ESPN hired six sports writers from the Washington Post, the latest landing pad for some of the Jeff Bezos-owned paper’s former sports journalists after it ended its sports section.
The hires for the network’s Investigative, Enterprise and Digital Journalism Unit include Kent Babb, who will report on all sports; Kareem Copeland, who will cover women’s college basketball and the WNBA; Chuck Culpepper, who will tackle all sports and events; Tom Schad, who will be a general assignment reporter; and Ben Strauss, who will cover sports business enterprise and investigations. Robert Klemko, who covered criminal justice at the Post and was not laid off, will also join the network and focus on sports-related crime, investigations and scandals.
Their work will appear across “SportsCenter,” other ESPN shows, ESPN’s website, its app and its podcasts, the network said.
“Adding these six outstanding journalists and the reputation of The Washington Post will enhance an ESPN team that is already the best in the business,” ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “We are proud to advance our robust commitment to journalism, which is core to our mission of serving sports fans. Today’s news strengthens our position as the place to turn for the latest and most in-depth sports news, reporting and feature stories across every platform.”
The hires come more than a month after the Post laid off more than 300 journalists and retreated from multiple coverage areas, including sports. Executive Editor Matt Murray has said the paper couldn’t compete in a changing landscape dominated by video offerings and teams reporting their own stories.
Since then, other outlets have tried to fill the gap. The Athletic hired six former Post sports journalists last month to help bolster its coverage, including reporters focused on the Washington Commanders and the Washington Nationals. The Baltimore Banner also said it planned to cover D.C.-based sports teams.
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