Tennessee bans Knoxville reporter

[Jersey_Guy]

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/govols/article/0,1406,KNS_294_5057490,00.html

By STEVE AHILLEN, ahillen@knews.com
October 11, 2006


The University of Tennessee suspended media privileges for Knoxville News Sentinel sports writer Dave Hooker on Tuesday citing its concerns involving a story written by Hooker on injured football player Inquoris "Inky" Johnson.
In a letter delivered to the News Sentinel and signed by associate sports information director John Painter, Hooker was informed that his suspension will last until Oct. 23 and will cover "all Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday access in the Neyland-Thompson Sports Center, as well as all practice, post-practice interviews, community service appearances and the UT-Alabama game."

Knoxville's response seems to be, "OK, no problem, we'll just send somebody else."

[Michael_ Gee]

     Then the Knoxville paper will wonder why folks don't trust it as a news source.

[BigRed]

Knoxville really should fight that.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.
Knoxville is the very definition of a "university" town... the kind of place where the newscasters wear baby-puke Orange ties on Friday nights and nothing bad can be said about Herr Fulmer and the mighty Vols.
There are good people at the News-Sentinel who do very good work, and I hope they stand up for their man.

[Michael_ Gee]

       Real simple: You have your political writers go to the two candidates for governor and ask if they favor state employees trampiing on the first Amendment. Then you call the AD and say his organization will  have reporters assigned full-time looking for scum in his programs. They'll start with phone calls to the Alabama AD.
       Bullies can only stopped by hitting back.

[jgmacg]

"Dave got whistled for a false start."

Oy. How about, "We stand by our story"?

And wasn't "UT director of public relations Tiffany Carpenter" in "Diamonds Are Forever"?

[Lugnuts]

Quote from the editor:

"Although this was a positive story about a great player, Dave got whistled for a false start. There was certainly never any intent to harm Inky Johnson or the UT athletic program in any way. The News Sentinel regrets UT's decision in taking this action but looks forward to continuing to provide fans with comprehensive coverage of the Vols."

----------------

Please rip this guy on this website.  Give him the Albom treatment.

Tennessee is a state school funded in large part with taxpayer dollars.  In my view, the sports information office has no right to suspend the guy's credentials -- none.

The SID's office says it's worried about the precedent that would be set by not getting its permission.

I worry about the precedent that's being set by the Knoxville editor.

We're seeing too many teams pulling credentials for something they don't like.  It's dangerous.

The cutesy 'whistled for a false start' comment makes me want to rip the guy's head off.

[Flying Headbutt]

Does that attitude seem par for the course in SEC land?  There was the whole publisher vs. reporter in the Auburn spat a few years ago.  I probably shouldn't be painting every single paper that covers the SEC that way, and such attitudes aren't exclusive there, but perhaps a little more prevalent?  Or no?

[Riddick]

I'm only a young SE, but one of the first lessons I learned is you have your reporters back. This seems gutless.

[Lugnuts]

I want that editor's name to become common usage on this website.

I often complain about folks using the word p***y in a negative light around here.  Can we please substitute "Jack McElroy"?

As in:  I watched The Bachelor: Rome with my gf.  I feel like such a Jack McElroy.

------------------

Listen up, folks:

My station covers a pretty big team and even televises some of its games.  When I interviewed for my current job, my first question to the boss was:  Do you ever worry about pissing off X Team?  And his answer was, "Absolutely NOT.  We go after them like we would any powerful entity in this city."

Reminder:  I work in friggin' TV, for crying out loud!

WTF

[busuncle]

A few thoughts....

* Most college programs have rules that require athlete interviews be set up through the sports-information department. I understand why the rule is in place. You don't want players being called in their dorm rooms by reporters.

* However, the onus is on the university and the players to follow and enforce that rule. The media is not bound by it. If a player voluntarily granted an interview, which was obtained ethically and without harassment, then the Knox News has nothing to apologize for.

* Finally, as a reporter, you have to pick your battles carefully. Know the rules and understand that breaking the rules is going to make your life difficult. It's not worth it to incur the wrath of the entire athletics department for a BS story. For a big scoop, maybe it is.

[playthrough]

Wow. Maybe there's more to this story that we don't know about, but what's here stinks to high heaven. The SE's response is pathetic, but not surprising considering his stated goal is to continue to provide "fans" with "comprehensive coverage". I'm guessing that coverage must not include anything that would tarnish ol' Rocky Top.

[Ace]

I agree. This is pathetic, simpering and cowering.

Hack McElroy's response should have been:

We are willing to work with the University of Tennesee athletic department as much as possible, but when "working" with them means waiting for undetermined time for them to make a key player available for interviews, we will do all we can to get around their roadblock and provide news to readers.

Inky Johnson is a key player who is out with an injury. According to federal law, it his his decision whether he wants to speak about his injury and his recovery. He did and we provided the news to our readers.

Providing news -- even if hard to get, even if officials don't want us to pursue it -- is what a good newspaper does.

The University of Tennesee athletic department is the one that should look hard at itself to see if it is serving in the best interests of its athletes and fans of the Volunteers.

****

Oh, and bravo to Dave Hooker for getting the story as he did -- apparently without the knowledge and support of his bosses, it seems.

