NBC sideline reporter Andrea Kremer chimed in on the Ron Franklin/Jeannine Edwards incident, telling USA Today reporter Michael McCarthythat the vitriol towards women sideline reporters is out of control.
“The vitriol that is spewed forth about women, women in sports TV, female sideline reporters is just so out of control,” said Kremer. “It always boils down to: Why are there women sideline reporters? What do they really do? Inane questions that are so antiquated, so passé. It’s not what it’s about. The focus should be on the performance of a Jeannine Edwards. The focus should be on: What did Pam Oliver contribute to the telecast? It should be about the analysis a Suzy Kolber brings, not whether Joe Namath’s trying to kiss her one day. The focus always gets off the performance and contributions that we bring. I don’t understand that. People are assailing Jeannine Edwards. Why?”
While the focus should be on the contributions of sideline reporters, unfortunately that’s generally not what the public wants to discuss when it comes to the likes of Erin Andrews and Suzy Kolber.
Scandal sells.