In the latest entry for ESPN as part of the Poynter Review Project, Jason Fry discussed ESPN's apologies and actions following a racial slur used multiple times last week during coverage of Knicks G Jeremy Lin's star turn and sees "one as a lapse in judgment by an editor working without a net and the other two as terribly timed slips of the tongue." All three incidents "involved the phrase 'chink in the armor.'" ESPN online editor Anthony Federico was fired after using the phrase in a headline, and ESPN VP/Mobile Content Anthony Mormile said, "Anthony had no concept, no awareness that could be construed as a potentially explosive headline." ESPN Senior VP/Editorial, Print & Digital Media Rob King said that on the web side, "lead content packages and headlines go through a copy desk before they’re pushed live, and a copy editor is always there when a home page editor is working." But he added the mobile team does not have “that level of oversight." King: "You had one person making a move that a lot of people could see.” ESPN suspended anchor Max Bretos for using the phrase on air last Wednesday, and ESPN Exec VP/Production John Wildhack said that the decisions involving Federico and Bretos "were reached after 'a number of conversations.'" Wildhack added while the "subject matter was the same, we looked at each incident on its own." Fry noted one "potential factor in the severity of the punishments: Earlier in the week, racial sensitivity regarding the Lin storyline was a topic in the company’s monthly editorial board meeting, and ESPN issued a memo to all its content groups urging staffers to be cognizant of how Lin was discussed -- a directive that was revisited in a Friday staff meeting." Fry wrote the 30-day suspension of Bretos "strikes us as too harsh, though." Looking at the clip of Bretos’ comments, there is "no sign he was trying to be snarky or clever, and an on-air reporter must think, listen and talk in real time, with no chance to review his or her words." Fry: "Reconsidering Bretos’ sentence would neither undermine ESPN's speedy and forthright response to these incidents nor damage its efforts to make sure such a thing doesn’t happen again." The third incident involved Knicks radio announcer Spero Dedes, who said the phrase on ESPN Radio 1050 N.Y. on Friday. Dedes is "employed by MSG Network, which produces the Knicks' radio broadcasts" (ESPN.com, 2/21).

DO THE PUNISHMENTS FIT THE CRIMES? In N.Y., Richard Sandomir notes in "comparing the ESPN punishments, it is likely that Bretos got off lighter because he used the phrase live and had no time to take it back." But Federico "had time to rewrite the headline if he realized his error" (N.Y. TIMES, 2/22). In Sacramento, Brian Blomster writes, "This is about being mature enough to recognize that choosing a better word for a headline or phrase is a small price for helping maintain an environment that values all parts of a complicated whole." Instead of firing Federico and suspending Bretos, ESPN "should have made those responsible for the Lin fiasco undergo extensive diversity training and then put them back to work having learned a hard, valuable lesson" (SACBEE.com, 2/22). USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes when it comes to Lin, "maybe the best thing for news media members is to avoid cliches" (USA TODAY, 2/22). SI.com’s Richard Deitsch wrote critics "can debate" the punishments handed out to Federico and Bretos, but what "isn't up for debate is the speed and proactive approach ESPN took soon after the offensive headline went up and down.” Fans heard from ESPN's “top digital content executive, it apologized on multiple platforms and the company's PR staff updated its statement multiple times.” ESPN can “often be clumsy with damage control as we saw in the Bruce Feldman situation” but in this case, the net “has been proactive” (SI.com, 2/21).

DEDES NOT SUSPENDED BY MSG: In N.Y., Marc Berman reports Dedes "has been disciplined but not suspended by MSG" for his remarks. An MSG Network statement read in part, "We took appropriate disciplinary action." Berman notes it is believed that Dedes "was fined and won’t miss any games." Meanwhile this is the "second strike for Dedes, in his first season with the Knicks after leaving the Lakers." He was "arrested for DWI on July 4 in the Hamptons" (N.Y. POST, 2/22).

UNIQUE COVERAGE FOR UNIQUE SITUATION: NBA.com’s David Aldridge wrote Lin's rise to fame “would not be covered the same way if a black kid did what Jeremy Lin is doing.” But it “wasn't covered the same way when Tiger Woods started doing what Jack Nicklaus did.” Aldridge: “That's the whole point. Jeremy Lin is different. ... Lin's ethnicity isn't the only thing that makes him different. And that's why his story, and his success, have resonated with so many people.” This story “transcends basketball, and if you don't believe that, you haven't been watching the ‘Today Show’ on NBC, or ‘Good Morning America’ on ABC, or reading that bastion of sports journalism, The Wall Street Journal” (NBA.com, 2/20).

The TV ratings increases for the NBA this season have “shockingly picked up right where they left off, and then some," despite the lockout that resulted in just a 66-game schedule, according to Tim Baysinger of BROADCASTING & CABLE. Over last year’s corresponding coverage, the NBA’s ratings “are up 21% on ESPN, 24% on TNT and 18% on ABC.” The news is “just as good at the local level, with a 19% bump for NBA contests across all regional sports networks.” Ratings are up 57% on NBA TV, which has seen distribution grow more than any cable network since the start of the year. NBA Commissioner David Stern “admitted he was surprised at the league’s ability to quickly put the lockout behind it.” He said, “It’s what we hoped for, but had no reason to expect. I think our fans are giving us the benefit of the doubt.” Turner President of Sales, Distribution & Sports David Levy said that while he “was confident fans would return eventually, he wasn’t sure how quickly it would happen.” Levy: “We always knew there was (great) strength in the brand. What I didn’t really know was how the fans would react and would there be any backlash from the lockout.” ESPN Exec VP/Programming & Acquisitions Norby Williamson: “I think anytime you have a situation like that, you’re not sure to what level things will carry over.” Baysinger noted due to G Jeremy Lin's emergence, the Knicks "have become a national draw,” and with “great teams and/or players in Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas and Miami, there is big-time basketball in many big-time markets.” The NBA’s ratings surge is “not just on the national level, as teams across the league are experiencing huge local ratings increases.” Making some of the “biggest gains” are the T'Wolves, whose ratings “have jumped 141% on Fox Sports North, no doubt buoyed by the exciting play of flashy Spanish import Ricky Rubio" (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 2/20 issue).

