A month ago, Texas back-up quarterback John Chiles was a suspect in an "assault-by-conduct" incident in Austin. The Daily Texan, the student newspaper at the University of Texas, reported this information in their blog. According to a recent editorial in The Daily Texan, this set off a firestorm of criticism from at least one official in the UT athletic department."Last month, The Daily Texan reported on its blog that the Austin Police Department suspended an assault with injury investigation in which Longhorns backup quarterback John Chiles was a suspect. When the Texan originally reported that APD confirmed Chiles as a suspect, assistant athletics director John Bianco wrote several threatening e-mails to Daily Texan sports editor and journalism senior Ricky Treon, calling him unprofessional and his reporting "untruthful." Bianco warned that other news agencies (and potential employers) "realize how you do business now," which "will hurt you in the long run." He also said that if the Texan's editors didn't pull the post off the blog, "John Chiles would understandably have an issue with the entire paper" which would be "unfortunate for the Texan's long-term working relationship with him."The editorial goes onto discuss the "rules" of covering big-time college athletics, culminating with the following thoughts:
"The bottom line is that press scrutiny is simply not accepted by sports officials or the public fan base. At UT, reporters are not allowed to call athletes, and both athletes and reporters face being reprimanded for unauthorized interviews, no matter what the story is about. More importantly, university officials are under pressure to protect the image of their sports programs, which are at the forefront of bringing in money, identity and recognition to the school."Interestingly, this is not the first time this spring that a Big 12 student newspaper has found itself in trouble with an athletic department because of the paper's coverage of the football team. Earlier Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini temporarily banned The Daily Nebraskan for a piece criticizing his handling of an alleged criminal incident. These situations taken together only seem to solidify the point made by the Daily Texan's editorial piece. Ultimately public institutions are accountable to the public, and I'd certainly contend it's the media's job to help ensure this occurs.
via The Wiz
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. "The bottom line is that press scrutiny is simply not accepted by sports officials or the public fan base" Are you kidding me? Are they that thin-skinned that mere scrutiny of the way they conduct themselves is not acceptable? As an alumnus and fan of a Big 10 university, I would rather my football team go 7-5 and produce student-athletes that are a credit to the University and productive members of society, than go 10-2 and bring shame to themselves and the program. Either way, I expect the media to address all of their behavior -- the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Posted at 10:02AM on May 9th 2008 by Dave
2. I'm a magazine journalist and author of 40 years' experience, a native Texan and a former football player (Ivy league wuss branch). My creds established, I find the the position taken by the UT Athletic Department deplorable-- but, alas, pervasive among big-time collegiate athletic programs and their zealous backers. I attended Cornell football games with classmates when we lived in New York City and then Princeton; I even received a joke award at a football reunion as last player from my class still to be undergoing surgery from football injuries. But none of us made a life's religion of the game. The stance of big-league universities and donors to protect the athletic department's image at all costs has indeed been costly; they've simply lost the meaning. And let me assure you from years of experience that anyone who stonewalls press inquiry has something to hide, and anyone who threatens retaliation for the mere attempt at inquiry has a lot to hide. Mark Goodman
Posted at 11:08AM on May 9th 2008 by mark goodman