CHRISTINE BRENNAN is a famous figure in the sports world because of her best selling books, her career as sportswriters, her TV and radio appearances on sports show and her genuine interest in sport related issues. Working with Washington Post and USA Today, Brennan has been relentlessly following and covering sports events all over the world, which is, she is often considered a trusted name in sports journalism. However lately she has been charged with biased reporting and her books have come under attacks for exposing the dark inner world of figure skating.
Brennan is an award-winning writer. Having earned her undergraduate and Master's degree in journalism from Northwestern University in 1980, she joined Miami Herald as their first ever woman sports writer. She worked with the Herald for four years from 1981-1984 during which she covered various sports events but it was not until she joined Washington Post that Brennan became a famous figure in the sports world. She has won the prestigious Capital Press Women's "Woman of Achievement" award four times and also wrote some best selling books including 1998 book Edge of Glory: The Inside Story of the Quest for Figure Skating's Olympic Gold Medals that won her the Ohioana Library Association Book Award. She has also been honored a place into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. She has also written another bestseller, which touches upon some controversial issues and is titled 'Inside Edge: A Revealing Journey into the Secret World of Figure Skating'.
Brennan has also worked for the promotion of sports and has been relentlessly trying to bring in more women into the sports arena:
In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. As president of the nationwide organization, she initiated a scholarship-internship program for college-age women that now honors six students annually." (1) fairly long career with Washington Post won her many accolades and also increased her presence on national TV networks. She was a regular contributor to ABC...
As an analyst, she appeared on ABC News when the International Olympic Committee scandal was being investigated and helped the channel cover 2000 Summer Olympic Games, which were helped in Australia.
Apart from this she has also "appeared on ABC, NBC and CNN during the 1999 Women's World Cup soccer tournament and was ESPN SportsCenter's Olympics reporter for the 1998 Games. She has commented on the Olympics and other sports issues on Nightline, Good Morning America, World News Tonight, CBS Sports and Turner Sports. A commentator on National Public Radio's Morning Edition, Brennan has made various appearances on NBC's Today, Meet the Press, Lifetime Television and a variety of CNN shows. She appears regularly on ESPN Radio and weekly on WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C." (2)
Throughout her illustrious career as a sports writer and author of some bestsellers, Brennan has been attacked often by the media, sports agencies and sports personalities too for her biased views on various events. For example when she wrote about the world of figure skating, she did not objectively discuss the hard work that goes into winning Olympic gold. Instead she gives her own colored opinion on this sport, attracting the world's attention to growing trend towards homosexuality in figure skating. Brennan also wrote that a meaningful career in figure skating is almost over after the Olympics. However this is not true and her comments offended a few great figure skating stars who criticized Brennan for her inability to view the sports world objectively.
In response to one such biased commentary, Scott Hamilton wrote: "Brennan portrays the professional skating world as a place to "kick back" and "take the easy way out." She even went so far as to equate turning pro-with "joining the circus." Professional skating has done nothing but advance the sport while promoting its growth both artistically and technically, not only within the skating community…
