Sandomir: Press Boxes Become an Afterthought...

Why aren't we, as journalists, making the argument that the people might actually care about: that by bumping us, they are actually sending a big fuck you to all of our readers/listeners/viewers.
To me, bumping the press in favor of big-money fans is like telling the people who can't afford to attend every game, "We don't care about you."
There's probably a better way to put it, but that's the argument I think we should be making. That's the one that brings it home for people, and the one that might piss them enough to start pressuring owners and their ilk to do the right thing.

 

I always wondered why media people expect the teams to feed them when they covered games. Not long after I started, some places started charging for meals. But not all. That might have changed by now. But I was just amazed that you could go to cover a game and at some point there would be a full meal for you at no cost.

Of course, the teams did it because its a lot easier to control their message when they keep the media happy and keep them within arm's length in a press box. If the press actually went around the stadium, maybe talked to fans, sat in regular seats, didn't deal at all with the PR people, there would be a totally different and totally uncontrollable slant to the stories. Not everything can be controlled now, but I'm sure the teams love to have everyone under their watchful eye in the press boxes.

 

I was one of the out-of-town reporters who hopped on the Warriors bandwagon this year.Their PR staff is one of the the best in the business, but the whole experience was a bit tough because of the new seating arrangements. First, you had to fight through the crowd (laptop and papers in hand) to get to your seats at the top of the lower bowl. Then, you were advised to leave your seats with about 2-3 minutes left in the half if you wanted to make it through the crowd and back to the media room. fortunately, the game I covered was a blowout, but what if it'd come down to the wire. Am I supposed to choose between watching the end of the game from my seat or swimming upstream against the crowd after the game while I'm on deadline?

I'm sympathetic to the owners and I don't care that much if I have the best seats in the house. But if you're going to put the press somewhere else, it's got to be done correctly. There's got to be set media-only hallways or staircases so we can get from our less favorable seats to the press room before and after games.

 

Because every single person would sit in those seats if they were given the chance.

 

Absolutely. Sports is the last frontier the CEOs really haven't turned into 100 percent corporate bastards. The transformation process is upon us and the end result won't be pretty.

And lest we forget: Joe Moneybags who bought your former press row seat and passed it off as a corporate writeoff doesn't even read the newspaper anymore.

 

But we represent those people. Moving us is not just moving a few working stiffs. It is moving the representative for thousands -- and many of those thousands cannot regularly buy tickets for any seat.
Without us, where are they going to get their information? Without us, why would they even continue to have interest in any particular team?

 

They'll get their information just fine even if the press box is moved.

 

We're going to have to agree to disagree on that point.
They will get some information, but it won't be the same.
If we are too far back to hear what is said, or have an obstructed view, etc., we miss a lot of information. Thus they will miss the information.
The owners are selling out the little guy in favor of the big-money guy. That is the argument I'm making.
If we can get the fans to see this, they might start to side with us. That's the only way we win this one, I think.

 

Fans will get their information from team sites. Or maybe someplace like Rivals.com or that ilk. And I'm not sure that most fans care about the source of the info, as long as they get the info.

 

I agree with what you are saying, but we provide info they won't get on some other sites -- or at least we should.

 

But the point is, there'll be lots of info that's not gotten if the traditional (non-lapdog) media is shoved out of the picture. The schadenfraude among the blog apologists on here is amazing.

 

Sorry, baseball writers in the press box will lose nothing if the press box is moved. Basketball writers have already lost front-row access; I've noticed no differences in any stories. Football writers have always been far removed from the action.

If reporters had some extra great access from sitting in a certain seat, they've rarely used it to their advantage. At least not in the daily newspapers.