Jason Whitlock
Encyclopedia
Jason Lee Whitlock is a sportswriter for Foxsports.com
, as well as a former columnist at the Kansas City Star, AOL Sports writer, contributor to ESPN
, and radio personality for WHB
and KCSP
sports stations in the Kansas City
area.
in Warren Township
in the eastern part of Indianapolis, and he blocked for quarterback
Jeff George
, who later became the first overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft
. He earned a scholarship to play football
at Ball State University
in Muncie, Indiana
, lettering as an offensive tackle in 1987 and 1988. He graduated in 1990 with a degree in journalism
.
Herald Times, The Charlotte Observer
and the Ann Arbor
News. He has also been published in Vibe Magazine and The Sporting News
. In the June 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine, Whitlock wrote a 5,000-word column questioning American's incarceration and drug-war policies. Playboy headlined the column "The Black KKK," which provoked Whitlock into writing two columns—one in the Kansas City Star and another on Foxsports.com—criticizing Playboy editorial director Chris Napolitano for the misleading and inflammatory headline.
Whitlock was the celebrity spokesman for Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Greater Kansas City. Whitlock had guest-hosted several ESPN shows, including Jim Rome Is Burning
, and Pardon the Interruption
. He also appeared regularly on ESPN's The Sports Reporters
until he was fired from ESPN in September 2006. He is a regular fill-in host on the Jim Rome Radio Show.
The Scripps Howard Foundation awarded Whitlock its National Journalism Award for commentary on March 7, 2008. Whitlock was the first sports writer to win the award and $10,000 prize. His Kansas City Star columns garnered the trophy for their "ability to seamlessly integrate sports commentary with social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."
Whitlock announced the departure of his on-line column from ESPN.com's Page 2
in favor of AOL Sports, but initially expected to continue his television work for ESPN. However, after the announcement, Whitlock was interviewed by sports blog The Big Lead, and in that interview, he disparaged two of his ESPN colleagues. Whitlock labeled Mike Lupica
"an insecure, mean-spirited busybody", and referred to Robert "Scoop" Jackson
as a "clown", saying that "the publishing of [Jackson's] fake ghetto posturing is an insult to black intelligence." Jackson, like Whitlock, is African-American.
Whitlock went noticeably absent from any ESPN television work. He soon announced to The Kansas City Star readers in September 2006 that he was fired altogether from ESPN as a result of his remarks; he wrote that the company doesn't tolerate criticism and acted as they saw fit.
Whitlock's first AOL Sports column was published September 29, 2006. Whitlock's first Fox Sports on MSN column was published August 16, 2007.
Through the years, Whitlock has written several columns expressing his belief that former quarterback Jeff George
could still play and was deserving of an NFL try-out. George and Whitlock are both longtime friends, having both played high school football together.
It was reported on August 1, 2010 by WHB-AM, a Kansas City sports talk station, that Whitlock's columns had been absent from the Kansas City Star for over seven weeks, leading to speculation that he was fired. The Star stated that he was on an extended vacation.
On August 16, 2010, the Kansas City Star announced that Whitlock would be leaving that paper.
/Rutgers Women's Basketball controversy. He expressed his belief that while Imus's comments were deplorable, the real focus for the black community should be to minimize the negative impact of pop culture elements such as gangsta rap
. Whitlock expressed a mainly negative opinion of the actions taken against Imus by the Rev. Jesse Jackson
and the Rev. Al Sharpton
, saying "It’s an opportunity for [Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer], Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda." His comments were also featured on several television networks, including CNN
, where he was featured alongside Sharpton and accused Jackson and Sharpton of "exploiting these young people, making [...] the problems much bigger than what they should be."
Foxsports.com
Foxsports.com provides sports news, scores, sports statistics, sports and entertainment video, sports fantasy leagues and fantasy information. Launched in July 2001, it is a unit of Fox Interactive Media, which also includes other News Corporation online businesses, including MySpace, IGN...
