Should a television sports reporter/personality cover a team while
being in a relationship with a member of that team? That was a question I posed to my Twitter followers after
reading that NESN Red Sox reporter Jenny Dell and Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks were in a relationship. As a blanket rule, I think NESN should remove Dell from covering the Red Sox as long as she is involved with Middlebrooks, even if you as a viewer believe her work falls under the title of entertainment. Appearances of interest conflicts matter, or they should to any editorial entity that cares about disseminating information. Such a relationship -- if NESN stays the course -- also hurts the efforts of female sports journalists. On this note, here were some answers to my question from women sports journalists in the field:
Boston Globe sports reporter (and former Red Sox beat writer) Amalie Benjamin: "Never. Ever. And more, it hurts the credibility of every female reporter doing it the right way."
USA Today's Lindsay Jones: "Never, never, never. Did I mention never?"
SI's Joan Niesen: "Under no circumstances. None whatsoever. No, no, no."