On Tuesday we wondered if ESPN would take any action against the New York Post and other media outlets who defied their letters threatening those who displayed the surreptiously taken nude pictures of Erin Andrews. ESPN did take action Wednesday, banning employees of the Post from appearing on any of their television or radio outlets, a step that seemed appropriate based on their reaction to the letters sent to websites last week.
The Post, naturally, disagrees and answered back in their Page Six column on Thursday. The paper takes no responsibility for their decision to run with the pictures, choosing to point the finger of blame at ESPN instead.
NO one would have known that a sick voyeur had secretly videotaped ESPN reporter Erin Andrews nude in her hotel room, if the Mickey Mouse sports network hadn't sent a letter to an obscure Web site demanding that it take down its link to a fuzzy video of an unidentified blonde.
Let's call that the rapist's defense, because it is essentially the same as saying that a victim of rape was asking for it because of something she wore or something she said before being assaulted. What does asking for the videos' removal have to do with the decision to splash topless shots of her on the front page of your newspaper?
It's a legitimate news story, and one that could have been covered just fine without actually showing the photos. The same goes for any television program that showed the video. Regular footage of Andrews would have done the job just fine, and the Post's finger-pointing doesn't do anything but make it clear that they know they did the wrong thing by showing the pictures in the first place.
It doesn't take much to go from a blanket accusation at ESPN to saying that Andrews also deserves blame for having her naked body shown all over the place. That's a pretty reprehensible position to take, and, sadly, it's popping up in places other than the Post. Yes, she's traded off her looks to move forward in her career, but that doesn't make her fair game for anything that comes along.
This story has touched off all kinds of navel gazing about the role this group and that group may have played in helping to create an atmosphere where this video could exist and come to light. That probably won't amount to much substantial change in the long term, but a little self-assessment is never a bad thing. If it does lead to change, great, but it absolutely shouldn't lead to condemnation of Andrews.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com.