[slappy4428]

       Real simple: You have your political writers go to the two candidates for governor and ask if they favor state employees trampiing on the first Amendment. Then you call the AD and say his organization will  have reporters assigned full-time looking for scum in his programs. They'll start with phone calls to the Alabama AD.
       Bullies can only stopped by hitting back.

If they haven't got CPF yet, they never will...
But this is a bullshit move that you'd expect from Bama or Florida.
And you'd like to think the other reporters would band together to catch his back, but their editors would never allow it.

[Ace]

A few thoughts....

* Most college programs have rules that require athlete interviews be set up through the sports-information department. I understand why the rule is in place. You don't want players being called in their dorm rooms by reporters.

Sure. Go through them first. If they refuse, tough for them. They created the situation. If the kid wants to talk, talk to him.
 

[Michael_ Gee]

       One more idea. At every enormous state university of my acquaintance, there are distinguished faculty members who hate the athletic department and all its works. I'd start talking to them a lot, too.

       Riddick got to the point. You can't work for a paper where your editors don't have your back. More to the point, you can't READ a paper like that. Every sentient citizen in Knoxville, and I'm sure there are more than a few, now knows their daily paper's on the record with a proud lack of integrity.

[playthrough]

I propose that from now on every journalist in a competitive beat, when scooped by another news organization, explains to the bosses that he/she would have had the story first, but didn't want to "get whistled for a false start."

That is outstanding.

[oldhack]

Knoxville really should fight that.
That said, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.
Knoxville is the very definition of a "university" town... the kind of place where the newscasters wear baby-puke Orange ties on Friday nights and nothing bad can be said about Herr Fulmer and the mighty Vols.
There are good people at the News-Sentinel who do very good work, and I hope they stand up for their man.

And the kind of town where the newspaper's website is called "Govols."

Any newspaper that submits to that kind of control by an athletic department or by any other public relations agency is no longer credible. Period. The dirty little secret, looks like, is that newspapers and broadcast outlets in the UTenn orbit have been cowering before the school's athletic department for years.

I'd like to hear from those with more experience: Is this normal? What do you do about it?

[oldhack]

       Real simple: You have your political writers go to the two candidates for governor and ask if they favor state employees trampiing on the first Amendment. Then you call the AD and say his organization will  have reporters assigned full-time looking for scum in his programs. They'll start with phone calls to the Alabama AD.
       Bullies can only stopped by hitting back.

Cute, but retaliation puts you in the same mosh pit as the athletic department.

[steveu]

Considering this is a Scripps paper, I'm really surprised that shit took place. The Scripps papers are usually pretty good with their coverage, so to see Knox drop the ball like this is insane.

[slappy4428]

Considering this is a Scripps paper, I'm really surprised that shit took place. The Scripps papers are usually pretty good with their coverage, so to see Knox drop the ball like this is insane.

Never, ever be surprised at anything Scripps does or doesn't do... trust me.

[Lucas Wiseman]

I lived in Knoxville for six months and had some dealings with the paper. They are nice people there... but every media outlet in that town is full of homers. The fact that the SE would throw his reporter under the bus is a shame.

[Freelance Hack]

And the kind of town where the newspaper's website is called "Govols."

Was just going to type that, oldhack. Any paper that allows the URL www.govols.com to lead to the sports page, is definitely a homer rag.

Here's the section I find most troubling:

"Your action has caused not only the UT Athletics Department but also your colleagues to doubt your ability or willingness to follow accepted guidelines for access to Tennessee student-athletes," Painter wrote.

If his colleagues weren't attempting the same, then they're nothing but a bunch of UT lemmings.

Also, will UT repremand/suspend/fire the employee that helped Hooker get the story?

[Ace]

Damn. I'm madder than Luggie!

Beyond the spineless SE's quotes, the whole story was written as if the reporter did something wrong. Hell, he should be praised and UT should be villified for being petty martinets.

The basis of your "accepted guidelines," Orange People, is so that you can control news and keep whiny reporters who get beat from bugging you.

Well, tough crap. We don't have to play that game. An SE with guts would send Hooker right back or instruct each replacement to interview a kid without going through the SID.

[Bob Cook]

Isn't this a problem with many college-town papers? I remember at IU having to deal with Bob Knight's No. 1 fan, Bob Hammel, at the Bloomington paper. Hammel actually was a talented reporter and editor, but he blew his reputation by becoming so close to Knight. But it was very clear the readership favored Knight over hard-hitting journalism. That makes it very easy for the hometown paper to kowtow. Not right, but easy.

[Jinga_Thomson]

Does that attitude seem par for the course in SEC land?  There was the whole publisher vs. reporter in the Auburn spat a few years ago.  I probably shouldn't be painting every single paper that covers the SEC that way, and such attitudes aren't exclusive there, but perhaps a little more prevalent?  Or no?

I'm not sure this is the case any more. There definitely are some homer towns in the SEC, but I think that applies to all of college sports.

I have experienced virtually no problems in SEC press boxes, although I came close during a Tennessee football game a while back. If newspapers that cover the SEC are unfair, then I have yet to see it across the board. I am surprised by Knoxville's response to its reporter's suspension. And I continue to grow tired of the cutesy means of explaining it.

"...whistled for a false start" is patronizing and downplays what the reporter is likely going through.