/15).