, as well as a former columnist at the Kansas City Star, AOL Sports writer, contributor to ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, and radio personality for WHB
WHB
WHB is a commercial sports radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, and is known as the first full-time Top 40 station in the country...
and KCSP
KCSP (AM)
KCSP is a sports/talk radio station located in Kansas City, Missouri. The Entercom-owned station broadcasts on 610 kHz. Beginning March 31, 2011, its programming is simulcast on KMBZ-FM's 98.1-HD2 subchannel....
sports stations in the Kansas City
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
area.
College and sports
Whitlock was an all-state offensive lineman at Warren Central High SchoolWarren Central High School (Indiana)
Warren Central High School is a public high school in Warren Township on the east side of Indianapolis. It has an enrollment of around 4,000...
in Warren Township
Warren Township, Marion County, Indiana
Warren Township is one of nine townships in Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2000 census, its population was 93,941.-External links:* *...
in the eastern part of Indianapolis, and he blocked for quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
Jeff George
Jeff George
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" George is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the first overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft...
, who later became the first overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft
1990 NFL Draft
The 1990 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990...
. He earned a scholarship to play football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
at Ball State University
Ball State University
Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...
in Muncie, Indiana
Muncie, Indiana
Muncie is a city in Center Township, Delaware County in east central Indiana, best known as the home of Ball State University and the birthplace of the Ball Corporation. It is the principal city of the Muncie, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of 118,769...
, lettering as an offensive tackle in 1987 and 1988. He graduated in 1990 with a degree in journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
.
Journalism career
Whitlock previously worked for the BloomingtonBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
Herald Times, The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer
The Charlotte Observer, serving Charlotte, North Carolina and its metro area, is the largest newspaper, in terms of circulation, in North Carolina and South Carolina...
and the Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County. The 2010 census places the population at 113,934, making it the sixth largest city in Michigan. The Ann Arbor Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 344,791 as of 2010...
News. He has also been published in Vibe Magazine and The Sporting News
The Sporting News
Sporting News is an American-based sports magazine. It was established in 1886, and it became the dominant American publication covering baseball — so much so that it acquired the nickname "The Bible of Baseball"...
. In the June 2008 issue of Playboy Magazine, Whitlock wrote a 5,000-word column questioning American's incarceration and drug-war policies. Playboy headlined the column "The Black KKK," which provoked Whitlock into writing two columns—one in the Kansas City Star and another on Foxsports.com—criticizing Playboy editorial director Chris Napolitano for the misleading and inflammatory headline.
Whitlock was the celebrity spokesman for Big Brothers Big Sisters
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a 501 non-profit organization whose mission is to help children reach their potential through professionally supported, one-to-one relationships with mentors that try to have a measurable impact on youth....
of Greater Kansas City. Whitlock had guest-hosted several ESPN shows, including Jim Rome Is Burning
Jim Rome is Burning
Jim Rome Is Burning, originally titled Rome Is Burning and often abbreviated as JRIB, is a sports conversation and opinion show hosted by Jim Rome. Debuting on May 6, 2003 as Rome Is Burning, it was originally a once a week show in primetime at 7:00 PM ET on Tuesday nights on ESPN...
, and Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption
Pardon the Interruption is a sports television show that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels, TSN, ESPN America, XM, and Sirius satellite radio services, and as a downloadable podcast. It is hosted by Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, who discuss, and frequently argue over, the top stories...
. He also appeared regularly on ESPN's The Sports Reporters
The Sports Reporters
The Sports Reporters is a sports talk show that airs on ESPN at 9:30 a.m. ET every Sunday morning . It is broadcast from Bristol, Connecticut at the main ESPN studios. However, before 1999, it was broadcast from a studio in Manhattan. and from 1999-2010 it was recorded at the ESPN Zone at Times...
until he was fired from ESPN in September 2006. He is a regular fill-in host on the Jim Rome Radio Show.
