Mediatwits #106: Twitter Storm Over Grantland Story About Transgender Golf Club Inventor

Published: Jan. 23, 2014, 8:18 p.m.

Last week, ESPN’s Grantland published a story by Caleb Hannan called “Dr. V’s Magical Putter,” a piece that on its face looked into the ambitious claims of Essay Anne Vanderbilt (a.k.a. Dr. V), the inventor of a golf putter called Yar. The article ended up being less about a putter and more about the inventor and her secret about being a transgender woman. Dr. V had committed suicide months before the article was published and weeks after last speaking with the reporter. In the aftermath of the article, the reporter and Grantland have been widely attacked for prioritizing the story over compassion. Grantland’s editor-in-chief issued a point-by-point apology Monday in tandem with a piece titled “What Grantland Got Wrong” by an ESPN staff writer, Christina Kahrl, who is a transgender woman. This week on Mediatwits, we’re joined by special guest Poynter’s Kelly McBride to talk about the ethics of Grantland’s reporting, as well a Gawker's features editor Tom Scocca, who wrote this piece about the controversy. We’ll also be joined by American University’s Andrew Lih, and as usual, PBS MediaShift’s Mark Glaser will host.