A few of them said that they were sometimes heaped with racist abuse on social media and in online comments when they covered topics that might not have fit the expectations of the typical Ringer reader, including a post on Beyoncé. Simmons, said they often felt uncomfortable at The Ringer. He also blamed “bloggers and media critics who seemed pretty determined to prove that we weren’t financially viable.” He added that being a part of Spotify, the audiostreaming giant that became a public company in 2018, would make recruitment easier.įour former black employees, three of whom spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of antagonizing Mr. Simmons said by email that it had been difficult to hire and retain staff members early on, because The Ringer was a start-up competing against deeper-pocketed competitors. (A Ringer spokesman said that there are two additional black employees, but they are not part of the union’s tally because they are paid interns, not permanent staffers.) Between 20, at least five black editorial staff members left the company. A fourth black writer has been hired to cover the N.F.L. The Ringer has six black editorial staff members out of about 90 employees, according to the union. “I’ve been expressing sadness over this,” he said, alluding to the ongoing problem. Collins added that the lack of diversity at the company had played a role in his departure. Austin Collins, a black film critic who left The Ringer for Vanity Fair in 2018. “I was one of the people Bill gave a chance to,” said K. Some current and former employees said that he had consistently sought to hire black writers. He started The Ringer with an all-white team of founding editors. A dispute with the network’s leadership led to his departure in 2015. He also started the ESPN sports and pop culture website Grantland. He was an early podcaster, hosting his own show as early as 2007, and he helped create the network’s “30 for 30” sports documentary series. Simmons, 50, started writing columns for ESPN nearly 20 years ago. Race has been front-and-center in coverage of the league since at least 2016, when the quarterback Colin Kaepernick started kneeling during the national anthem in protest of police brutality toward black people.
coverage had put it in a bad position, the people said. A writer said during the meeting that not having a black editor involved in The Ringer’s N.F.L.
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