SEC plans "new media" policy similar to NFL ... lawsuits a-comin'!

I have it on pretty good authority that this draft policy we've all seen has already been sent back to the shop for significant retooling.

 

Yep.

http://blog.al.com/solomon/2009/08/sec_will_tweak_new_media_polic.html

 

Bingo.

This also will feed the public's mindset of "the media is out to get us ... why can't they be like SECFanBoi Illustrated?" and thus bring in more suckers who only want the fluff. They won't care about academic scandals or news about the new coach, because the school will give them the good-spin news when the time is right.

 

Our coverage area has a D-2 school that has tried to prohibit our selling pictures from their games on account that doing so constitutes making profit off their trademarks (logos, etc.) Don't know how much water that holds, but the SEC may be trying to fall back on that.

 

SEC, not surprisingly, is stumbling over themselves in backtrackage:

http://www.al.com/sec/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/sports/124997852013600.xml&coll=2

rb

 

One of the recruiting sites on my beat just hired a new writer. I shot the breeze with him during a media gathering a few days ago, and he told me — without me asking — that he would never break bad news in any, way, shape or form.

"It's just not our mission," he said. "And besides that, I'm just not sure it's anyone's business what these guys do off the field. I'm not sure why you paper guys have always covered that stuff so much."

I didn't know what else to say. I just looked at him and said, "Well, hell, at least you're honest about it."

Maybe Slive is putting these guys at every school, one by one? I'm only 94 percent joking.

 

I don't know whether to lauch, cry, shake my head with disbelief or just bury it in my hands.
What's worse is that I am SURE Hammer isn't alone among SEC beats.

RB

 

Recruiting site writers are, mostly, the ultimate homers. I'm shocked — SHOCKED! — the NCAA hasn't investigated some of them yet. They are de facto recruiters for most schools.

 

The ones who have always been like that irritate me, but the heartbreaker is guys leaving papers, taking the money (which would be hard to turn down, at least here in SEC country) and joining the propaganda party. I've lost touch with one of my best friends in the business because of it. We hardly talk these days, and when we do, it's never shoptalk, probably because we're not in the same business anymore.

 

Given the state of the industry I'll bet few people would immediately dismiss the opportunity to significantly increase your family's financial well-being in exchange for putting your newspaper journalism ethics on a shelf to write fluffy features.

We all like to think we could ward off the demons from the ivory tower. But working for a school or publication with stability, the insider access, no late-night digging about a rape accusation or DUI arrest, more time with your family and probably a good bump in salary? Making that move would not even enter into the equation at all?

I enjoy journalism and robust reporting. But in this day in the industry, considering anything to help take care of myself or family would come first.

 

I wish I could say your opinion was wrong, but I can't. Can't blame anyone for taking the money and running. I don't fault my buddy or anyone else for doing it. It doesn't make you a bad person at all ... it just means you're not really a journalist anymore. And that's fine. I've turned down a gig that would have paid more, but I can't say I'd have done the same thing if my girlfriend and I had children and a hefty mortgage payment.

 

And, today, this ...

http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=7360

rb