6 ms·

On every comment thread about ESPN's subscriber losses, I see comments like these, which are attached to this Post story: "I stopped watching both ESPN and the

On every comment thread about ESPN's subscriber losses, I see comments like these, which are attached to this Post story: "I stopped watching both ESPN and the NFL because of their liberal politics." "What a shock.ESPN pushes it's liberal agenda at every turn alienating half your audience and are suprised subscribers are canceling in droves." "Way more than half. Most ESPN viewers are/were male. You'd expect common sense to prevail at some point and lead them to restrain themselves from committing ratings suicide, but leftists just can't seem to help it." "ESPN has driven millions of viewers and subscribers away because of their incessant shoving of their leftist politics in our faces. Whenever I want to watch a game on ESPN, I'm instead subjected to lectures about gay "marriage," Castro, alleged "police brutality," and Bruce Jenner's constitutional right to shower with other people's teenage daughters. ESPN can now be easily mistaken for a rerun of the Democratic National Convention, why bother to watch it?" "Amazing, not one single word about what is by far the biggest reason for ESPN's current demise. It has become PMSNBC. Every talking head, show host, etc. knows that if they do not toe the Liberal fascist party line, they will be Schillinged." "ESPN has become a liberal voice in politics. I no longer listen but on watch sports. It has failed its mission." The conservative half of our country is not happy with ESPN.

alistproducer2 10y ago
I don't think the kind of person that says things like that are cord cutters (which you have to be to stop subscribing to ESPN). These are just run of the mill assholes trying to make a point. The real reason ESPN is losing people is young people just aren't signing up for cable anymore. EDIT: I should point out that WaPo is pretty much a magnet for right-wing trolling b/c of election and being Bezos-owned. Incendiary comments from the right are par for the course on every WaPo article.
- narrator 10y ago
  Michael Jordan once said that the reason he doesn't talk about politics is that Republicans buy sneakers too.
  - AlexMax 10y ago
    He seems to have changed his mind in recent years: http://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-longer-stay-silent/ http://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-lo...
  - kenjackson 10y ago
    He never actually said it. A myth.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- CptJamesCook 10y ago
  I agree that people won't cord cut over this issue. Cord cutting is about saving $1000/year and still being able to get 90% of the content online. Still, I don't see how it does ESPN any good to be so liberal. The powers that be at the network must see this criticism in every story and consider the option of becoming less political. I expect this to happen in 2017.
  - matthewbauer 10y ago
    What political stances have they taken?
    - georgemcbay 10y ago
      AFAICT, the way these sorts of internet conservatives see it is if you don't spend the majority of your time complaining about Obamacare, claiming climate change is a hoax, and calling for the end of all government regulations, you're a heavily biased far-left liberal socialist.
      - CptJamesCook 10y ago
        http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/767/inside-and-out-espn-dealing-with-changing-political-dynamics http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/767/inside-and-... ESPN's own public editor stated that the company has alienated consumers with its move to the left.
poink 10y ago
Is it just me, or does it feel like "conservatives" have finally discovered the internet? Over the last few months, it feels like friggin everything has become Obama's fault, or suddenly "leftists" are responsible for X. I'm not trying to be combative, or start a political argument. I have my own political leanings, sure, but I derive no joy from bitching about it on the internet. I just know that everything I read on a daily basis has veered to the right in the last few months. Is this a cultural shift, or a demographic that was relatively unheard in this medium asserting itself for the first time? I'm not making a value judgement either way, just wondering. (Don't get me wrong, shit like Conservapedia has been around for years now. But most of the stuff I read, for better or worse, has been pro-social justice, pro-multiculturalism, etc. until now. Do fewer people buy into that nowadays? Or is what I'm seeing the result of more people participating?)
- alistproducer2 10y ago
  DT's "victory" has encouraged a lot of folks to feel like they can speak their mind freely. For many, the "victory" is a symbol. It says "you are not alone." It's not that there's any more of them than there were last year; now they feel like they're on the right side of things and are feeling confident. In hindsight, I observed the same thing with Obama's two terms. A lot of talk about rape culture, safe spaces, etc. Everyone who didn't agree was out of step with where America was really going and was gonna be left behind. So they thought... That side felt really emboldened and overplayed their cultural hands. Now it's the right's turn to over estimate how much everyone agrees with them.
- CarpetBench 10y ago
  It's almost certainly multi-faceted, but I don't think it's just "conservatives discovering the internet," or at least anymore than it was 4 years ago. Two things that I think contribute heavily to the phenomenon you're seeing: 1) We've had 8 years of a democratic president. People were similarly fed up with conservatism at the end of GWB's presidency. If things haven't been going well for you for the past 8 years (and for most Americans, they haven't been going great), it's easy and common to blame the president for those troubles. And by extension, the president's party and theoretical political ideologies. It's much easier to have strong feelings after such a long time with one political party in charge (theoretically). 2) I'd wager a large sum that most of those comments come from white males who earn at or less than the median income, who previously may not have felt that strong of a political ideology or at least not enough to comment on an internet forum. Much of the current liberal discourse in America is focused around historically oppressed groups, e.g. black Americans, or people who don't fit into classic gender identities. This comes at the expense of ignoring (or in some extreme instances, trivializing) the struggles of the working class or middle class who may not necessarily fall into one of those historically oppressed groups. I think it's easy to imagine that if you're a white, poor male you might not feel like American liberalism in its current state really cares about you or your problems. Not that I think Republicans really care about their problems either, but at least they pay them lip service.
chrismealy 10y ago
Sounds like somebody just figured out that most of the people inside the helmets and pads are black.
- sctb 10y ago
  A comment like this takes us even further away from civil, substantive discussion. The guidelines ask us not to do this: > Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say about them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
barsonme 10y ago
I think it's fantastic that some companies use their platforms to help the disadvantaged—it's a good use of their resources, in my opinion. Sometimes platforms and politics don't mix, though. I don't watch ESPN because I want to hear about politics, I watch it because I want to veg out and hear about sports. Even if I agree with their politics it becomes grating to hear about it 24/7.
- grogenaut 10y ago
  As someone without cable what liberal agenda is ESPN pushing? I haven't watched in years. What politics do they cover?
  - yardie 10y ago
    A lot of athletes are black. They are becoming more vocal about the racism and brutality in this nation. This is causing a lot of white conservatives to feel uncomfortable. Who'd rather they shut up and continue to crush in each other's skulls.
kimshibal 10y ago
NFL is a joke. It has more ads than any other sports in this world.
- bdcravens 10y ago
  Which is why I love RedZone :-)
jmcgough 10y ago
I don't think internet comments are a useful survey of opinions.
- chipperyman573 10y ago
  Good, now we have one internet data point about that.
forgottenpass 10y ago
The conservative half of our country is not happy with ESPN. It's not only conservatives, there are more people who want sports prioritized over social politics. But it is only conservatives voicing specific comments like that. Because they don't have to risk looking like a heretic. If someone has preexisting allegiance to the social positions the coverage framing is aligned with, it's more complicated for them to dissent. Or they might even feel compelled to watch by the fraudulent implecation that ESPN's editorial decisions are made on importance, not that human interest stories are cheaper and easier to produce and can stir up a segment of the audience.

