Lane Kiffin Pre-Press Conference Drama

Or what the reporters are thinking: "I'll take what rules the SID dictates because I'm a lazy reporter who can't get access anywhere else."

 

That's a line of crap, as it's been made abundantly clear already.

 

Nothing is clear. The TV producer had his reasons for speaking up. Those who disagree have theirs. No-win situation for anyone, because this press conference was a joke to begin with.

 

Sure, the TV station could have just taken a file photo of Kiffin and run it next to the audio. As it has been said on this thread and on the other one, stations do it all the time.

The difference is, the TV station is the one deciding how to present the story. Not the source.

To me, what Kiffin did to the TV people would be the same as if he told the print reporters that they could listen to his statement, but that they weren't allowed to take notes.

 

Sorry to break it to you but Lane told TV exactly where they could stick it. In no way did tv win the battle.

 

No, you saying that the print reporters there were waiting to be fed has already, on both threads, been shown to be a complete line of crap.

Those guys, one of whom I'm priviliged enough to call a friend, have worked their arses off since this whole thing blew up. So to frame it as them waiting to be fed news is just utter bullcrap.

 

Stitch, are you saying that all the media in that room should have said: "we don't agree to those rules. We're going to walk out and take our chances that we can get Kiffin in some other way"?

I think that's taking quite a gamble, and if you lose, your viewers/readers lose.

There's nothing wrong with accepting what he gives you and then turning on the cameras and firing questions at him as he walks to the car or whatever other way you feel you need to complete the story.

You take what you're given, then try to get more. You don't trun down access because it's not complete enough.

 

That guy is Mark Packer. He was a former Sports Director at the NBC affiliate in Knoxville and now works for the CBS affiliate in several roles including news and sports shows, I believe, as well as being a grade-A douche.

I'm sure the foam finger is there as he works for the station that rebranded itself as "Volunteer TV" with a slogan of "I'm all Vol". John Adams also quipped in a column in the past year of how that station's sports director brags about his "20 years covering the Vols".

And people wonder why print hate TV. All flash. No substance.

 

I've only skimmed four pages, but here's what I don't understand.

Lane Kiffin was no longer even employed by Tennessee. This was a pseudo-university function, and the guy trying to come up with ground rules was doing so for somebody that didn't even work for his employer anymore.

I understand those who support the lone TV guy's stand, but on the other hand, by what rule or guideline or whatever was Lane Kiffin obligated to follow any rules? He was meeting the press while headed out the door. Basically, he could do whatever he wanted to -- and by refusing what was offered, everybody got less.

When I watched this, I agreed with the "cutting off your nose to spite your face" comment, and I'm trying to figure out what was gained by a principled stand against rules set by an adult man who had complete control of his own situation ... and ultimately gave less than he was willing to to everybody.

We often act like equal access is some kind of professional birthright, but in this case, the guy controlling the news could do it however he wanted to. And one guy refusing basically meant everybody got nothing.

I'm trying to figure out what he gained when it was over.

 

The guy had his point and made it clear.
And he fucked every reporter in the room in the process and owes them all an apology.
Sure, you don't want your news dictated by you, but sometimes you don't have a choice. When he realized he wasn't getting what he wanted, he should have been thinking of a contingency plan - i.e. running whatever Kiffin said off-camera with file video of him during his time at UT.
Of course, that requires extra work, so he decided to whine and bitch about his rights. He'd never admit it, but what drove him to that decision wasn't integrity; it was his own work ethic. He wanted to make his job easier and screwed everyone.

 

thanks, guys. agreed.

 

Man, I'm just glad that someone shot video of it, so we (the royal we) could get a clear perspective of what happened in Knoxville that night.

That's because, I mean, video provides a clear and concise picture of what went down, better than a print story, better than audio only, better still picture.

I mean it is so weird that a television person would want video of the press conference. What a fool, I mean, wait, what ...