The Scripps Howard Foundation awarded Whitlock its National Journalism Award for commentary on March 7, 2008. Whitlock was the first sports writer to win the award and $10,000 prize. His Kansas City Star columns garnered the trophy for their "ability to seamlessly integrate sports commentary with social commentary and to challenge widely held assumptions along the racial divide."
Whitlock announced the departure of his on-line column from ESPN.com's Page 2
Page2
Page 2 is a feature section of ESPN.com. The section contains humorous, opinionated articles on American sport, and regular contributors including "The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons, DJ Gallo, Jim Caple, Gregg Easterbrook, Jemele Hill, Paul Lukas and LZ Granderson. Chuck Klosterman also supplies...
in favor of AOL Sports, but initially expected to continue his television work for ESPN. However, after the announcement, Whitlock was interviewed by sports blog The Big Lead, and in that interview, he disparaged two of his ESPN colleagues. Whitlock labeled Mike Lupica
Mike Lupica
Michael Lupica is an American newspaper columnist, best known for his provocative commentary on sports in the New York Daily News and his appearances on ESPN.-Biography:...
"an insecure, mean-spirited busybody", and referred to Robert "Scoop" Jackson
Scoop Jackson (writer)
Not to be confused with former United States Senator Henry M. "Scoop" JacksonRobert "Scoop" Jackson is an American sports journalist and cultural critic currently contributing to ESPN.com's Page2 and ESPN The Magazine....
as a "clown", saying that "the publishing of [Jackson's] fake ghetto posturing is an insult to black intelligence." Jackson, like Whitlock, is African-American.
Whitlock went noticeably absent from any ESPN television work. He soon announced to The Kansas City Star readers in September 2006 that he was fired altogether from ESPN as a result of his remarks; he wrote that the company doesn't tolerate criticism and acted as they saw fit.
Whitlock's first AOL Sports column was published September 29, 2006. Whitlock's first Fox Sports on MSN column was published August 16, 2007.
Through the years, Whitlock has written several columns expressing his belief that former quarterback Jeff George
Jeff George
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" George is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts with the first overall pick of the 1990 NFL Draft...
could still play and was deserving of an NFL try-out. George and Whitlock are both longtime friends, having both played high school football together.
It was reported on August 1, 2010 by WHB-AM, a Kansas City sports talk station, that Whitlock's columns had been absent from the Kansas City Star for over seven weeks, leading to speculation that he was fired. The Star stated that he was on an extended vacation.
On August 16, 2010, the Kansas City Star announced that Whitlock would be leaving that paper.
Don Imus incident
On April 11, 2007, Whitlock wrote a column in the Kansas City Star, in which he weighed in on the Don ImusDon Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
/Rutgers Women's Basketball controversy. He expressed his belief that while Imus's comments were deplorable, the real focus for the black community should be to minimize the negative impact of pop culture elements such as gangsta rap
Gangsta rap
Gangsta Rap is a subgenre of hip hop music that evolved from hardcore hip hop and purports to reflect urban crime and the violent lifestyles of inner-city youths. Lyrics in gangsta rap have varied from accurate reflections to fictionalized accounts. Gangsta is a non-rhotic pronunciation of the word...
. Whitlock expressed a mainly negative opinion of the actions taken against Imus by the Rev. Jesse Jackson
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
and the Rev. Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
, saying "It’s an opportunity for [Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer], Jackson and Sharpton to step on victim platforms and elevate themselves and their agenda." His comments were also featured on several television networks, including CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, where he was featured alongside Sharpton and accused Jackson and Sharpton of "exploiting these young people, making [...] the problems much bigger than what they should be."
External links
- National Journalism Award Winners 2008
- Jason Whitlock on The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Kansas City Star Column Archive
- ESPN.com Column Archive
- Interview with TheBigLead.com
- Second Interview with TheBigLead.com
- Jason Whitlock's Articles from Fox Sports on MSN
- Jason Whitlock's First Article on Fox Sports on MSN
- Interview with Tucker Carlson
- Interview with Michael Tillery of Blacksportsnetwork.com