Topic: Sports Bloggers in the Press Box

[SMJKeith]

I know this has been tossed around here before, but I am looking for some opinions for a piece I am working on.  I have a simple poll at my blog...check the left sidebar. www.sportsmediajournal.com.

The poll question is simple...I know the answers may not be.  I welcome your comments through the site.  Thanks in advance for your input!

[Rufino]

Keith -

The fact that your question on the site reads...

"Should Sports Bloogers Have Access to the Press Box?"

pretty much answers itself. Typos matter. Many sports bloggers hearts may be in the right place, but they aren't professionals and it shows in everything they do. The best ones do unique stuff which wouldn't benefit all that much from press box access anyway.

[zagoshe]

I say hell no to the question. There are already far too many loser fan-boys who get their crusty fingers around credentials and then in turn fill up press boxes and clog up locker rooms and make the job of those of us who are actually working ten times harder than it needs to be.

[KJIM]

Locals here send writers to playoff games to do in-game blogging.

I just don't get it.

I that different from Joe Fan? These aren't beat writers, and what they're cranking out isn't different than JF would crank out from his sofa between sixpacks.

[auggie_ben_doggie]

I say hell no to the question. There are already far too many loser fan-boys who get their crusty fingers around credentials and then in turn fill up press boxes and clog up locker rooms and make the job of those of us who are actually working ten times harder than it needs to be.

If you can site one -- just one -- example of a blogger making your job ten times harder than it needs to be in a press box, I'm listening...

[zagoshe]

I say hell no to the question. There are already far too many loser fan-boys who get their crusty fingers around credentials and then in turn fill up press boxes and clog up locker rooms and make the job of those of us who are actually working ten times harder than it needs to be.

If you can site one -- just one -- example of a blogger making your job ten times harder than it needs to be in a press box, I'm listening...

OK -- a certain prominent Division I team I cover credentials bloggers, fan boy sites and seemingly anyone else who can figure out HTML language and calls themself a journalist.

And these idiots are always easy to spot because they are the ones wearing their fanboy clothes and matching hats and they think they are getting insider information by asking questions like "That was a great game you played and the fans are really happy about this win what can you tell them about how fired up you guys were....."

The problem is, the locker room is tiny and it is filled to the brim with a whole bunch of these idiots who all run down there after the game (none are typing a gamer or a running story so they all just have to be in there) to be first and waste valuable portions of interview time with their hero worship and inane questions while the rest of us who have real jobs and are on deadline try unsuccessfully to push past them while bitching to the SID to kick their asses out......

Capiche?

[badmoon]

Cite, not site, but blog-on, dude.

[Pi]

Bloggers don't adhere to journalistic standards of spelling, grammar, facts, etc. It seems they want all the trappings of being a journalist without having to abide by its standards.

[tapintoamerica]

The press box or press row will not pose problems. It's locker-room access that is muddled and harmed by the presence of any additional people who have no reputable business being there. Fans cannot be journalists.

[Fenian_Bastard]

I would rather have 50 bloggers than three idiots from the local all-sports talk station making my life a living fucking hell.

[zagoshe]

I would rather have 50 bloggers than three idiots from the local all-sports talk station making my life a living fucking hell.

I won't go that far because at least they still have some shred of journalistic purpose.....but I would think long and hard about it if given the choice.

[auggie_ben_doggie]

Capiche?

So nothing specific then?

And yeah, site...cite...my mistake. Still working off the beer buzz and the unmatched joy that was "The Office" season finale. I'm in the process of painting my office black as we speak...

[zagoshe]

Capiche?

So nothing specific then?

And yeah, site...cite...my mistake. Still working off the beer buzz and the unmatched joy that was "The Office" season finale. I'm in the process of painting my office black as we speak...

What do you mean nothing specific...I'm not sure how I could have given a more specific answer to your question, other than to name the Division I school I am speaking of.

[da man]

I say hell no to the question. There are already far too many loser fan-boys who get their crusty fingers around credentials and then in turn fill up press boxes and clog up locker rooms and make the job of those of us who are actually working ten times harder than it needs to be.

