Acclaimed reporter tees off on TV sports journalism

andrea kremer interviews indianapolis colts owner jim irsay in one of the last hbo real sports episodes.

Andrea Kremer has her own way of describing the studio programming she sees on sports television channels such as ESPN and Fox Sports: “I call it the networks of screaming men.”

Kremer, an Emmy Award winner who is chief correspondent for The NFL Network and until recently a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, bemoans the continuing disappearance of serious, long-form sports journalism on national TV and the rise of “bloviators.”

“They really may not know what they are talking about but they are screaming about it so it certainly sounds like they do,” she said during a Zoom panel last month on “The Future of Sports Journalism” sponsored by the Sports & Society Program of The Aspen Institute.

Kremer, who has also worked for ESPN and NBC Sports and has been honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has a personal reason to believe that serious sports reporting in video form doesn’t have a regular home anymore: Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel willl end on Dec. 19* after 29 years.

“I’ve always viewed Real Sports as the last bastion of the closest thing to independent TV sports journalism,” she said. “Without having that, I think the void is just incredible.”

Real Sports did investigative reporting and tackled off-field topics related to race, gender, drug use, athlete safety and many more. ESPN’s Outside the Lines used to do those kinds of reports, but it’s gone, too. (ESPN’s 30 for 30 is good but it’s mostly feature oriented.)

Kremer sees two trends on the rise in sports television: documentaries and jabbering pundits.

The trouble with documentaries, she said, is directors who give up editorial control to the subjects. They do so to gain full cooperation and access. She did not name any, but the most well-known example is ESPN’s “The Last Dance” about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Even if documentary producers retain content control, there’s still the trap of self-censorship of negative angles for the same reasons. That accusation has been leveled against multiple recent sports docs.

Just as sports stars can mute some criticisms, so can sports leagues. That’s because leagues have deals with sports networks for broadcast rights, and broadcasting live sports means big ratings. “You have to careful that you are still able to report honestly and thoroughly and fairly about a subject,” Kremer said. “And not fall prey to (a network) executive looking over your shoulder and saying ‘That’s a little too negative, we got to get that out of there.’”

While in-depth TV sports journalism declines, loud-mouth TV sports talk shows and studio shows are proliferating. ESPN’s hiring of Pat McAfee “typifies exactly what’s going on,” Kremer said.

The audience draw of such shows is one reason, but Kremer pointed out another. With so much network money going for live sports, TV companies need some inexpensive programming. “It’s cheaper to produce” than enterprise journalism, Kremer said. “…You can sit in your basement and do it.“

Another seminar panelist, sports media/business reporter Ben Strauss of The Washington Post, said TV networks that 10 years ago hired sports writers now prefer former athletes (such as McAfee). Both Strauss and Kremer think that’s a problem.

Strauss said former players can do good interviews but pointed to the non-probing interview done in March by ESPN’s Jalen Rose, a former NBA player, of current NBA player Ja Morant, who was suspended by the league for gun possession.

Kremer believes some former athletes won’t challenge what they consider to be their brethren. “They remember the code. They were on that other side. (They think) ‘Would I have wanted somebody to do that to me?’ And I think that can be an impediment to really strong journalism.”

*This is a correction made Dec. 16. My original post said the show ended in November.

If you’re interested, here are previous posts on a TV sports commentator for whom I have great respect (1-minute read). And one for whom I have none (30-second read).