Ohio State briefly bans tweeting during news conferences

ORIGINAL: http://www.ohio.com/sports/osu/jason-lloyd-osu-oversteps-its-bounds-with-new-policy-1.329992 via the APSE Twitter feed.

UPDATED: https://twitter.com/LanternSports/status/240532385123405824 Ban lifted, via BlackBerry

 

Re: Urban Meyer: Still hates journalists, also hates their Twitter thing

I saw the Tweet and expected to read about this being some broadcast rights issue. I am a bit surprised that OSU didn't try to use that, even as just an excuse.

 

Re: Urban Meyer: Still hates journalists, also hates their Twitter thing

This may be out there, but couldn't OSU/Meyer be sued, as a state institution/employee, for trying to ban freedom of speech (tweeting)?

 

Re: Urban Meyer: Still hates journalists, also hates their Twitter thing

It's all over.

https://twitter.com/LanternSports/status/240532385123405824

 

Re: Urban Meyer: Still hates journalists, also hates their Twitter thing

Next they will be demanding editorial review of stories like they did in the Bush White House
for briefings by cabinet members

 

Re: Urban Meyer: Still hates journalists, also hates their Twitter thing

Anyone can sue anyone, but can they win? No.

 

Just for argument's sake... I'm guessing one of the TV channels in Columbus shows football press conferences live. Just have someone watch the press conference and tweet off that. Nothing the school can do unless it wants to start banning newspapers from covering them.

Meyer got spoiled at Florida. I doubt OSU is as willing to alienate every place that covers them. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

Does Jason Lloyd think he's helping anyone but Twitter by blasting everything out in real time? He's certainly not helping his employer.

I found this graf interesting:

"My job is to decipher what is worthy of reporting instantly on Twitter and what is worth saving for later. I don’t need OSU officials to make the decision for me."

For a local beat reporter - note those words - what in the world could be worth reporting instantly on Twitter at a press conference? Every reader/viewer/listener you have who wants to see/hear it online already can. Everyone else -- especially the college kids who don't know any better - are tweeting the information, too. There's value to increasing one's number of followers, but that's not going to happen by clogging up people's timelines with random Urban Meyer quotes about the depth chart.

There is no value to it. That's the answer. None. There's value to writing it up on your paper's blog or your own blog and tweeting that. That tweet equals a little traffic. But the quote that appears 12 seconds after Meyer said it benefits one place: Twitter. And believe me - Twitter loves you for it. You've stolen the thunder of content you acquired and given it to a monolithic sight that's not going to pay you a dime for it.

Urban Meyer is wrong about this policy, of course, which is why he reversed it. And yet this policy was doing reporters a favor. No, this isn't some "Twitter is evil" rant. It's "know how to use Twitter." Don't use it for press conference quotes 100 reporters hear right when you do.

 

A lot of stuff.

 

Really? What? Note the rest of my post, too. What is it worth to your employer and you? I know what it's worth to Twitter.

ESPN has a policy now, I believe, that reporters are post scoops on the ESPN site before tweeting them, then link back to the scoops. Otherwise, what's the point? Your site didn't break it. Twitter did.

 

I didn't read the rest of your post because that line was so ridiculous. I guess it takes a litte perspective, but I subscribe to get text alerts from several writers and I've encountered situations where I've had tweets pushed to me in a text message that came out of a live press conference that stopped whatever conversation I was having in mid-sentence. So when I get to a point a half an hour later where I can read more details about the big story where do you think I go? You can't just tweet, you have to do other things. But to ask "what in the world" could be worth an instant tweet -- man, that just shows no imagination. I'd prefer if only really big news, like the quarterback being suspended, was tweeted, but yeah there are plenty of things worth an instant tweet that someone who might not watch every PC would want to know instantly regardless.

 

I'm not doubting your want or need to know it. Or, frankly, mine. But, again, if I'm a reporter in that situation, tweeting out quotes benefits, at best, my number of followers and, at worst, only Twitter.

It's not a whole hell of a lot different than the beat reporter who does seven interviews a week on local talk radio. Yeah, you get a little publicity out of it, and yeah, the radio guys are usually pretty nice about it. Sometimes, they'll even remember to plug you a little bit. But in those 15 minutes per interview, you <i>can</i> give the radio stations every detail you just wrote in your story.

The key is a balanced use of Twitter. Or appearing on radio shows. Too many reporters disavow those mediums entirely. And too many more give away the milk for free. I'm consistently struck by reporters who spout opinions on radio and Twitter worth pondering, then head back to the job that actually pays them money, writing blandness.