Editorial: Curt Schilling versus ESPN

Curt Schilling, an analyst for ESPN and former professional baseball star for the Boston Red Sox, was fired from the sports network last week due to a picture he shared from his Facebook account. The inflammatory social media post was critical of those who support transgender bathroom policies, and was posted in response to the rising denunciations levied against North Carolina for its new anti-transgender law, which regulates single-sex multiple occupancy bathroom use. When discussing the firing of Schilling, many are focusing on whether or not ESPN should have fired him, but it is also important to address whether or not ESPN should be allowed to fire him and whether the network has maintained consistency in dealing with such issues.

To understand the context of the debate around this issue, it is important to note that ESPN has a history of allowing employees to hold and express viewpoints which its audience may find controversial. Former ESPN employee Dana Jacobson, went on an anti-Christian tirade at an ESPN event in Atlantic City, and she was merely given a temporary suspension from her duties at the network. Kevin Blackistone, a frequent guest on ESPN's Around the Horn, said on live television that the national anthem is a "war anthem," and should not be played prior to sporting events, yet Blackistone still regularly appears on ESPN. Tony Kornheiser, another ESPN radio host and TV personality for the network, conflated the Tea Party with ISIS during an on-air conversation with his co-host about the political difficulties posed by the political group. Kornheiser still works for ESPN and co-hosts one of its nightly broadcasts.

However, ESPN has taken a harder stance against other members of its punditry. Mike Ditka, a cohost on the network's top Sunday program, was taken off the show shortly after referring to President Barack Obama as the "worst president we've ever had" on "The Bernie and Sid Show" in New York. Now, Schilling, for expressing his belief on a private social media account that restrooms should be separated based on the biology of those who use them, has completely lost his job.

Does this make ESPN hypocritical because it hasn't "maintained consistency?" Not necessarily. ESPN said that Schilling was fired because the network is "an inclusive company." While Schilling might contend that the "inclusivity" they are referring to does not allow for diversity of private thought, ESPN is ultimately a private company that has the right to regulate its values and how those values are portrayed. While many can and will dispute whether or not Schilling should have been fired, ESPN’s ability to exercise its right to employment in accordance with its company’s values ought not to be questioned.

Plus, writ large, Schilling's post is vulgar and cruel; not only is ESPN within its rights to fire him, it should.

All private companies are owed the ability to employ those who they believe embody their principles, not the principles of outsiders. ESPN, and all other private businesses, should not be, in the court of public opinion, found guilty for protecting its company’s values.