ESPN's new ombudsman fumbles first assignment covering the Roethlisberger issue

        Don Ohlmeyer

Don Ohlmeyer, one of the giants of televised sports has assumed the mantle of the new ombudsman at the Worldwide Leader.

His first issue to cover is the public flap over the non-coverage of the Ben Roethlisberger civil lawsuit alleging sexual assault. His complete report can be found, here

Ohlmeyer goes through pages of explanation about what the ombudsman position should be and then adds disclaimers about any potential conflicts on his part. They might arise out of his large ownership stake in ESPN in the '80s and 90's as well as his relationships with people that work for the company.

His son works as a regional producer/director for the network and if any of his son's content becomes controversial enough to address, he expects to comment on it.

As for the Roethlisberger issue, he provides verbatim Q&A with Vince Doria, the network's senior vice president and news director. He allows Doria to give all the explanations we've heard. Within a couple of day's of the breaking news of the lawsuit, an exec from the network explained it all to Dan Patrick. It's not news. Ohlmeyer saves his opinion for last. In short it sounds like this:

"It appears that in an attempt to tamp down media criticism, ESPN issued a statement to inquiring news organizations that had questioned its lack of acknowledgment of this story. That doesn't cut it. In a situation like this you need to be proactive, not reactive."

He went on to suggest the following:

"On radio and television, it could have been as simple as this: "Many media outlets are reporting on a legal situation involving Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger. We have chosen not to report the details of the story at this point -- doing so would not comply with our standards. A further explanation can be found on ESPN.com."

I don't know, but this doesn't really "cut it" for me. This issue is so old and talked out that nothing Ohlmeyer reports from corporate ESPN or his own opinion makes a difference to me. 

Here's a suggestion: be more timely with a response because if you are a public advocate for us in relation to ESPN decisions we'd like what you have to say to have an impact.

You can get in touch with Ohlmeyer, here.

RELATED ARTICLE: ESPN exec explains to Dan Patrick why it ignored Roethlisberger case