Media gifts and where to draw the line

Keep the swag until Christmas and use it for Secret Santa at the office.

 

You're assuming there *is* a clear answer.

 

Really? Free access to the game to provide coverage (and not be able to cheer) is the same as getting a bunch of free stuff with the logo on it? None of those things you listed are remotely close to accepting free food and/or swag and are necessary for you to do the job. Would you really suggest that if you are not going to accept a free gift from the bowl game or whatever, that you should also be required to pay your way in? That's absurd.

 

Small-college football coach gave me a team t-shirt when I went to do the season preview interview this week. It's too small for me and too large for my nephew. I have a feeling the nephew will grow into it before I slim down.

 

There's a chain of papers near us that do this. But only for colleges. And it's only for the meal.

That's always made me wonder the same as above. If you're going all high and mighty, cut a check for the ticket, parking, don't use the wifi (must use your own aircard), blah, blah, blah.

I asked somebody from there one time if they ever paid the high schools any money. He laughed at me.

 

i never knew companies had policy on this shit until i went to work in the midwest. in the PNW, nobody gives two shits.

 

I once turned down 48 bottles of beer.

I found out later -- much to my chagrin -- it was really good beer and pretty expensive.

 

If you tell me taking a free taco in a bag is a sin, I don't ever want to be clean.

 

I got a bag during the Pac 10 Women's basketball tournament that had the media guide and everything in it and I kept it. I also, turned in like 10 full game stories in 3 days.

 

face it. they owed you. ; )

 

BDC already explained this. Accepting the things you need to do the job (parking, a place to work, wifi, etc) is very different from accepting swag.

I don't care what others do, but you and POO seem to be trying very hard to justify your own ethics. POO went on and on diminishing the importance of what we do, which is fine except for the fact that credibility is a very large part of what we do. If you don't care about yours, that is your business, but some of us are going to disagree with your decision.