ESPN taps Schreiber as Ombudsman

Former New York Times sports editor-turned author Le Anne Schreiber has
been appointed ombudsman at ESPN. She succeeds George Solomon, the
columnist and former sports editor and assistant managing editor of the
Washington Post, who was the first to hold the position and served for
21 months.

In this role, which she will begin in early April, Schreiber will be the
public’s representative to ESPN for two years, offering independent
examination, critique and analysis of ESPN’s programming and news
coverage on television and other media. At least once per month, she
will share her thoughts via a column on ESPN.com, which will be linked
from the front page.

“Le Anne brings an impressive array of eclectic experience in
journalism, writing and teaching that will bring a new dimension to our
role,” said John A. Walsh, ESPN executive vice president and executive
editor. “Her accomplishments in sports – having led the sports
department at the New York Times and Womensport’s Magazine – combined
with writing about a broad range of topics, will provide a fresh
perspective examining all we do.”

A native of Evanston, Illinois, Schreiber received a bachelor of arts
degree in English from Rice University. After graduate studies at
Stanford and Harvard, she taught in the Harvard English department for
three years, then left to become a staff writer for TIME Magazine, where
she covered foreign affairs and the 1976 Summer Olympics. That led to a
stint as editor-in-chief of Womensport’s Magazine, founded by Billie
Jean King, and later to her appointment as sports editor of The New York
Times. In 1980, she left sports to serve as deputy editor of The New
York Times Book Review.

Since 1984, she has worked as an independent journalist and writer of
essays, memoirs and criticism. She is the author of two memoirs,
Midstream (Viking/Penguin, 1990) and Light Years (Lyons&Burford/Anchor,
1996), both New York Times Notable Books of the Year. Her shorter work
has appeared in LIFE, Glamour, Elle, SELF, The New York Times Sunday
Magazine, Discover, Parabola, O, The Yale Review, as well as several
anthologies. As an independent journalist, she has written about
science, politics, medicine, literature, sports and the outdoor life.
She has received several awards for her writing, including a National
Magazine Award for public interest journalism. She has taught in
Columbia University’s graduate writing program, at The New York State
Writer’s Institute and in the English Department of the University at
Albany.