Is Strikeforce writer-ban bush league move?
Two reporters assigned to cover Saturday’s event by major media outlets were denied press credentials, just as they have been…
Two reporters assigned to cover Saturday’s event by major media outlets were denied press credentials, just as they have been refused access to all UFC events in recent years after writing stories White evidently didn’t consider worthy of his company’s PR clip file.
It’s understandable that not all outlets that apply for credentials can be accommodated. But it was curious that Strikeforce, which doubtlessly dreams of riding in tandem with the UFC into the mainstream of American sports, would bar writers representing such prominent outlets as ESPN and CBS Sports from press row. The reporters denied credentials were ESPN.com’s Josh Gross and freelance journalist and author Loretta Hunt, who was assigned coverage by CBSSports.com. (Both have contributed to SI.com, Gross as this site’s main MMA writer for several years.) Hunt’s exclusion was especially bizarre, since CBS shares ownership with Showtime, which televised the event. CBS has itself broadcast Strikeforce in the past. In essence, Strikeforce couldn’t find a place for a representative of its own TV partner.
“It would be a good thing if news organizations applied some counterpressure,” said Roy Peter Clark, who teaches writing and sports journalism at the Poynter Institute. “When the leaders of a sport start screwing around with press credentialing in response to what they perceive to be unfavorable coverage, that sends a big message to all responsible journalists who are covering that sport.”
It might take a while for that message to sink in with enough media members for it to make a difference. Perhaps nothing will change until the UFC and Strikeforce are firmly entrenched in the American sports fabric, and company officials are regularly dealing with editors who demand the professionalism of mainstream sports leagues and teams. Clark, for one, believes the time will come.
“Any time someone tries to control coverage in this way, it backfires,” Clark said. “They look like jerks. They look like bush leaguers. And the actions that they take against journalists become stories in and of themselves. They end up inviting negative coverage.”