Fox Sports' Charissa Thompson has apologized following an outcry of criticism by peers after she admitting she "would make up" sideline reports.
deadline.com
1. Yes it's wrong and unethical
2. The amount of pearl clutching as if this is Walter Cronkite covering the Vietnam war is hilarious
Sideline reporting is utterly useless (and shouldn't exist) and all this does is shine a flashlight on that fact.
Why does every broadcast do it? Who actually asked for this? I can't imagine a single fan wants it or would miss it if it's gone. No information has ever been "reported" by a sideline reporter that we couldn't have gotten in other ways.
The expectation that broadcast producers place on how essential it is to put these "reporters" on air regardless of if there's a reason for it or not is what created the situation in the first place. Oh, the head coach said some cliche truism or obvious evaluation at half time when he should be spending that limited time with his team? Gotta get it on camera! It's just dumb. What would happen if Thompson went to her producers and said the coach never came out, I got nothing? They'd put her on air anyway, because they think they
have to. It's ridiculous.
I've said this before but even if there's actual information that happens, like "the head coach just said he's going with the backup QB in the second half", or "Player X is experiencing pain and won't return to the game", that information can be relayed behind the scenes to the play by play guy and stated during the normal broadcast.
There's literally never a reason for a sideline reporter to be necessary.
