NEW YORK (AP) – ESPN’s new ombudsman scolded basketball analyst Jay Bilas for a “Brokeback Mountain” reference one viewer found offensive. He said Kenny Mayne should have turned down “Dancing With the Stars.” He wrote that it “boggles the mind” that the network would make reality shows with Barry Bonds and Bobby Knight.

And that was in the course of only one column.

It shows the wide scope of retired newspaper editor George Solomon’s job, holding a magnifying glass to ethical concerns at a network that has become an omnipresent empire for sports fans.

In six months of sober, plainspoken columns that are posted on ESPN’s Web site, Solomon has also taken on the network’s infatuation with rebellious football receiver Terrell Owens, its fabricated news conferences with an actor portraying baseball executives and ESPN’s reluctance to cover stories that involved their own employees.

Solomon, who retired in 2003 after 28 years as sports editor of the Washington Post (he still writes a weekly column for the Post), was appointed ESPN’s first ombudsman last spring.

The decision to install a watchdog wasn’t in response to anything specific, said Vince Doria, ESPN news director and senior vice president. The general climate of scandals involving the news media was the key factor, he said.

“The response has been unbelievable,” Solomon said. “It shows the depth and breadth of their audience. They have a humongous audience and many of them are concerned with what they do and the complexities of what they do. I’d say I hear from about 1,000 people a month.”

Solomon’s most recent column criticized ESPN for going into business with the volatile Knight on an “Apprentice”-like show for would-be college basketball players. ESPN is similarly working with Bonds for a behind-the-scenes look at his quest for baseball’s all-time home-run record.

In both cases, Solomon worried they put ESPN’s newsgathering in conflict, and in competition, with its entertainment operation. “My suggestion to ESPN would have been what I’d tell NBC News if it wanted to do a reality show with Donald Rumsfeld: “Don’t,”‘ he wrote.

Not everything Solomon writes is critical. He praised ESPN, for example, for putting sports in perspective after Hurricane Katrina and for its coverage of Kobe Bryant’s 81-point game for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Solomon’s criticisms have not reversed any decisions or changed policies, Doria said.

“I’m a stubborn person,” he said. “I don’t think he’s changed my mind on anything. It’s the kind of thing where you see it and you may not change your mind, but you might think about it again somewhere down the line.”

Doria disagreed with Solomon’s disapproval of Mayne’s attempt to become a dancing star. Solomon said that anyone who works on ESPN news shows or covers events should avoid celebrity competitions or commercial endorsements.

Doria said he considered Mayne, who contributes comedic segments, an entertainer. He might resist if a show like “Dancing With the Stars” sought “Sportscenter” host Dan Patrick, he said.

For his part, Solomon said his job is to point things out, not to follow up on what ESPN does or doesn’t do as a result.

When Solomon was appointed, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel columnist Bob Wolfley helpfully provided him with a laundry list in print of topics the watchdog should look into – things like product endorsements and different standards for entities like the ESPN.com Web site. New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick is a frequent ESPN critic, particularly for having a corrosive effect on sportsmanship with its emphasis on flash and dash.

“The cynic in me is disappointed because (Solomon) has been doing a good job, better than I expected,” Wolfley said in an interview.

He worried that Solomon’s hiring would be little more than a stunt, or that the network would use his presence as a shield against criticism.

“He can raise the issues,” Wolfley said, “but you have the sense that there isn’t going to be any sea change in the way that ESPN does business and collects news. It’s so big – it’s the Starship Enterprise – and it just does so many things.”

As Solomon expected, his phone calls aren’t the most welcome things for ESPN employees. Bilas objected to criticism of his comment that struggling Kentucky basketball players needed to see “Brokeback Mountain” and have a good cry. A viewer thought it tasteless to equate homosexuality with a lack of toughness. Bilas said he was only making reference to a tear-jerker film; Solomon wrote that Bilas meant no malice, but didn’t really understand what he was talking about.

Solomon brushes off angry responses to what he writes.

“I edited (opinionated columnist and ESPN personality Tony) Kornheiser for 28 years,” he said. “What could they possibly say that I haven’t already heard?”

He’s been upfront about one potential conflict of interest: Solomon’s son produces the ESPN show “Around the Horn.” Solomon is on an 18-month, nonrenewable contract with ESPN. It hasn’t been decided whether the position will remain when he’s done.

One odd aspect of the arrangement is that Doria is one of two editors of Solomon’s column. Solomon said Doria checks his work only for factual errors, and doesn’t influence his opinions.

Like any writer, an ombudsman needs an editor and each one makes individual arrangements, said Gina Lubrano, executive secretary of the Organization of News Ombudsmen. “The only guideline we have is that the ombudsman’s job is independent and it is our opinion,” said Lubrano, readers’ representative at the San Diego Union Tribune.

Doria said that he will sometimes point out things to Solomon that he disagrees with, but that he usually rejects the advice.

As a newspaper person, Solomon doesn’t always understand the goals of an entertainment company running side-by-side with a news organization, said Doria, a former sports editor of the Boston Globe.

“We take risks here, without a doubt,” he said. “You make calculated risks, but you hope there’s a good payoff. Whether things work or not are open to someone’s opinion.”

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On the Net:

http://www.espn.com/

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EDITOR’S NOTE – David Bauder can be reached at dbauder”at”ap.org

AP-ES-02-17-06 1501EST