FOX Sports reporter Charissa Thompson defends herself following backlash over her comments revealing that she used to ‘make up sideline reports’

Thompson had earlier stated that during her time as a sideline reporter, she used to make up reports.

FOX Sports reporter Charissa Thompson defends herself following backlash over her comments revealing that she used to ‘make up sideline reports’

Charissa Thompson (via AP)

Prominent NFL broadcaster at FOX Sports and Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football, Charissa Thompson has received flak for her comments. Thompson had stated that she used to make up sideline reports during NFL games when a coach would not acknowledge her at halftime or when it was too late and she did not want it to have a negative impact on the real report.

She issued a public clarification regarding her earlier comments on Pardon My Take, wherein she had said, 

I would make up the report sometimes.

Thompson cited the reason for releasing a statement as her “responsibility” towards herself and her employers. The journalist cleared it all up and acknowledged that she ought to have made a smarter choice with the words she used to describe the situation.

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Charissa Thompson admitted that she has 

never lied about anything or been unethical

during her time as a sports broadcaster. The journalist broke down what she had meant to say on the podcast. Thompson meant that when she was unable to get access to the coaches at halftime or after the game, she would base her reports off of her observations. 

I never attributed anything I said to a player or coach.

Charissa Thompson justified her statements by dubbing them to be harmless

It sounded different from her earlier comments when she went as far as to say, “no coach is going to get mad” about her making up reports and leading viewers to think that they had voiced over motivating and inspiring statements to their teams. 

They're not going to correct me on that. So, I'm like it's fine, I'll just make up the report.
Charissa Thompson
Charissa Thompson (via AP)

She concluded her recent statement by expressing nothing but respect for sideline reporters and the work that they put in. Despite her statement of clarification, Thompson received criticism from her own media circle when ABC’s Molly McGrath called her out by dubbing this as “not normal or ethical.” CBS’ Tracy Wolfson stated,

This is absolutely not ok.

Thompson might have more trouble ahead as Kevin Z. Smith, a board member of the Society of Professional Journalists called her out for violating the basic code of ethics by falsifying information. Neither FOX Sports nor Amazon Prime has made any comments on Thompson’s statement yet.

Is her confession really that big of a deal? To fans, not really, but to other sideline reporters, it is. Thompson revealed one of the worst-kept secrets of the job. There are going to be times when coaches are not going to talk to reporters or when reporters just do not get relevant comments from coaches, in such cases, they have to think quick and come up with something.

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