Erin Andrews. See, you’re already interested.
The famous ESPN sideline reporter, whose stardom only increased following the “incident” in an Omaha hotel, has already risen to the network’s premier college football coverage team after joining Kirk Herbstreit, Brent Musburger and the College GameDay crew.
She’s already netted herself a niche spot in Electronic Arts’ popular NCAA Football video game series as the lead reporter in the game’s Heisman mode.
She’s also acrewed more than 1,500 percent more followers on Twitter than ESPN’s College Football Live account. And she competed on Dancing With the Stars.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to say she’s one of the most recognizable names and faces among college football journalists. And now she’s got an endorsement.
This month, Andrews met with Reebok to take promotional ad photos and record commercials for the company’s ZigTech athletic shoes.
It isn’t uncommon to see a celebrity, former athlete or former coach endorsing a product. It is new, however, to see someone only famous for being a reporter hawking a product for money.
There has been a wall between journalists and endorsements for decades, broken only by those who entered the field after a career in sports or coaching — a wall Andrews has now torn down.
In press release from Reebok, Andrews said, “I’m very excited to be the first female to become part of Reebok’s ZigTech campaign, joining superstars like Peyton Manning, Sidney Crosby, John Wall, Chad Ochocinco and many more.”
The move might open doors for other publicly recognized journalism personalities to start making money with their names and appearances. Who knows — the Denver Post’s Woody Paige might try to sell you Oxyclean in the near future.
But any time you get in bed with a company that promotes itself with personalities you report on, you run the risk of conflict-of-interest situations. If Andrews makes a career jump to the NFL as a sideline reporter, will she be able to deliver unfavorable stories on fellow Reebok personalities, like the Cincinnati Bengals’ Ochocinco, without painting the shoe company in a bad light?
To be fair and balanced, journalists should keep themselves from anything that might force them into conflicts of interest to maintain the purity of unbiased reporting. Andrews’ endorsement, and the likely endorsements of more journalists in the future, might muddy the water and influence coverage because of endorsement alliances.
It will be interesting to see how this changes things within sports journalism. As a journalist, I’m intrigued. As a reader, you just read a column loosely based on journalism ethics because I baited you with Erin Andrews.