{"id":2714,"date":"2021-08-04T23:55:54","date_gmt":"2021-08-05T06:55:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/?p=2714"},"modified":"2021-08-05T22:54:01","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T05:54:01","slug":"maria-taylors-espn-exit-for-a-new-nbc-role-is-a-win-not-without-ongoing-losses-lesson-we-can-all-learn-from-this-incident-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shirscribe.com\/index.php\/2021\/08\/04\/maria-taylors-espn-exit-for-a-new-nbc-role-is-a-win-not-without-ongoing-losses-lesson-we-can-all-learn-from-this-incident-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Maria Taylor\u2019s ESPN Exit for a New NBC Role Is A Win, Not Without Ongoing Losses: Lesson we can all learn from this incident Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, I discussed the wins<\/a> that, I believe, resulted from Maria Taylor leaving ESPN for NBC. \u00a0This week I\u2019ll be sharing the things I think were losses. \u00a0Starting with\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria\u2019s ESPN On-air Exit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As the NBA post-season wrapped up on July 20, with the Milwaukee Bucks defeating the Phoenix Suns to win the championship, so did Maria Taylor\u2019s time at ESPN.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if you watched her final broadcast without paying attention to all the behind-the-scenes mess<\/a> that preceded it, you wouldn\u2019t have any clue that this was the end. There was no mention of it being her final day, no send-off, no goodbye or well wishes from her on-air colleagues, no cake rolled out as an appreciation for the eight years she put in with the company \u2013 nothing. \u00a0Eight years is a long time to be with a company, especially in an on-air capacity, without getting a chance to publicly say goodbye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While I am listing this as a loss, undoubtedly it\u2019s a minor loss because in the grand scheme of things, who really cares. Well, except for the fact that I would care if it were me. No, actually I\u2019d be ambivalent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, I don\u2019t care if I spent eight years or eight minutes, if I\u2019m leaving, the least you could do is let me say goodbye to the viewers. I ain\u2019t got to say where I\u2019m going, just let me tell them a quick thank you, so long and I\u2019m out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what we usually see on-air talent do.\u00a0 Just days before Maria\u2019s exit, we saw an on-air goodbye from Kasie Hunt who left MSNBC<\/a> for a new CNN streaming service. It happens all the time. So the fact that Maria wasn\u2019t allowed to do the same, I thought was rude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if that weren\u2019t enough, the next day, ESPN\u2019s president, James Pitaro, came out with a statement<\/a> about Maria\u2019s departure. It actually was a joint statement, beginning with his remarks followed by hers. But I don\u2019t know, that just seemed weird to me too. It was like ESPN was trying to hold on to every last bit of control they could over her up until the very end.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t like it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then again, like I said, in the grand scheme of things this was tre petty. I guess Maria was like, \u201clet me just go along with this, so I can make my quick transition to NBC, and get them out of my hair.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kayla\u00a0Johnson<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The only person who got in trouble over the whole Rachel Nichols\u2019 leaked conversation mess was Kayla Johnson who worked as a digital video producer for ESPN<\/a> at the time. She ended up getting suspended for two weeks without pay. But what I don\u2019t understand is why was she the only one punished when reports say the recording was disseminated by several employees. My only guess is it\u2019s because she was said to have taken the recording straight to Maria. So I hope this is not a case of Maria throwing Kayla under the bus.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean remember the whole Judith Miller and Scooter Libby situation<\/a>? Judith Miller was willing to go to jail to keep her source secret, meanwhile Kayla Johnson can\u2019t even get a sista to say an \u201cI don\u2019t recall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this is only my assumption, Maria may have had nothing to do with Kayla getting called to HR and getting in trouble. Or if she did, perhaps she didn\u2019t realize it was going to go that far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just hope that this doesn\u2019t discourage Kayla or others like her from disclosing pivotal information like this in the future. Because when we have coworkers who see something, but are too afraid to say something for fear that they are going to get suspended or fired, that is indeed a great loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May we all work with Kayla Johnsons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

