Credentials for Online Only Media

[Thomas Goldkamp]

Mark...In terms of credentials, I know Florida has a policy that you have to have a print publication to get credentials. Most of the team sites get around this by having a magazine, but I think they've loosened up on it recently. I know there was an issue with it when the 24/7 Florida site started up, because it didn't have any affiliated print publication....

Seems like the standards aren't quite as rigid, but what they do to keep the distinctions between "traditional media" and the more blog-like writers is anyone's guess.

You bring up an interesting aspect of my situation. About two or three years before we applied for credentials, I remember seeing a University of Arkansas policy online for press credentials.

When I went back to find it, I did, but it was the same one. I searched for a newer one and only found one for the SEC.

I asked the media director where I could read a copy of the policy, and he said that they were still following the one I had seen.

Arkansas' policy sounds similar to what you're describing as Florida's policy except that the "other media" included television and radio in addition to print publications.

It made me wonder whether there is a practice to follow SEC Media Credentialing if at all possible and what exactly the interplay was between the SEC and university policies.

Yeah, not sure about what influence the SEC has on each school's individual policy.

I do know that there are markers for what television and radio stations can get credentialed at Florida, and it has to do with the reach (equivalent of print circulation). If you don't meet the benchmarks, I don't think you can get credentialed.

 

[SharpTusk]

Yeah, not sure about what influence the SEC has on each school's individual policy.

I do know that there are markers for what television and radio stations can get credentialed at Florida, and it has to do with the reach (equivalent of print circulation). If you don't meet the benchmarks, I don't think you can get credentialed.

Off the top of my head, I don't remember "reach" being a part of Arkansas' policy, but your point gives me something to review. I remember thinking that small town print publications could get creds while we were reaching more people and couldn't.

 

[Alma]

Tusk:

Work around it. Find a radio station willing to sponsor you. Find a small daily. Generally, 2-4 national radio networks file updates from major programs (Arkansas certainly qualifies), so trying getting one of those gigs. Work the system for a year or two, and they'll likely relent. Going to practice helps, too.

Thomas:

Most major universities are credentialing Rivals/Scout at some level these days, at least in part because coaching staffs can easily control those guys by feeding them recruiting scoops on offers and commits. Rivals/Scout writers aren't exactly a fount of objective criticism; the minute they are, coaches turn up the heat and turn off the gravy train.

 

[PaperClip529]

I follow Simmons on Twitter and he's gotten riled up a few times this year because Grantland has been rejected on credential requests (I believe by Duke basketball and St. Louis Blues hockey) so even the big boys have been turned down by schools/programs.

I'd be interested to see the success rate of websites like Deadspin, Grantland and Rivals.com when it comes to credentials.

 

[SharpTusk]

Alma, Thank you for the advice. I think we may be able to swing a newspaper and a radio station. Your suggestion is far easier than where I was headed, I think. Razorback practices have been closed for the most part but there is a post practice presser which would have to do. When I spoke to the director I did not think about Rivals and Scout being online only. I think that's right but I wonder if they have a work-around as well. If they don't I'm thinking that it is a problem for them. Interesting...

 

[SixToe]

The pointed reason for the denial is that strictly online media are not permitted press credentials under the University's policies. It's simply a blanket exclusion.

University policy or Athletic Department policy?

I ask because, what if Salon.com wanted to attend a graduation ceremony because Notable Politician was speaking, or an athletic event? As noted, there are online sports sites that show up. Would Yahoo's writers be told no or have they been told no? Some entities may only want to cover an event online but not dedicate to print, even if they have print, and thus would be getting around whatever policy exists.

Certainly a good topic for debate and discussion, especially in the wake of the NOLA-Bama situation.

 

[Mark2010]

Bottom line is that the host organization gets to decide who does and does not get credentialed. Even with news events, there is often a process and it can be maddening at times (ever try getting credentials for some major political event?).

With all the new media out there, it is a bit of a challenge to sort through things and we may, in fact, see major changes in the future. For now, the best you can do is attempt to convince the powers that be of your organization's legitimate use and need to cover said event. It helps, of course, to be on good terms with those people. Beyond that, there's not much any of us can do and it is on a case-by-case basis.

