BROADCAST BIAS: Sophie Cunningham takes a hit, but ABC, NBC dodge WNBA’s transgender sports fight
On the morning of Aug. 8, ABC’s "Good Morning America" was celebrating the Women’s National Basketball Association. ABC is one of several networks that air WNBA games nationwide. ABC’s Rachel Scott asked: "What's the biggest WNBA story right now that fans should be paying attention to?" ESPN’s Holly Rowe replied, "It’s going to be really hard to make the playoffs."
Within hours, a bigger story erupted: Indiana Fever basketball player Sophie Cunningham was brutally whacked in the face going up for a layup after the press decided she was controversial for wanting to keep women's basketball limited to women. Chicago Sky player DiJonai Carrington was ejected from the game. She then rushed into the locker room and blamed "White privilege" for the ejection.
The broadcast networks didn’t want to cover this development, either as a sportsmanship or culture-war issue. There was one network willing to report a few times on the WNBA facing the issue of men in women’s sports: CBS, which might explain why liberals cast aspersions on its editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.
On July 29, "CBS Evening News" fill-in anchor Matt Gutman reported on how the WNBA suspended Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton for yelling at two girls supporting Cunningham’s position when the Fever came to town. The girls said Keaton called them "f---ing insane."
Reporter Jan Crawford explained: "Cunningham, known for fearlessly defending teammate Caitlin Clark on the court, is the first active professional female athlete to speak out against transgender females in women's sports. In an ESPN profile earlier this month, Cunningham says girls in sports shouldn't have to go against biological men."
Then came a sound-bite of Cunningham: "I said what I said. I think it's kind of common sense. And I think I'll always believe in that." Crawford added that when Cunningham was asked if her words could sound "anti-transgender," she replied, "I have never once said I hated the trans community. Like I said, I think there's space for everyone." Men always have the space of men’s sports.
The "CBS Evening News" and Crawford returned to the story on Aug. 10, two days after Cunningham was whacked on the court. Crawford relayed: "Fans on both sides of that debate have been vocal. And trying to prove a point, two former NBA players said they would identify as women and declare for the WNBA draft." After a soundbite of Enes Kanter Freedom saying he declared for the WNBA draft, Crawford added: "The firestorm has put a harsh spotlight on the WNBA with critics saying the league wasn’t ready for its explosion of popularity."
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NPR sounded annoyed when they raised the issue briefly in a sports roundup on their morning news program "Weekend Edition Saturday" on Aug. 15.
Co-host Eyder Peralta noted the Cunningham controversy and that WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that a task force of team executives would meet to discuss "transgender participation" (men) in women’s sports. But he made it sound unnecessary: "Now, we should point out that the WNBA has never had any known transgender athletes. Michele, the WNBA has seen explosive growth in recent years, but it seems like the league is also struggling to keep the spotlight on the court, doesn't it?"
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Ex-ESPN reporter Michele Steele replied: "Yeah. The league's on-the-court story is genuinely great, but the off-the-court noise keeps competing for that headline." Disagreeing with leftist orthodoxy is "noise."
Steele continued: "And you said it yourself, the WNBA has never had a known transgender player. Now, the task force just cannot unilaterally announce they're going to change eligibility because this is collectively bargained with the players' union, so they can study the question on transgender players, but they can't hand down a new rule. Their statement was very pointed this week, denouncing bad-faith efforts to use these topics to demean and marginalize others. They're very clearly frustrated, Eyder, at being pulled into this."
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WNBA games are now becoming a forum for people supporting Cunningham’s position to advocate against the woke position, and league officials can only call it a "bad-faith" effort to "marginalize" biological men claiming to be women. It’s somehow not in "bad faith" to pretend to be a woman when you’re not. Kanter is engaged in a "stunt," but men who sincerely "identify" as women are not.
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The WNBA met to discuss "transgender participation," but somehow couldn’t agree on a policy. On Aug. 20, AP reported Engelbert complained, "We're being the center of political football for people who have never watched the WNBA, never have written about the WNBA or reported on the WNBA. … There's always going to be haters out there, and we denounce it."
So, the league has a position on what a "hater" is, but not on what a woman is.