Back to Sports

I admit I just had it installed as an automatic assumption at this point, that sports journalists were mostly liberal for three reasons:

1. They think of themselves as Real Journalists, and that the have to echo what the members of The Lodge think.

2. They want to be able to get interviews with black athletes and coaches.

3. They work in urban, highly liberal markets and think those views are Middle America.

But Ethan Strauss's article on how things have changed over the last few years was quite persuasive. He contends that even though the journalists remain liberal, they are less vocal about it, because they found that a lot of their audience had tuned in to listen to sports and found the short but persistent leftist sermons were causing them to seek other outlets. It helps that Strauss writes well...

This time of year used to bring all these think pieces on how to talk to your MAGA uncle at the table or how you should purge your conservative stepfather from family functions in the name of Ruth Bader Ginsburg or whatever. Now, not so much. The liberals have settled down. The conservatives have, well, I’m not completely sure of what they’re up to because I live in the Bay Area. But I know people are gathering to eat, with a primary focus on eating.

Or

 I just didn’t necessarily see the Charissa Thompson fallout and set my watch to Joe Biden O’Clock.

He notes that the same think happened with the more conservative outlets that initially benefited.  Someone named Clay Travis at "Outkick the Coverage" had become something of a conservative darling (I had not previously heard of him), and his opponents 

I think a lot of people in media assume that Outkick just talks about Obama and Drag Queen Story Hour all day, at the demand of its audience of braying neanderthals. But, if you actually look at its content, a lot of it … sticks to sports?

It’s pure sports, probably because readers prefer to click on sports content.

I hadn't seen/heard it until he mentioned it, but I think he's right.  We are back to sports on sports shows.  Who woulda thought?