 

[SharpTusk]

I follow Simmons on Twitter and he's gotten riled up a few times this year because Grantland has been rejected on credential requests (I believe by Duke basketball and St. Louis Blues hockey) so even the big boys have been turned down by schools/programs.

I'd be interested to see the success rate of websites like Deadspin, Grantland and Rivals.com when it comes to credentials.

One thing that comes to mind was that Spencer Hall of Every Day Should Be Saturday (twitter, @edsbs) posted a pic of credentials to a Mississippi State game (could be wrong). I thought it odd at the time, but maybe they don't get the credentials either.

When Petrino was in hot water (no jacuzzi jokes please , THE Jacuzzis are a fine Little Rock family), Deadspin sited one of my posts in theirs. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me there would be a huge commentary in a credentialing policy which allowed Deadspin to cover an Arkansas game and not us.

I thought about doing a post on this last year but thought that no one other than the media would be interested, so I haven't. Maybe a study of the differences would be helpful.

 

[AndrewPaPreps]

I'd be interested to see the success rate of websites like Deadspin, Grantland and Rivals.com when it comes to credentials.

I can't speak to the first two, but Rivals has a high success rate. It's dependent on the host school - Virginia Tech has given all journalists, not just online media ones, fits with their policies over the years - but the majority of our sites are at home games, travel to road games, and attend practices.

I think that's the difference. All Rivals sites treat their coverage as a beat. They cover everything. It sounds like the issues in question are for organizations that want to do single games or just an event here or there.

 

[SharpTusk]

The pointed reason for the denial is that strictly online media are not permitted press credentials under the University's policies. It's simply a blanket exclusion.

University policy or Athletic Department policy?

There is no distinction between the two, at least in Arkansas and I can't imagine that there would be a distinction elsewhere at a public university. Here, athletic department employees are employed by the University of Arkansas which is chartered and funded by the State of Arkansas. University of Arkansas employees are State of Arkansas employees just like the Governor or a DHS employee.

In any event, state employees can't act arbitrarily (read...they must try to treat similarly situated people equally), and to keep them from doing so, the university or state agencies have policies or regulations to follow. There are legitimate considerations for limiting credentials for a bunch of reasons we could think of like requirement that one work for a media outlet, space, facilities, the size of the event, the kind of event, and on and on.

This touches the reason that I initially asked the question. We can name tens of examples of how traditional media outlets are losing their traditional base. Newspapers don't sell newspapers anymore and close. People don't watch over-the-air television anymore. People get news online from google or yahoo aggregators.

It seems to me that the distinction between print and airwaves media versus online media is quickly becoming an arbitrary distinction if it's not already an arbitrary distinction...which is why I wanted to know how journalists and universities were dealing with it.

 

[Thomas Goldkamp]

There is no distinction between the two, at least in Arkansas and I can't imagine that there would be a distinction elsewhere at a public university. Here, athletic department employees are employed by the University of Arkansas which is chartered and funded by the State of Arkansas. University of Arkansas employees are State of Arkansas employees just like the Governor or a DHS employee.

Florida is one I know of. The Athletic Department is a separate, privately funded entity.

 

[Alma]

Rivals has Yahoo and Scout has Fox to lean on SIDs. SIDs know who Pat Forde, Dan Wetzel, Jason Whitlock are etc. That name recognition helps. And yes, they cover the team as a beat (although, again the quality of the work at the team site level varies greatly, from decent to awful).

Deadspin, who knows. So many of the top writers there can just claim some other publication for an occasional credential. A lot of what Deadspin does isn't in need of a game pass.

Grantland could get them just about anywhere by calling itself ESPN. Trouble is, Duke has a savvy enough staff to know, I'm sure, who staffs big Duke games from ESPN. Grantland, which cares not about college basketball because Bill Simmons doesn't care, won't have much luck there. But it would at 95% of the schools, I'd guess, with proper lead time.