George Michael’s legacy could be tarnished: King of Pay-to-Play Broadcasting?

We talked back at Christmas about the life and death of George Michael, who made George Michael’s Sports Machine famous on Sunday night TV….Now this, and it is enough to make you say WOW!!!!! And you now ask yourself the question, “did George buy his way to the top”?

Just a snipet below, from the Washington CityPaper.com and you can read the entire article at Click Here….

Georg Michael’s amazing run atop the D.C. sportscasting scene was fueled by checkbook journalism. He started paying Redskins players and coaches to get access shortly after arriving in town in 1980, and after Dan Snyder bought the Redskins, Michael and WRC TV even began taking money from the team to get Snyder’s message out via various sources, including Snyder-produced infomercials.

Neither Michael nor WRC ever disclosed to viewers that they had financial arrangements with the interview subjects. And Michael never apologized for his behavior—and almost nobody ever asked him to. In a 1992 article in the Washington Post that went over the various deals WRC had to pay Redskins players and coaches for interviews, including then quarterback Mark Rypien and head coach Joe Gibbs, Michael rationalized the exchange of money. “That news segment is sponsored and sold. We promote the segment.