Verification was never meant to stroke egos. The blue check mark was created by Twitter to assure the public they were getting news and opinions from reliable, authentic sources. For many ESPN employees, verification of their identity is essential to the credibility of the news they break on the platform. It isn’t a good enough reason for the network to pay for its talent to keep that checkmark, though.
Whether bosses don’t think verification is essential for their audience or they are taking a stand, a network spokesperson confirmed to Awful Announcing that it will not be footing the bill for anyone that wants a blue checkmark.
“As for the company accounts we, along with several other companies, continue to be in a beta test for ‘Verified Organizations,'” the statement continued. “No decisions will be made until that is concluding.”
League insiders have become some of the most valuable people in the sports media. ESPN has invested significantly in people like Adam Schefter and Adrian Wojnarowski. They have also spawned several impersonators on social media.
While company policy may be that paying for verification is not necessary for most employees, it is interesting that no exception has been announced for those reporters. In a business where having information first is as important as having it right, it would not be absurd to expect ESPN to do whatever it needs to in order to maintain its reporters’ credibility.
All Twitter accounts that received verification before Elon Musk took over and introduced a paid plan called Twitter Blue will lose their status on April 1st.
ESPN is not the only news organization that isn’t rushing to sign up for the new model. Both The New York Times and Washington Post are among several news outlets that have confirmed they will not be reimbursing the employees that sign up to retain their verification.