alistproducer2 10y ago

I don't think the kind of person that says things like that are cord cutters (which you have to be to stop subscribing to ESPN). These are just run of the mill assholes trying to make a point. The real reason ESPN is losing people is young people just aren't signing up for cable anymore. EDIT: I should point out that WaPo is pretty much a magnet for right-wing trolling b/c of election and being Bezos-owned. Incendiary comments from the right are par for the course on every WaPo article.

narrator 10y ago
Michael Jordan once said that the reason he doesn't talk about politics is that Republicans buy sneakers too.
- AlexMax 10y ago
  He seems to have changed his mind in recent years: http://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-longer-stay-silent/ http://theundefeated.com/features/michael-jordan-i-can-no-lo...
- kenjackson 10y ago
  He never actually said it. A myth.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
CptJamesCook 10y ago
I agree that people won't cord cut over this issue. Cord cutting is about saving $1000/year and still being able to get 90% of the content online. Still, I don't see how it does ESPN any good to be so liberal. The powers that be at the network must see this criticism in every story and consider the option of becoming less political. I expect this to happen in 2017.
- matthewbauer 10y ago
  What political stances have they taken?
  - georgemcbay 10y ago
    AFAICT, the way these sorts of internet conservatives see it is if you don't spend the majority of your time complaining about Obamacare, claiming climate change is a hoax, and calling for the end of all government regulations, you're a heavily biased far-left liberal socialist.
    - CptJamesCook 10y ago
      http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/767/inside-and-out-espn-dealing-with-changing-political-dynamics http://www.espn.com/blog/ombudsman/post/_/id/767/inside-and-... ESPN's own public editor stated that the company has alienated consumers with its move to the left.

