Can they ban me from a press box?

I have a investigation coming out that the college team I cover I know is going to hate. It's my first real expose, and I'm prepared for some backlash.

But I also worry they might try to revoke my credential or kick me out of the press box. One of their staffers even mentioned something along those lines.

Can they do this? If they do, who do I contact?

Any help? Thanks guys.

 

It's their press box. They certainly can.

 

They can try, and there is precedent.

Tell your editor and/or publisher, and let them fight the battle for you. It's what they're there for.

 

That's a sweetheart answer.

OK, OK. If the school intends to boot you over a legitimate investigation into wrongdoing by the program, it's going to look pretty awful.

Of course let your editor/publisher do the fighting. If one of the staffers mentioned that it might happen, tell your editor now, and make sure that gets to the school prez, too. Intimidation doesn't look good on an institution rooted in academic freedom.

 

If the school does revoke your credential you might consider letting APSE know.

 

If they pull your credential, don't go to this guy about it.

 

It'd be much more effective to go to Deadspin with it.

 

Is it a public or private college? Getting booted from a public university's press box, is a bit harder thing to pull off. Despite what some, even here, think, it isn't the school's press box.

The facility is university property and owned by the taxpayers, or, in some case, a not for profit corporation or governmental entity. Regardless, that doesn't make the press box a private club.

Of course, that flips a little if the school is private but that still doesn't make it a private club.

Let your publisher and editors know. Your paper, unless it is dreadfully tiny, will have a corporate attorney on staff or retainer.

You state's press association has either a First Amendment attorney on staff or retainer. Let them know.

Pulling credentials is amateur hour. Put the school on blast for even suggesting it.

I'm not saying that this will make your job easier. It will, in fact, make it incredibly hard but it shouldn't always be easy.

 

It depends a lot on what school it is.

I was threatened with it once at football games and the basketball coach caught wind of it and told the AD not to do it. If that hadn't happened it would have been anybody's guess as to what would have happened. I had a good relationship with the hoops coach, but I never thought in a million years he would have done something like that for me.

 

OK, OK. If the school intends to boot you over a legitimate investigation into wrongdoing by the program, it's going to look pretty awful.

Who will think it is awful? The fans/readers who believe writer got what he deserved for making State U. looking bad? Not sure about public facility argument - if there is a right to access press boxes, all the fans would demand access. Not sure about First Amendment argument - school not saying you can't cover games, school is saying you just cant do it from our press box. Agree with advice to let SE/ME/EE fight the fight. Good luck

 

I know of several instances where schools have threatened to do this to someone at a smaller paper and the bigger, often competing, papers in the region have applied pressure to have the credentials reinstated.

Often, assuming it's not something that has been ongoing, it's impossible to predict what causes a school to get mad. They may look the other way on something huge, like a NCAA investigation because they don't want any additional negative coverage.

They wanted to pull my credential for writing that a player wanted to transfer. It was a big story, but nothing that I would have thought would trigger that kind of reaction considering the other stuff I'd written that didn't cause any discussion about pulling credentials.

I would never assume that a story will get your credential pulled.

 

Fans aren't that in the tank if the investigation's legit.