Reuters’ Twitter account claimed ESPN broadcaster Robert Lee was a doppelgänger and namesake of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in two separate, but inaccurate, Wednesday tweets.
Confederate General Lee namesake pulled from upcoming University of Virginia football broadcast: https://t.co/aVzHUOinZb pic.twitter.com/27k5nhehZx
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 23, 2017
Confederate General Lee doppelganger pulled from upcoming University of Virginia football broadcast: https://t.co/rRTtAmZ5lR pic.twitter.com/nEqAujm2Hk
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 23, 2017
Reuters issued a “clarification” moments after incorrectly suggesting the ESPN broadcaster was named after Gen. Robert E. Lee. The clarifying tweet failed to address their separate implication that the Asian American announcer bares a physical resemblance to the caucasian Civil War general.
CLARIFICATION: Announcer with same name as Confederate General Lee pulled from broadcast; not named after Lee https://t.co/ZY7xOJIjFl https://t.co/PmgCcDhBLW
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 23, 2017
ESPN reassigned the announcer in response to the violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Va., Outkick The Coverage reported Tuesday night.
The network defended its decision in a statement released after the report emerged.
“We collectively made the decision with Robert to switch games as the tragic events in Charlottesville were unfolding, simply because of the coincidence of his name. In that moment it felt right to all parties. It’s a shame that this is even a topic of conversation and we regret that who calls play by play for a football game has become an issue,” the statement reads.
Journalists immediately pounced on Reuters’ missteps, despite the “clarification” that came minutes after they disseminated the inaccurate tweets.
1. Where is the clarification on “doppelganger”?
2. When does the ad for a new social-media editor go up?— Jeremy C. Owens (@jowens510) August 23, 2017
Um do you know what doppelganger means? Did someone hack this account?
— Rob Eno (@Robeno) August 23, 2017
In the span of a few tweets, Reuters revealed they have no idea what the words “namesake” and “doppelganger” mean pic.twitter.com/Zvs0K0olfT
— Alex Griswold (@HashtagGriswold) August 23, 2017
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.