poink 10y ago

Is it just me, or does it feel like "conservatives" have finally discovered the internet? Over the last few months, it feels like friggin everything has become Obama's fault, or suddenly "leftists" are responsible for X. I'm not trying to be combative, or start a political argument. I have my own political leanings, sure, but I derive no joy from bitching about it on the internet. I just know that everything I read on a daily basis has veered to the right in the last few months. Is this a cultural shift, or a demographic that was relatively unheard in this medium asserting itself for the first time? I'm not making a value judgement either way, just wondering. (Don't get me wrong, shit like Conservapedia has been around for years now. But most of the stuff I read, for better or worse, has been pro-social justice, pro-multiculturalism, etc. until now. Do fewer people buy into that nowadays? Or is what I'm seeing the result of more people participating?)

alistproducer2 10y ago
DT's "victory" has encouraged a lot of folks to feel like they can speak their mind freely. For many, the "victory" is a symbol. It says "you are not alone." It's not that there's any more of them than there were last year; now they feel like they're on the right side of things and are feeling confident. In hindsight, I observed the same thing with Obama's two terms. A lot of talk about rape culture, safe spaces, etc. Everyone who didn't agree was out of step with where America was really going and was gonna be left behind. So they thought... That side felt really emboldened and overplayed their cultural hands. Now it's the right's turn to over estimate how much everyone agrees with them.
CarpetBench 10y ago
It's almost certainly multi-faceted, but I don't think it's just "conservatives discovering the internet," or at least anymore than it was 4 years ago. Two things that I think contribute heavily to the phenomenon you're seeing: 1) We've had 8 years of a democratic president. People were similarly fed up with conservatism at the end of GWB's presidency. If things haven't been going well for you for the past 8 years (and for most Americans, they haven't been going great), it's easy and common to blame the president for those troubles. And by extension, the president's party and theoretical political ideologies. It's much easier to have strong feelings after such a long time with one political party in charge (theoretically). 2) I'd wager a large sum that most of those comments come from white males who earn at or less than the median income, who previously may not have felt that strong of a political ideology or at least not enough to comment on an internet forum. Much of the current liberal discourse in America is focused around historically oppressed groups, e.g. black Americans, or people who don't fit into classic gender identities. This comes at the expense of ignoring (or in some extreme instances, trivializing) the struggles of the working class or middle class who may not necessarily fall into one of those historically oppressed groups. I think it's easy to imagine that if you're a white, poor male you might not feel like American liberalism in its current state really cares about you or your problems. Not that I think Republicans really care about their problems either, but at least they pay them lip service.

chrismealy 10y ago

Sounds like somebody just figured out that most of the people inside the helmets and pads are black.

sctb 10y ago
A comment like this takes us even further away from civil, substantive discussion. The guidelines ask us not to do this: > Please avoid introducing classic flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say about them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

barsonme 10y ago

I think it's fantastic that some companies use their platforms to help the disadvantaged—it's a good use of their resources, in my opinion. Sometimes platforms and politics don't mix, though. I don't watch ESPN because I want to hear about politics, I watch it because I want to veg out and hear about sports. Even if I agree with their politics it becomes grating to hear about it 24/7.

grogenaut 10y ago
As someone without cable what liberal agenda is ESPN pushing? I haven't watched in years. What politics do they cover?
- yardie 10y ago
  A lot of athletes are black. They are becoming more vocal about the racism and brutality in this nation. This is causing a lot of white conservatives to feel uncomfortable. Who'd rather they shut up and continue to crush in each other's skulls.

kimshibal 10y ago

NFL is a joke. It has more ads than any other sports in this world.

bdcravens 10y ago
Which is why I love RedZone :-)

jmcgough 10y ago

I don't think internet comments are a useful survey of opinions.

chipperyman573 10y ago
Good, now we have one internet data point about that.

forgottenpass 10y ago

The conservative half of our country is not happy with ESPN. It's not only conservatives, there are more people who want sports prioritized over social politics. But it is only conservatives voicing specific comments like that. Because they don't have to risk looking like a heretic. If someone has preexisting allegiance to the social positions the coverage framing is aligned with, it's more complicated for them to dissent. Or they might even feel compelled to watch by the fraudulent implecation that ESPN's editorial decisions are made on importance, not that human interest stories are cheaper and easier to produce and can stir up a segment of the audience.