If you can site one -- just one -- example of a blogger making your job ten times harder than it needs to be in a press box, I'm listening...

Ask Len Pasquarelli.

[sportsnut]

Everyone here has made some very good points in regards to bloggers being considered journalists. The only blog that I visit and actually trust got to be the guy who runs la observed.com and the sister blog sports observed.

But NO and I will say it again bloggers do not belong in the press box of a major sports team. I will give the same answer to the smaller city/town papers like in Los Angeles we got the Park LaBrea News, Beverly Press, Culver City News. LA Wave and the Hollywood and LA Independent etc etc. They are supposed to be local/community papers that cover that should stick to what they do best. Providing great sports stories on the high school football team.

[Double J]

Bloggers don't adhere to journalistic standards of spelling, grammar, facts, etc. It seems they want all the trappings of being a journalist without having to abide by its standards.

I've read a newspaper or two that don't seem to adhere to very high standards of spelling, grammar, facts, etc. Just sayin'.

Lots of radio and TV stations, networks and "personalities" are also lacking in some or all of those things.

I say hell no to the question. There are already far too many loser fan-boys who get their crusty fingers around credentials and then in turn fill up press boxes and clog up locker rooms and make the job of those of us who are actually working ten times harder than it needs to be.

If you can site one -- just one -- example of a blogger making your job ten times harder than it needs to be in a press box, I'm listening...

OK -- a certain prominent Division I team I cover credentials bloggers, fan boy sites and seemingly anyone else who can figure out HTML language and calls themself a journalist.

And these idiots are always easy to spot because they are the ones wearing their fanboy clothes and matching hats and they think they are getting insider information by asking questions like "That was a great game you played and the fans are really happy about this win what can you tell them about how fired up you guys were....."

You know, you're absolutely right. You'll never, EVER see or hear a "professional journalist" act in such an undignified manner while on the job.

[auggie_ben_doggie]

But NO and I will say it again bloggers do not belong in the press box of a major sports team. I will give the same answer to the smaller city/town papers like in Los Angeles we got the Park LaBrea News, Beverly Press, Culver City News. LA Wave and the Hollywood and LA Independent etc etc. They are supposed to be local/community papers that cover that should stick to what they do best. Providing great sports stories on the high school football team.

Any blogger or community reporter belongs in the press box if they have a legitimate reason for being there. It's not a daily newspaper reporter and television hack box - it's a press box.

[moonlight]

Any blogger or community reporter belongs in the press box if they have a legitimate reason for being there. It's not a daily newspaper reporter and television hack box - it's a press box.

Where the f**k do you think the word "press" comes from in "press box?"

I have an NFL beat. If I ever get a call from the team's PR people telling me I have to stand in the concourse next season because the PRESS box is full of fan-boy bloggers, I'm gonna quit my job and become a farmer.

Just because you understand HTML and have a website no more makes you a member of the media than dispensing Tylenol to my wife makes me a doctor.

[wickedwritah]

Chris_L had a very good thread on this last year. There was/is a group out there trying to establish some guidelines for credentialing bloggers. I hope he chimes in.

[Reel E Reel]

Why not have some of these bloggers that run sites that get many more hits than some of the papers the journalists represent get?

Some of these bloggers reach far more people than the journalists from smaller markets.  Why deny them the chance to get in the box and relay that info to the masses?  Especially if more and more people are looking to blogs for info nowadays?

It just seems like the right thing to do.

And no, I don't have a blog.

[wickedwritah]

Why not have some of these bloggers that run sites that get many more hits than some of the papers the journalists represent get?

Some of these bloggers reach far more people than the journalists from smaller markets.  Why deny them the chance to get in the box and relay that info to the masses?  Especially if more and more people are looking to blogs for info nowadays?

It just seems like the right thing to do.

And no, I don't have a blog.

Standards do need to be in place, though.