THE LIN EFFECT: Starcom Worldwide Senior VP & Dir of Sports Activation Sam Sussman said, “We see audience ‘Lincreasing’ across the board. We expected ratings to be strong, but then increases have pleasantly surpassed expectations.” Buyers said that while Lin is “already boosting ratings in the Big Apple, his story hasn’t yet started generating big money for the league, or for ESPN or Turner Broadcasting’s TNT.” Optimedia Senior VP/National Broadcast Maureen Bosetti said, “I’m sure they didn’t factor that into their estimates,” when upfront sales were done. She said in the scatter market, “It could be worth a good amount of money” (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 2/20 issue).

HBO has “finalized an agreement with Top Rank to produce and distribute” the Manny Pacquiao-Tim Bradley Jr. fight June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, according to Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. The Pacquiao-Bradley rights comes less than a week after HBO secured the rights to Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto fight May 5 fight at the MGM Grand. Showtime was “in the running to land Mayweather-Cotto, but it did not come as much of a surprise that Pacquiao-Bradley landed at HBO.” Pacquiao had been “a staple on HBO PPV in recent years until Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and president Todd duBoef took him to rival Showtime PPV for his May 2011 fight against Shane Mosley.” Pacquiao's defection to Showtime “ultimately was a major reason" why former HBO President Ross Greenburg “was forced out in July and replaced with” former Showtime Sports GM Ken Hershman. Arum “brought Pacquiao back to HBO for his November pay-per-view fight against Juan Manuel Marquez" (ESPN.com, 2/21).

THE TIME IS NOW: MULTICHANNEL NEWS’ R. Thomas Umstead noted the “clock is ticking” on a potential Mayweather-Pacquiao bout and the “fight’s potential value.” Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions can “only cry wolf for so long before people stop responding.” The public has a “very short attention span and even less tolerance for nonsense.” They will “only hold out hope for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight for so long before they move on.” And they “won’t continue to ante up $60 to $70 each time Mayweather or Pacquiao get in the ring against other fighters.” It will be “interesting to see whether Mayweather-Pacquiao fatigue will set in when the buy-rate returns” for both Mayweather-Cotto and Pacquiao-Bradley (MULTICHANNEL.com, 2/20).

THE BIG LEAD's Jason McIntyre reported ESPN Radio's "The Scott Van Pelt Show" co-host Ryen Russillo was "suspended by ESPN for an undetermined period of time following his Super Bowl incident with a Boston radio host." A source said that Russillo was "suspended, but details are being kept private." Another source said that Russillo was "on scheduled vacation last week," which led McIntyre to believe he was suspended Monday and Tuesday. The night before the Super Bowl, Russillo "nearly got into a fight" with WEEI-AM's John Dennis (THEBIGLEAD.com, 2/21).

BLANK SCREEN: In K.C., Blair Kerkhoff notes for the "second straight week, Time Warner Cable of Kansas City subscribers missed part of ESPN’s 'Big Monday' game featuring Big 12 teams." Instead of seeing Baylor’s "come from behind victory over Texas on Monday, screens went mostly black in the first half, and the game never returned." A "similar problem happened a week earlier, when the first half of the Kansas-Kansas State game from Manhattan wasn’t available." After last week’s problem, TWC of K.C. "apologized and explained through a news release that a receiver failed to respond to a change in satellite frequencies initiated by ESPN." A TWC spokesperson yesterday could not be reached for comment (K.C. STAR, 2/22).

SUIT UP! SI has generated 4.9 million unique visitors to its Swimsuit channel on SI.com, 44% higher than last year, and second largest audience to the channel in the last five years. SI.com also generated a company-record 34.5 million video views of its '12 Swimsuit content since its release a week ago. And SI's free Swimsuit iPhone application has generated more than 482,000 downloads, ranking as high as No. 1 on iTunes rankings among free sports applications, and No. 8 among free applications overall (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).

NETTING A WIN: DAILY VARIETY's Nick Vivarelli reported Sky Italia has "won a key ruling over World Cup soccer rights against rival Mediaset Premium." A Paris arbitration court has "rejected Mediaset's legal suit claiming that Sky broke EU competition rules by snapping up all rights to the FIFA 2010 South Africa World Cup tournament, and refusing to resell the DTT rights, which it did not use." The ruling "ups the ante for future soccer bidding wars between Sky and Mediaset Premium" (VARIETY.com, 2/21).

FIELD REPORTING: Comcast SportsNet yesterday announced the net's Gregg Murphy has been added to the Phillies broadcast team as a field reporter for the '12 season. Murphy will occasionally provide analysis on Comcast SportsNet's news and Phillies programs including "SportsNite," "Daily News Live," "Phillies Pregame Live" and "Phillies Postgame Live" (Comcast SportsNet).