Coverage of the 2015 Ethics Conference can be found here, where you can find updated coverage of panel discussions, keynote addresses, and different breakout sessions hosted at the conference.
Chris Kluwe will bring an athlete’s perspective to Fair of Foul: Ethics and Sports Journalism, this year’s Center for Journalism Ethics conference.
A former NFL punter, Kluwe has continued to advocate for same sex marriage and gay rights. His stance on these beliefs is why he is on the panel discussion “Out of Bounds? Criticism and Vitriol in Sports.”
His nine-year NFL career spanned three teams, the Seattle Seahawks, Minnesota Vikings, and Oakland Raiders, with seven of them as the punter for the Vikings.
Kluwe had an online blog for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which he quit after the newspaper published an editorial for the ban of same-sex marriage. It was not that he disagreed with their stance; it was how they portrayed the editorial that pushed him over the line. He tweeted, “What concerns me is them presenting a completely biased piece (word choice, examples used, conclusions) as a neutral position. That’s not only irresponsible journalism, it’s massively hypocritical.”
On April 30, 2013, Kluwe wrote an article on Deadspin describing his thoughts on why he was released by the Vikings titled “I was an NFL Player Until I Was Fired By Two Cowards And A Bigot.”
As an NFL player with experience as an opinion writer, Kluwe understands how criticism in sports journalism and the ethics behind it. Journalism Professor James Baughman, ESPN Milwaukee sports writer Jason Wilde, and ESPN Chicago columnist Melissa Issacson will join Kluwe on the panel discussion.