Ex-ESPN reporter Ed Werder is a white man. As both a sports reporter and a white man, Werder, and all those like him, make up some 90 percent of sports journalism, so when Sports Illustrated tweeted out that they had a spot for an entry-level news writer position, SI senior writer Charlotte Wilder saw this as a golden moment to push for women as applicants.
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โIf you can stand sitting near me in the office this is a v cool opportunity. Especially if youโre a woman trying to get into sports, you should message meโDMs are open,โ Wilder tweeted, TMZ Sports reports.
Somehow, Werder got his knickers (I assume that Werder wears knickers, but admittedly, I donโt know this as a fact) all in a bunch.
โSo men need not apply? Any others ineligible?โ Werder tweeted with tears staining his whiteness.
Wilder responded, โOh WOW youโre right, Ed, sorry for attempting to make sports media more than 10% female, my bad,โ as TMZ Sports reports.
Werder replied: โI just always associated SI with hiring the best regardless of race, sex and other factors.โ
Someone asked Werder why he was so white-man upset, considering that white men dominate sports journalism. Werder responded, according to TMZ:
Because next week, Iโm going to be standing in front of a broadcasting class of young people and some will be males and I have to tell them they have the same chance at jobs like those one as all others.
One of Werderโs former colleagues, Mina Kimesโa senior writer at ESPN the Magazineโstepped in to explain to Werder the obvious point he kept missing.
โEncouraging women to apply for a position isnโt the same thing as โexcludingโ men,โ Kimes tweeted. โItโs helping female applicants network, which can be a challenge given the massive gender imbalance in our industry (which Iโm sure you know exists).โ
Werder didnโt respond, and something tells me itโs not because he actually got the point.
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