As a rule, weeklies should NOT be in a college/pro press box simply to be there and write a story. What coverage are they going to provide on a five-day old game different from what you read in 12 other papers? If they proveably, demonstrably [/JDV] can show that they offer a fresh angle, let 'em in -- otherwise, they should not be taking spots from dailies and professionally run Web sites/blogs.

[Double J]

Why not have some of these bloggers that run sites that get many more hits than some of the papers the journalists represent get?

Some of these bloggers reach far more people than the journalists from smaller markets.  Why deny them the chance to get in the box and relay that info to the masses?  Especially if more and more people are looking to blogs for info nowadays?

It just seems like the right thing to do.

And no, I don't have a blog.

Because there are too many of the old guard, like this arsehole below, who figure they have some kind of divine right to a place in the "press box" simply because they work in a place where a press is or may once have been located. Guess that rules out TV and radio guys, eh?

Any blogger or community reporter belongs in the press box if they have a legitimate reason for being there. It's not a daily newspaper reporter and television hack box - it's a press box.

Where the f**k do you think the word "press" comes from in "press box?"

I have an NFL beat. If I ever get a call from the team's PR people telling me I have to stand in the concourse next season because the PRESS box is full of fan-boy bloggers, I'm gonna quit my job and become a farmer.

Just because you understand HTML and have a website no more makes you a member of the media than dispensing Tylenol to my wife makes me a doctor.

Just because you look pretty on TV and/or sniff jocks in print makes your opinions no more worthy of public consumption than those of a knowledgeable fan who can string three sentences together on a website.

[Reel E Reel]

Why not have some of these bloggers that run sites that get many more hits than some of the papers the journalists represent get?

Some of these bloggers reach far more people than the journalists from smaller markets.  Why deny them the chance to get in the box and relay that info to the masses?  Especially if more and more people are looking to blogs for info nowadays?

It just seems like the right thing to do.

And no, I don't have a blog.

Standards do need to be in place, though.

As a rule, weeklies should NOT be in a college/pro press box simply to be there and write a story. What coverage are they going to provide on a five-day old game different from what you read in 12 other papers? If they proveably, demonstrably [/JDV] can show that they offer a fresh angle, let 'em in -- otherwise, they should not be taking spots from dailies and professionally run Web sites/blogs.

Standards, certainly.  Doubt anyone would argue that point.

I'm just saying, some blogs have become enormously popular and have readerships that far exceed many of the papers for which people on this site work.  And I don't mean that disrespectfully.

There should be a way to include those bloggers.  Now, of course, preventing the fan-boy type bloggers that are read only by their frat brothers is warranted.

Personally, I think some of the animosity voiced towards bloggers is really based in a feeling of being threatened.  But, it's all good.

[wickedwritah]

I'm just saying, some blogs have become enormously popular and have readerships that far exceed many of the papers for which people on this site work.  And I don't mean that disrespectfully.

There should be a way to include those bloggers.  Now, of course, preventing the fan-boy type bloggers that are read only by their frat brothers is warranted.

Personally, I think some of the animosity voiced towards bloggers is really based in a feeling of being threatened.  But, it's all good.

It also has to do with how the sporting world views these guys. Are bloggers who aren't connected with major media outlets breaking stories? Other than 38 Stitches, er, Pitches. These guys aren't getting scoops and usually aren't viewed at as people who have sources.

[Reel E Reel]

I'm just saying, some blogs have become enormously popular and have readerships that far exceed many of the papers for which people on this site work.  And I don't mean that disrespectfully.

There should be a way to include those bloggers.  Now, of course, preventing the fan-boy type bloggers that are read only by their frat brothers is warranted.

Personally, I think some of the animosity voiced towards bloggers is really based in a feeling of being threatened.  But, it's all good.

It also has to do with how the sporting world views these guys. Are bloggers who aren't connected with major media outlets breaking stories? Other than 38 Stitches, er, Pitches. These guys aren't getting scoops and usually aren't viewed at as people who have sources.

The Big Lead, Deadspin....and some others.  They certainly have scoops here and there.