ESPN admits to paraphrasing text messages between Ray Rice and Steve Bisciotti

When ESPN’s Outside the Lines released its bombshell report that exposed the Baltimore Ravens for allegedly covering up the Ray Rice elevator video, one of the most interesting chunks of information involved some text messages that team owner Steve Bisciotti sent to Rice after releasing him. The general idea of Bisciotti’s offer to Rice was captured in the OTL report, but was the way the World Wide Leader delivered the information irresponsibly inaccurate?

When you look at the way Bisciotti’s texts were included in the OTL report, the only reasonable assumption is that they were directly quoted.

Almost anyone who read that part of the report would assume the italicized words implied a direct quote from the texts. However, the Ravens later released the exact text message exchange that Bisciotti had with Rice in a statement addressing the OTL report. ESPN acknowledged on Tuesday night that it could have been more clear with the presentation of the messages.

“We understand the confusion surrounding our use of italics and recognize we could have been more clear,” the network said in a statement, via Pro Football Talk. “Most importantly, the information in our story about the contents of the texts was consistent with what the team released.”

ESPN also reported that Rice believed he was being bribed by Bisciotti and felt “incredibly insulted.” That may be true (and ESPN was right to include it if it came from a credible source), but the way the texts from Bisciotti were framed also made it seem like the owner initiated the conversation.

In reality, Rice began the text conversation with the following message.

“I understand the decision but I am thankful for what you have done for me and my family. Me and my wife will continue to work on us and being better but I just wanted to say thank you for giving me a chance.”

Bisciotti responded by offering Rice a job with the organization after his playing career is over and promising to help him get his life on track. Rice certainly may have interpreted that as a bribe after thinking it over, but ESPN should not have paraphrased the text messages and began with “Hey Ray,” which gave readers the impression that Bisciotti reached out to Rice.

Again, the basic theme of the exchange was captured. But the way ESPN presented the information was lazy, if nothing else. In a report that reveals details that could be devastating to the Ravens organization’s reputation, every inaccuracy matters.