CJR Daily reports reactions to new ESPN Ombudsman

"Last Friday (4/13), Schreiber wrote her second planned ombudsman column -- her first was merely introductory -- and she hit another home run. She took ESPN to task for the continuous shouting of their talking heads, citing poignant examples of their silliness and calling out a few well-established anchors by name. She engaged readers and invited them to respond, promising to use their input to better her work. This time bloggers took greater notice and were effusive with their praise. "Welcome, Le Anne Schreiber," blogged the Daily Verdict, "and might I say, bravo."

• "If you look at the detail in the woman's lengthy report, you'll be surprised at the sincerity," added Susan Mullen in her own blog.

"Ms. Schreiber, you are not out of touch with this viewer," wrote Zach, responding to one of the columnists' concerns. "She nails a few of the offenders by name, which I appreciate. I think other people will appreciate her perspective as well."

Grizz 3521 took up Schreiber's offer to write in and was equally complimentary. "I agree wholeheartedly with your first impression, there IS entirely too much shouting. Please continue to present your thoughts and ideas, hiring you was a great move for ESPN."

• Schreiber did not just take aim at the shouting, which she supposes "does no serious harm." She also denounced the vociferous and forceful opinionating of many ESPN personalities, listing a series of "cringe moments" where she felt journalism was replaced by rumor mongering -- an especially timely criticism in the wake of the Duke lacrosse case finally coming to an end.

"Wow. Just wow," posted Awful Announcing. "Yes, Yes, and Yes. I'm leery of how much I'm agreeing with Mrs. Schreiber."

"Her article was so refreshing -- I can't believe ESPN.com actually had it on its front page!" wrote save the steagles.

It is somewhat rare for an ombudsman to have an anticipatory audience, but Schreiber has just that. Already she has some bloggers calling for a weekly or biweekly column as opposed to her plan of writing once a month.

• Twins15 seemed to have perfectly summed up Schreiber's first two weeks on the job. "That was beautiful," he wrote. "She was dead on.""

From CJR Daily, (Columbia Journalism Review Daily), 4/16/07 by Dan Goldberg, "Bloggers Give New ESPN Ombudsman Glowing Reviews."

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