Bottom story of the day -- MSC declines Freep interview.
and I'm excited to see Michigan giving the cold shoulder to that paper, but why are you reading that paper?
She is a true Michigan Man . . . er, Wolverine Woman?
Michigan Mynx
She is a true Wolverine.
Fort Schembechler starting to reappear out from the shadows? Declining interviews with the Freep and having coaches, players, and administrators talk to other Detroit newspapers only is a good way to punish the Freep for its uncalled for and irresponsible investigation. Revoking media passes probably is going too far, but loss of exclusive interviews and access will hurt the Freep sports writers in the long run.
media passes, which would seem too vindictive (and they wouldn't be able to get away with it anyway), but I might think about making them park with the rest of the masses, forcing them spend a half hour getting to the press box. Maybe put them at the back of the line at the media buffet table, leaving them a couple of lonely slices of salami. Didn't that student usher put the squeeze on Bill Martin last year when Martin didn't have his credentials? Someone get that kid a picture of our friends at the Freep and have him work his usher magic at the press box elevator.
I always though Lloyd needed to lighten up a bit when he was asked a question he didn't like in a post game press conference, but now I wish RR would adopt a little of that "I'm trying to burn a hole through your head right now with my stare" stare and employ it accordingly with his accusers, letting it last uncomforatably long before turning away and tersely muttering "Next question."
Can Michigan revoke media passes, essentially making it so the freep can't step foot onto university campus? Does Michigan have media contracts with newspapers that makes it impossible to do?
I'm guessing since its a public university, that has something to do with it being almost impossible.
UM can revoke media passes, but it would probably backfire. Freep would complain loudly, and other media would probably side with them as they all tend to look out for each other, especially since print media industry is dying. Plus there would be more ridiculous attention on this whole ordeal, and God only knows that we don't need anymore. Eliminating exclusive interviews and access to Freep, and giving interviews, news, and info to competitors of Freep only should be enough of a punishment.
Michigan can revoke/ban them from campus if need be, but it's just not worth the headache right now?
Yes for revoking media passes--we could, but it'd hugely backfire and, really, for good reason--it's too vindictive, declining interviews is about right.
No for banning from campus; we're a public university, I think that'd probably take a restraining order which would never be granted, even for libel, and even trying would make us look like huge jackasses (again for good reason, we would be being huge jackasses).
Death by a thousand pin pricks is the way to go.
Granting exclusives to certain media outlets and excluding others is just the way of the world in this age. No one will have much sympathy -- look no farther than Washington D.C. and how the game is played with the national media outlets there. If you have an overt agenda, you'll get shut out.
They made their bed. Have fun laying it, Mr. Anger and staff.
I am thinking in the move from the old press box, to the new one, the Freep is going to find their new spot is the one farthest from the 50, in the back, next to the bathrooms, and possibly with a post partially obstructing their view.
If there is any justice, Brian gets a great seat, and the Freep gets the worst one in the space.
I have an idea.
We should preserve one of the men's rest rooms with the troughs. Put a single small desk and a chair in the corner, and put a sign on it reading "Detroit Free Press Office—Comments Welcome."
I think you meant to say "irresponsible 'investigation'", right?
As some of our media-employed posters have pointed out in past threads, you don't want to revoke press passes, no matter how cathartic it might be. If you cut the Free Press off, then they are free to write and distort a story any way they like. Providing them with access allows you to present the story in the light you want.
Except the choice of restaurant. Troppo is terribly overrated. Other than that, though:..
What will be REALLY funny is when UM returns to its rightful place of glory - and the high-ups will still not interview with them.
They've burned their bridges with one of the greatest Universities in world - and in their own backyard!
Yeah, good luck on getting in on the "feel good" story when Michigan returns to a BCS bowl.
I like the fact that they're denying Freep interviews now; there's no possible way that can be spun against the University. Denying press passes, however, would just make the Freep more sensational in their stories and make UM look vindictive. In the future, everyone in the Athletic Dept will know which reporters to ignore when the requests for interviews come about.
He's arguably recognized as the nation's top coach at the top football program and he got lambasted nationally for dressing down that reporter. No, you don't shut out the hometown paper, especially when they broke a story that led to sanctions against our institution. As stated above, it only gives more credence to what is an embarrassing few pages in our storied football history book.
got lambasted because of the way he went about dressing down the reporter.
The way I see it, if Michigan finally has enough of it and shuts out the freep, it could have different affects.
Sure the freep would probably dig for trash. But could they find it without access to the football program? If they go out and keep making accusations that are exaggerated or made up, how much longer will people find them credible?
Can I neg you more than once? Urban Meyer was criticized because he berated the reporter (who is, admittedly, a scumbag), threatened to ban him from the university or the covering the football team (not legal because UF is a public institution), and told him that if he were the player's parent he would beat him up.
Declining to answer questions from a bunch of hacks who just got your organization the equivalent of a speeding ticket from the NCAA? Dude, I think just typing "FOIA" in the same paragraph could get me executed.
Who cares if they write more sensationalistic BS? I say never let them near The Big House again. They have lost the ability to get anywhere close to campus - I think they should take out a legal restraining order sighting slander and malicous use of misinformation. The people who are employed by the Freep shouldn't be allowed inside of 10 square miles around the stadium. Of course, they are taking the classier but still "a slap in the face" method, but I would rather see them thrown out for good.
I'd bet David Brandon is of the "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer" club. Just having the Freep there, but intentionally ignored sends a message to the others.
It also appears they are trying to lure Birkett / annarbor.com into the fold.
It will be interesting to see how media relations gets managed this fall. I think Brandon has us shifting from institutional media relations to marketing media relations.
I think my favorite part of this is story is that after the freep couldn't get any quotes from anyone in the AD, they interviewed some random named Tom Drabek. I guess if you can't interview MSC or RichRod, pick a guy out of the crowd and ask him what he thinks.
It is interesting to watch these media hacks trying to save face by latching on to the NCAA's investigation of RichRod and labeling him some out of control coach like Calipari or Kelvin Sampson. Talk about grasping at straws.
giving your employees the personal right to refuse one-on-one interviews. I agree with others here that a blanket denial of access to an individual media outlet's reporters would be self-defeating and probably unenforceable. Which means that when RR or JB holds a presser, they can't use Mike Barwis to bar entry to Michael Rosenberg, in spite of how entertaining it would be to witness that. However, there's no legal requirement that Brandon or RR have to grant individual interviews to anybody from the Freep or any other paper.
If I were David Brandon, I would issue explicit instructions to every employee in the athletic department from RR down to the guy who empties the trash bins in Glick Fieldhouse that after the NCAA rules in August, NOBODY is to comment on the investigation in any way. All requests for information by any media outlet should be immediately forwarded to David Brandon's office, and he will make decisions on a case-by-case basis on whether to answer the questions himself or to refer the request to the UM legal office.
Synder and Rosenberg both went to Michigan
I'm very happy to see this news. The Freep has continued to spit in the face of the university and abuse its power. Now, they can get used to hearing "no comment."
I like the idea of not giving any one-on-one press conferences until a retraction is printed (for the gross overstatement of hours and the lack of distinction between countable and non-countable hours, they can dance in the streets with glee about the parts they got right), but can/should anything be done at press conferences? Are there enough people asking questions that you can keep selecting other media outlets until the time is out, or would it be looking over a sea of faces and asking "anyone? anyone?" with the Freep jumping up and down and waving their hands?
If the latter, I think the best way to handle all freep questions is to take a page from 'Sheed - all answers to be a variation of "both teams played hard".