Writers, Co-Workers Defend Erin Andrews' Reporting, Work Style
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| Members Of Media Defend ESPN's Andrews |
ESPN's Erin Andrews last week faced criticism about her behavior during a Cubs-Brewers game, but it is "not fair to suggest Andrews is a bimbo who is lost in a sports atmosphere," according to Charles Elmore of the PALM BEACH POST. There is a "gawky, tomboyish quality to Andrews that offsets the supermodel aura, and gives her a different dimension, almost sisterly." ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit said of Andrews, "She works very hard to prepare, and she's like one of the guys." Elmore writes despite the criticism, Andrews "will survive all this just fine" (PALM BEACH POST, 8/6). In Orlando, David Whitley wrote under the header, "Don't Blame The Women For ESPN Hiring Practices." Andrews does "as fine a job as any male reporter ESPN trots out," but the "difference is many of them have the advantage of looking like John Clayton." But if ESPN "wants people to believe it doesn't hire based on looks, it should stop hiring only good-looking women" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 8/5). In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein writes Andrews "happens to be both lovely and an exceedingly competent sideline reporter." GateHouse News Service's Mike Nadel, who penned the critical column last week, said that he has received "about 200 e-mails" in response, and that they "ran 60-40 against him." FSN Wisconsin's Trenni Kusnierek, who also covered the Cubs-Brewers game, said of Andrews, "I wish she'd realize how damaging it is to an entire gender when she carries herself in that manner. It sets us all back to a time where female sports reporters were all seen as husband hunters who were only in the business to catch a cheap glance" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 8/6).
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