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When news broke that ESPN would be laying off reporter Tom Pelissero with a year left on his NFL Network deal, it wasn't clear whether he had been informed of it before he read about it elsewhere. (At least he wasn't told while, you know, on the air.)
Pelissero confirmed his exit on Wednesday morning, with a post on Twitter.
"Thanks to all of you who watched me the past nine years on NFL Network," Pelissero said. "Thanks to all of my colleagues who made the job fun and pushed me on a daily basis. Thanks to my family, who constantly made sacrifices to support me in a life-consuming job. I’m so grateful. See you soon."
It remains to be seen what "soon" means. In past layoffs, ESPN squatted on the former employee's contract, refusing to allow them to work elsewhere while still being paid by ESPN.
In Ed Werder's case, he was asked to help cover the draft after he was let go while also prevented from working elsewhere. (ESPN later agreed to let Werder take a part-time gig with Westwood One.)
And so the clunky, clumsy execution and implementation of layoffs by ESPN isn't new. While the latest round has revealed embarrassing lapses when it comes to internal discretion and confidentiality — leading to the ridiculous decision to inform Ryan Clark that he was being let go during a show on which he was appearing — the lack of humanity when dealing with the human beings who make up the workforce is a cultural phenomenon at the four-letter network.
Folks like Clark and Pelissero have every right to utter one or more four-letter words. And while there's a long-term benefit in not going scorched earth as to a former employer (after all, a prospective employer is simply another inevitable future employer), it would be hard to fault Clark, Pelissero, or anyone else whose exit from a professional media outlet was handled in a grossly unprofessional way from saying so.
Even if they don't, others can say it for them.
Continue reading...
Pelissero confirmed his exit on Wednesday morning, with a post on Twitter.
"Thanks to all of you who watched me the past nine years on NFL Network," Pelissero said. "Thanks to all of my colleagues who made the job fun and pushed me on a daily basis. Thanks to my family, who constantly made sacrifices to support me in a life-consuming job. I’m so grateful. See you soon."
It remains to be seen what "soon" means. In past layoffs, ESPN squatted on the former employee's contract, refusing to allow them to work elsewhere while still being paid by ESPN.
In Ed Werder's case, he was asked to help cover the draft after he was let go while also prevented from working elsewhere. (ESPN later agreed to let Werder take a part-time gig with Westwood One.)
And so the clunky, clumsy execution and implementation of layoffs by ESPN isn't new. While the latest round has revealed embarrassing lapses when it comes to internal discretion and confidentiality — leading to the ridiculous decision to inform Ryan Clark that he was being let go during a show on which he was appearing — the lack of humanity when dealing with the human beings who make up the workforce is a cultural phenomenon at the four-letter network.
Folks like Clark and Pelissero have every right to utter one or more four-letter words. And while there's a long-term benefit in not going scorched earth as to a former employer (after all, a prospective employer is simply another inevitable future employer), it would be hard to fault Clark, Pelissero, or anyone else whose exit from a professional media outlet was handled in a grossly unprofessional way from saying so.
Even if they don't, others can say it for them.
Continue reading...
