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Monica McNutt’s fiery exchange with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take exploded across social media this week, and not because it solved anything. During a segment about the WNBA and the Caitlin Clark surge, McNutt admonished Smith, saying that with his megaphone he could have been elevating women’s basketball years ago, and the conversation quickly devolved into a viral, chaotic back-and-forth. Viewers watched a professional debate turn into a spectacle, the exact kind of TV theater that drives ratings but fails to advance honest discussion.
What was presented as a principled call for better coverage looked more like performative moralizing when you peel back the layers. Stephen A. pushed back by pointing to First Take’s history of addressing women’s sports, and the finger-pointing that followed revealed less about commitment and more about optics. Conservatives should be skeptical whenever media elites demand credit for virtue while refusing accountability for shaping the narratives they profit from.
Here’s the conservative truth most media won’t acknowledge: networks chase viewers and clicks, not righteousness. If the WNBA or any league wants consistent mainstream attention, it earns it by building sustained interest and competitive product, not by staging heated TV moments. Blaming commentators for not doing the heavy lifting is a convenient dodge for leagues and pundits who prefer shouting at each other to addressing what actually grows audiences.
The spectacle also exposed the performative trend that has infected so much of corporate media—grandstanding disguised as principled outrage. Too often we see pundits and analysts leap into identity-based scoring while refusing to grapple with market realities or admit prior blind spots. That’s not advocacy, it’s virtue signaling, and hardworking Americans deserve better than that hollow theater masquerading as journalism.
Stephen A. isn’t above criticism, but neither is he the villain the woke narrative paints him to be. He built a career by stirring debate and giving blunt, sometimes abrasive takes, and millions tune in for exactly that. Conservatives rightly defend the space for robust, uncensored discussion, because silencing or shaming dissent into conformity is how institutions calcify and stop serving audiences.
If there’s a lesson here, it’s to reject performative outrage and demand substance instead. Fans who want real growth in women’s sports should vote with their attention, support, and wallets, not just post righteous hot takes. And if media outlets want credibility, they should stop weaponizing identity and start producing consistent, honest coverage that respects viewers’ intelligence.
At the end of the day, this episode was less about sports and more about the state of our culture: spectacle over solutions, virtue over results. Conservatives should call that out unapologetically, defend free speech on the airwaves, and push for a media landscape where debates are meant to inform and improve, not simply to go viral. Hardworking Americans want honesty and real progress, not another manufactured showdown for the sake of clicks.
