Mixing up national anthems or flags is not great, and neither is mixing up who’s in a photo. On Tuesday, ESPN managed to combine country misidentification with a photo mixup, rolling out an Associated Press story on China’s Davis Cup (international tennis) team forfeiting a match due to “increased restrictions in response to the current coronavirus outbreak,” but accompanying it with a photo of the Japanese Davis Cup team (who were wearing gear with Japanese flags on it).
The story on ESPN.com doesn’t have a photo that appears when you click the page, but it has a photo of the Japanese team associated with it if you expand the link elsewhere, or if you see it on the app:
Here’s what that looks like in a preview:
https://twitter.com/newc88/status/1229792532067966976
Yeah, that’s not a great mistake to make. And it’s the second time in five months ESPN’s made a significant error with a photo or graphic about China.
[@Jumbo_Clip on Twitter]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.
Recent Posts
SiriusXM NHL Network Radio host Jim ‘Boomer’ Gordon passes away at 55
Gordon died on Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer.
Joe Buck lauds Mike Tirico, Kenny Albert for 2026 Winter Olympics coverage
Buck knows what big looks like, and he recognized it in NBC's Olympic hockey broadcast.
Peter Rosenberg sees USA men’s hockey as ‘sad little pawns’ at Trump’s State of the Union
"Y’all decided to go all the way full on props for the president."
Rangers legend Ron Duguay diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer
"I find it extremely hard asking for funds for all these costs I’m going through."
Jim Furyk joining Golf Channel as analyst on trial basis
Furyk is set to work on a trial basis alongside Terry Gannon to see if broadcasting is something he wants to pursue.
Gary Bettman wants better timeslot for Olympic hockey gold medal game
The NHL commissioner believes Sunday's gold medal game left millions of viewers on the table.