How to Unlock Mystery of Sports Credentials? Read the fine print
Sept. 15, 2009 2:14 a.m.
Tim Franklin’s advice to sports editors concerned over the mystery of sports credentialing is much the same as that of two prominent attorneys:
Take time. Read the fine print. And above all, ask questions.
Franklin, director of the National Sports Journalism Center and Louis A. Weil, Jr. Endowed Chair, Indiana University School of Journalism, was part of a recent American Society of News Editors “webinar” that addressed “Unlocking the Mystery of Sports Credentials.”
“The contentiousness between traditional sports leagues and media seems to be growing more intense by the day these days,” Franklin said. “Why is that? It’s because sports leagues and teams are building web sites of their own. They’re building multimedia platforms and they’re effectively competing with traditional news organizations for advertising dollars.
“Those dollars are growing quite rapidly even in the midst of what is the Great Recession.”
In addition to Franklin, former Baltimore Sun Editor, webinar panelists were:
* John Cherwa, Sports Coordinator for Tribune Company and Deputy Sports Editor of Los Angeles Times, past president of Associated Press Sports Editors.
* Kevin Goldberg, Legal Counsel for ASNE and Special Counsel for Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth (expertise: first amendment, copyright and trademark issues, particularly newspaper and internet publishing).
* David Tomlin, 30 years of experience as an AP reporter, bureau chief and executive. Associate General Counsel of Associated Press in New York since 2003.
The panel addressed several topics, focusing on the following:
* What rights do we have?
* Phrases in credentials.
* Potential ways around restrictions.
* Fighting back.
* Long-term solutions.
Franklin noted that even with the economic downturn, sports media in many ways is thriving. There are, he said, projections that online sports advertising will double in the five-year period ending in 2012. He also said the 10 largest sports blogs collectively bring in tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually.
“It’s not unexpected there’s going to be pushing and shoving over who gets to do what,” Tomlin said. “Everybody does have legitimate rights and interests to protect. Sorting out which ones are legitimate and which ones are overly aggressive is part of what working through these disputes is about.”
Said Franklin, “What we have is new media meeting new money in amateur and pro sports, and it’s making sports credentialing – to borrow a popular political phrase — the waterloo for traditional media.”
A recent disagreements between major media organizations and the Southeastern Conference provided a backdrop for the discussion. The SEC issued restricted credentials this season. The protests of three news organization led to a loosening of those restrictions.
“What we’re talking in many of these cases is a function of contract law,” Tomlin said. “You are getting a benefit – good access to a game and to an event and the right use photographs, video and audio –in exchange for agreeing to certain conditions on that use. It’s a matter of negotiation back and forth.”
Franklin said while there are options available from protest to civil disobedience to boycott, the first and often most-effective route is careful study of the credential followed by discussion with the issuing party.
“You really need to learn what it is a league or a pro team or an individual team is trying to accomplish with the language they have in the credential,” Franklin said. “A lot of times a quick phone call to a Vice President for Communications or a Sports Information Director will help you identify what it is they’re really trying to get at. In the case of the SEC, they really didn’t want real-time data coming out from their games, but they really, I don’t think, meant to ban blogging during the games. But that’s what the language effectively said in the credential.
Take time. Read the fine print. And above all, ask questions.
Franklin, director of the National Sports Journalism Center and Louis A. Weil, Jr. Endowed Chair, Indiana University School of Journalism, was part of a recent American Society of News Editors “webinar” that addressed “Unlocking the Mystery of Sports Credentials.”
“The contentiousness between traditional sports leagues and media seems to be growing more intense by the day these days,” Franklin said. “Why is that? It’s because sports leagues and teams are building web sites of their own. They’re building multimedia platforms and they’re effectively competing with traditional news organizations for advertising dollars.
“Those dollars are growing quite rapidly even in the midst of what is the Great Recession.”
In addition to Franklin, former Baltimore Sun Editor, webinar panelists were:
* John Cherwa, Sports Coordinator for Tribune Company and Deputy Sports Editor of Los Angeles Times, past president of Associated Press Sports Editors.
* Kevin Goldberg, Legal Counsel for ASNE and Special Counsel for Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth (expertise: first amendment, copyright and trademark issues, particularly newspaper and internet publishing).
* David Tomlin, 30 years of experience as an AP reporter, bureau chief and executive. Associate General Counsel of Associated Press in New York since 2003.
The panel addressed several topics, focusing on the following:
* What rights do we have?
* Phrases in credentials.
* Potential ways around restrictions.
* Fighting back.
* Long-term solutions.
Franklin noted that even with the economic downturn, sports media in many ways is thriving. There are, he said, projections that online sports advertising will double in the five-year period ending in 2012. He also said the 10 largest sports blogs collectively bring in tens of millions of dollars in revenue annually.
“It’s not unexpected there’s going to be pushing and shoving over who gets to do what,” Tomlin said. “Everybody does have legitimate rights and interests to protect. Sorting out which ones are legitimate and which ones are overly aggressive is part of what working through these disputes is about.”
Said Franklin, “What we have is new media meeting new money in amateur and pro sports, and it’s making sports credentialing – to borrow a popular political phrase — the waterloo for traditional media.”
A recent disagreements between major media organizations and the Southeastern Conference provided a backdrop for the discussion. The SEC issued restricted credentials this season. The protests of three news organization led to a loosening of those restrictions.
“What we’re talking in many of these cases is a function of contract law,” Tomlin said. “You are getting a benefit – good access to a game and to an event and the right use photographs, video and audio –in exchange for agreeing to certain conditions on that use. It’s a matter of negotiation back and forth.”
Franklin said while there are options available from protest to civil disobedience to boycott, the first and often most-effective route is careful study of the credential followed by discussion with the issuing party.
“You really need to learn what it is a league or a pro team or an individual team is trying to accomplish with the language they have in the credential,” Franklin said. “A lot of times a quick phone call to a Vice President for Communications or a Sports Information Director will help you identify what it is they’re really trying to get at. In the case of the SEC, they really didn’t want real-time data coming out from their games, but they really, I don’t think, meant to ban blogging during the games. But that’s what the language effectively said in the credential.
“So, make that phone call and inquire about what it is they’re really trying to get at.”
— John Oehser, NSJC Web Editor
— John Oehser, NSJC Web Editor
