A Sports Reporter’s Perspective: Was “Let’s Go Brandon” Chant Coverage An Honest Mistake Or Something More?
At first, when I saw the video of NBC NASCAR reporter Kelli Stavast interview driver Brandon Brown at Talledega, I thought it was deliberate fake news. Now, my opinion has changed.
Sure, the left and many mainstream outlets (with few exceptions) want you to believe we have the most popular president of all time, but I think the situation is a little different than that.
In case you missed it, here’s what happened:
Stavast was in the middle of interviewing Brown, who was clearly emotional and ecstatic after winning his first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Talledega when the crowd behind them broke into a chant.
Hear me out.
First off, as a sports reporter, it’s not an easy job. I’m not condoning this in full, but I may give her the benefit of the doubt. When you are conducting an interview, you have an idea of what your questions are going to be and how the athlete is going to react, but sometimes you and your producer (talking in your ear) have to respond quickly in the moment.
It looks like Stavast heard the roar of the crowd, and then whether it was her or her producer calling for an overhead shot of the stands, they must have realized that it had nothing to do with Brandon but our sitting president.
Obviously, I could be totally wrong on this, but I couldn’t imagine a sports broadcasting network and seasoned reporter in arguably the most conservative sport in America knowingly and premeditatedly trying to spin that chant into something else.
There is a lot of fake news out there, but I think this was just a dumb mistake and instead of acknowledging what was being said, the reporter tried to keep the focus on Brandon Brown.
Obviously, I think it could have been handled better, but the reporter and her producer had to make a quick reaction and do damage control.
There is a very slim chance, in my opinion, as a sports broadcasting network that they purposely plotted to spin a chant that has been taking over sports stadiums and arenas the last month or so. That would be absolutely insane and completely idiotic. It is not out of the question, but all in all, I think we need to give this reporter a break. We don’t know her politics, and frankly, knowing her politics shouldn’t matter.
Everyone reading this can call me naive or overly optimistic, but from a sports reporter’s perspective, I hope this provides a different look at a situation that has at the very least turned into some great memes and social media content.
