Sarah Huckabee Sanders Calls Out ESPN For Hypocrisy In Treatment Of Jemele Hill Vs. Linda Cohn

Last year, ESPN fired outspoken conservative Curt Schilling for posting an anti-transgender meme to his Facebook page in violation of ESPN's no-politics rule, which has since been revised somewhat. Ex-ESPN reporter Britt McHenry has implied that her conservative views might have resulting in her being included in the April ESPN layoffs, and there is also speculation that NFL legend Mike Ditka was let go after criticizing Obama.

For whatever reason or combination of reasons, Disney-owned ESPN reportedly loses about 10,000 cord-cutting subscribers every day and lost about 13 million subscribers in the past six years. Cable and satellite providers charge each customer $7 a month for the ESPN channels, so the loss of income for ESPN — which is on the hook for $7 billion to $8 billion in telecast rights fees due various sports leagues — is massive. The red ink resulted in the above-mentioned April layoffs of about 100 public-facing employees, including on-air anchors, commentators, and website writers.

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ESPN President John Skipper issued a lengthy memo yesterday in which he stressed that the network is not a political organization, and that the company's social media policies require staffers to avoid making inflammatory or personal comments. Perhaps suggesting that ESPN is not supposed to be a Worldwide Leader in politics, he also underscored that employees can express themselves when "sports and politics intersect." He noted, too, without being specific, that a violation of company standards occurred recently.

In a long essay posted on the ESPN website today, its own public editor Jim Brady argued that the sports network has work to do when it comes to internal ideological or intellectual diversity in the aftermath of the Jemele Hill controversy.

"As to the larger question of ESPN's overall political climate, I still stand by what I wrote late last year: If you consume as much of ESPN's content as I have for the past 22 months, it seems clear the company leans left. I don't think anyone ever made an executive decision to go that route as much as the personalities the network has promoted into high-profile positions tend to be more liberal, and as their voices are amplified, the overall voice has shifted with it. But I still think it's a problem that needs to be addressed if ESPN plans to better navigate the intersection of sports, politics and culture, and if it wants to hold onto a larger share of its audience in these days of unbundling."

If you are a sports fan, are you watching ESPN the same, more, or less than you used to?

[Featured Image by Carolyn Kaster/AP Images]