Does tight access frustrate you?

Gold Bond generally takes care of it.

 

The BCS commissioners voted to open the locker rooms _ That's correct, OPEN LOCKER ROOMS _ after this year's five BCS games.
Michigan's Lloyd Carr is about to puke over that prospect. Michigan officials have asked what the fine would be if they didn't open up after the Rose Bowl.
Should be interesting to monitor.

 

It frustrates me. When I'm driving, I don't like having to force open a bag of chips.

 

You best be talking without a hands-free kit while trying to open the chips.

 

My biggest problem is this feeling of "herding."

Good example: bowl media day for the school I cover. They were rotating guys between us print schlubs, radio and TV... this assuring that you couldn't talk to any one individual for too terribly long, and that they always had somewhere else to be.

There are a select few players I've actually developed what I'd consider a "rapport" with, but thanks to the way access is set up at this place, of course none of those players are of a star caliber.

 

Yes, Omar, and then they think that they're doing you some huge favor.

The vibe is, "How much access do you guys WANT??? We're delivering them right here for you!!!"

It makes me feel totally disconnected, this assembly line approach to journalism. Gonna chase me right out the sports door, probably sooner than later.

 

I was thinking that some KY would take care of it. Not sure I want that burning Gold Bond powder all over my junk ...

Wait, what were we talking about?

 

What I dislike most is calling a college athlete because you have his/her phone number and getting this response: "Well the SID told us that interviews must be coordinated through them." CLICK. Now this is not for beat guys, but if you have a local kid now playing in college and try to get a hold of them for a feature it can be a pain in the ass. My worst expereince was I call the girl, she's on the bus, tells me she can't talk because of the SID thing. Tells me to call the SID. So I call said media relations monkey and she's on the freaking bus with the team. Asks the athlete if she can talk and hands the phone over. Ridiculous. The SID even told her parents not to give out the girls cell phone.

 

the economic model is "eliminate the middle man" - us

 

Brilliant.

 

The lack of access is newspaper-wide problem, though. It's not just happening to us.

I have a buddy who works on our newsside. He was at crimescene the other night, talking to the relatives of some guy who was murdered. A cop walked over and demanded to know who he was. My friend identified himself as a reporter with the Major Metro Daily Shitrag and showed his press credential. That should have been enough. Instead, the cop tried to take my friend's credential and driver's license. My friend refused to give up the credential and license, and told the cop to check in with police P.R.

Every section is battling with companies/teams/organizations that want to limit the scope of the message. It's easier for them to produce their version of the news than it is for them to deal with us. And it ain't changing anytime soon.

 

By not retaining talent, newspapers are hastening their growing irrelevence.