White Women\u2019s Silence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As I said, or at least alluded to ( I don\u2019t remember) in the original post<\/a> I wrote about this matter, I don\u2019t think what Rachel Nichols was saying in that conversation was racist. I mean if it\u2019s true that ESPN promised her the job then reneged to make themselves look good in the current social climate, that\u2019s fucked up, and I can understand why she would be angry, and feel the way she did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, what I also heard in her conversation is that she has been aware that people of color have been getting the short end of the stick at ESPN, and instead of being a part of the change, she ignored it because it wasn\u2019t affecting her. Of course she didn\u2019t say those exact words, but that\u2019s what I got from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When people know bad shit is going down, and they choose not to be a Kayla Johnson, and instead stand by and do nothing, that is truly a loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What exactly could she have done, you may ask? Well, she could have reported the discriminatory behavior she witnessed or heard about herself. She could have gone to the person who she saw experience the discriminatory behavior and told them she would be happy to provide a corroborating statement to HR if they needed it. She could suggest someone for a role who she knew was unfairly being overlooked. She could even acknowledge what happened so that person doesn\u2019t feel all alone, though that would only be a start, you probably don\u2019t want to stop there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know the exact setup, situation and culture in their office, but one thing\u2019s for sure, there is always something that others can do, no matter where they fall in the chain-of-command, to help out a fellow coworker who is being unfairly treated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thing is, there is risk that comes with that, on many different levels, and that\u2019s what people try to avoid. And that\u2019s part of what makes some people apathetic. They don\u2019t care unless it\u2019s happening to them and by then it\u2019s usually too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, we saw this with Michelle Beadle at ESPN<\/a> as well, who didn\u2019t seem to speak out against football until a college football coach was ignoring a white woman\u2019s claims of domestic violence. While discussing the matter on the ESPN show Get Up<\/em> back in 2018, Michelle stated: “I believe that the sport of football has set itself up to be in a position where it shows itself in the bigger picture to not really care about women \u2014 they don\u2019t really care about people of color, but we won\u2019t get into that for NFL either. But as a woman, I feel like a person who has been marginalized.<\/em>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, it’s an example of a white woman mentioning the problems people of color are confronted with in the NFL cursorily to those of white women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s definitely a loss when white women, who have their own battles with discrimination and therefore can relate, turn a blind eye when it\u2019s happening to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women Being Pitted Against Each Other in General<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately I think it\u2019s sad that this situation turned out to be largely referenced as Rachel Nichols against Maria Taylor, rather than Maria Taylor and Rachel Nichols against ESPN. This was a problem that was unabashedly created by ESPN that pitted these two women against each other, and then created no equally satisfying outcome. One had to lose for the other to gain. While in this situation Rachel seemed to get the short end of the stick, Maria\u2019s spoils weren\u2019t exactly the best either while she remained at ESPN, given that it appears the company was also trying to make her out to be a gold digger, regarding contract negotiations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Ends Up at NBC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While, ultimately, I do think that being at NBC is better than being at ESPN, NBC has had its fair share of complaints about mistreating women as well. \u00a0From the unceremonious way Ann Curry left the Today show<\/a>, to the revelations about Matt Lauer\u2019s conduct with women<\/a>, and Tamron Hall being booted for Megyn Kelly<\/a>, one thing\u2019s for sure, this isn\u2019t a problem isolated to ESPN. This isn\u2019t a problem that one can just change jobs and get away from. There is a much larger systemic problem in our current business model as a whole that everyone needs to address no matter your gender, race, or any other classification. \u00a0Because if one thing this story has shown us, is sooner or later, the short end of the stick is coming for you too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All right so that\u2019s it for the losses. Next week I\u2019ll wrap up with a few lessons or takeaways this story can teach us about navigating these workplace streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, I discussed the wins that, I believe, resulted from Maria Taylor leaving ESPN for NBC. \u00a0This week I\u2019ll be sharing the things I think were losses. \u00a0Starting with\u2026 Maria\u2019s ESPN On-air Exit As the NBA post-season wrapped up…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,254],"tags":[320,317,336,220,318,269,340],"class_list":{"0":"post-2714","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-career-and-goals","7":"category-in-the-news","8":"tag-espn","9":"tag-maria-taylor","10":"tag-nbc","11":"tag-office-politics","12":"tag-rachel-nichols","13":"tag-workplace-discrimination","14":"tag-workplace-diversity","15":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nMaria Taylor\u2019s ESPN Exit for a New NBC Role Is A Win, Not Without Ongoing Losses: Lesson we can all learn from this incident Part II - 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