AD fails to invite Michigan Daily to Hoke's interview
Hoke had a sit-down with reporters today. Invitations were extended to the Freep, Detroit News, MLive, Scout, Rivals, buttttt
Surprise! The Daily was not invited to Hoke's pow wow with reporters.
— Zach Helfand (@zhelfand) February 3, 2014
Shocked [ed: \s] @MattSlovin and I weren't invited to this little reporter get-together. Doesn't sound like much was said. h/t @Mark__Snyder
— Adam Rubenfire (@arubenfire) February 3, 2014
I wonder what that is about?
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:33 PM ^
This is a job for the sky writers
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:03 PM ^
Have the skywriters write pro Daily slogans all over southeast Michigan which now includes East Lansing.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:57 PM ^
he should give them the same access to sporting events that he gave the alumni band for the Arizona basketball game.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:25 PM ^
know something was done wrong, and the MD was part of it. At the very least they accepted and published what they knew to be stolen and lawfully confidential information. What is more, their reporting doesn't indicate any attempt to first contact anybody at UM for comments and clarification before publishing their ambush.
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:29 PM ^
February 4th, 2014 at 9:12 AM ^
It is legal for them to publish them as long as they were not the ones that stole the files or asked someone who had access o the files to commit the theft. Kind of long, but informative on the publishing of leaked documents.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:16 PM ^
Good lord could the athletic department fuck this damn thing up any worse? First the evasive half-truth regarding Gibbon's absence from the bowl game, then the lack of getting out in front of the narrative and letting the story snowball and now the banning of media outlets that you think are being big ole meanies to the program.
Who's running this show anyways? Richard Nixon?
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:40 PM ^
Dave Brandon is taking notes on crisis management from Chris Christie.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:19 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:22 PM ^
After reading the Daily's piece titled "A shameful response," (http://www.michigandaily.com/opinion/01daily-shameful-response31), I can certainly see why they would have not been invited. It's chock-full of errors and half-truths.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:35 PM ^
And after reading the Detroit Free Press article "Michigan broke rules players said" I find even MORE half-truths and lies than the Daily article and 100 times the circulation. And yet they were invited.
http://www.freep.com/article/20090829/SPORTS06/90829021/Michigan-footba…
Explain that.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
Well that was five years ago and occured under a completely different administration, so it really shouldn't be that shocking.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:42 PM ^
I guess we see that differently. I dont have a "statute of limitations" when somebody tries to hurt something I care deeply about through lies and and deception. I can't just let "bygones be bygones" - especially when the guy who orcherstrated the "hit" is still employed by them and still spews venom and malice towards Michigan each and every chance he gets.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^
So in 2045, the Freep should still be frozen out of Michigan press conferences and such? How about 2060? Or by the 100th anniversary of Stretchgate?
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:19 PM ^
One reasonable answer might be until the people responsible for maliciously targeting the program aren't employed there anymore, or until they've given adequate assurance that they can be trusted to report information accurately and reliably.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:12 PM ^
If the reporters who wrote the story are stil employed by them at that time then yes.
But I'm not too worried about that. Working for a newspaper today is somewhat akin to working in the buggy manufacturing business circa 1910. The paper itself won't be around much longer cause their revenue stream (classified & merchant ads) is dying fast.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^
I think from Brandon's perspective, the Freep probably aceelerated the process of removing someone that Brandon really didn't want to be coaching Michigan anyways. Hell, he's probably thanking them for making his decision to fire RR a whole lot easier (fairly or unfairly). That said, from an objective standpoint, I do agree with you that it seems bizarre.
February 3rd, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^
"From the Daily: A shameful response"
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:26 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:11 PM ^
Why is everyone assuming this is Brandon's call? Do you not realize there's this thing called a Public and Media Relations department? You know the guys who get paid to deal with all the Michigan athletics media requests? Just throwing Brandon under the bus on this is assuming he played a part in the Daily not being invited. MAYBE he did, but to assume it's all him is not right.
And I think it's fine for the athletic department to limit who's at press conference and media events. Do you know how many other media members get turned down for this stuff? It's common in the business. Everyone is reading into this too much.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:17 PM ^
Because Brandon is a punching bag for this blog.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:24 PM ^
This program is in very sleazy hands with David Brandon. I won't call Hoke sleazy but he certainly doesn't seem to have much spine when it comes to DB.
The sooner more people get over a stubborness they confuse with loyalty and admit that we need a new leader in the AD office, the better off we will ultimately be.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:41 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:30 PM ^
Do we know they weren't invited because of the articles they've written? To me, it sounds like we're just making an assumption.
Maybe it is an educated guess (and none of the invited media ran such scathing prints, though the Freep did call out U-M for 'hiding' over the incident), but I try not to be too hasty with my conclusions.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^
but seriously - they crack down on the Daily but are still inviting the Freep? The newspaper who basically drags the University through the mud whenever possible to try to cling to their fading readership?
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:42 PM ^
Unfortunately, I'm not sure much positive can come from not inviting a major local paper, even if it's a total rag. Not much good probably comes from inviting it either.
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:33 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:31 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 7:03 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 3:55 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:44 PM ^
I have noticed my interest in football easing up. I have thought it was the sport and everything around it. I just realized the problem is this blog.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:02 PM ^
I have felt that same way but realize its the program sucking, not me getting older/wise or the blog. IMO the state of the program is not good. Maybe I'm just a negative guy but there are not many positives to look forward to going into the 2014-15 season if you ask me.
February 3rd, 2014 at 8:54 PM ^
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^
Can't expect anything more from this Athletic Department. Positively childish.
February 3rd, 2014 at 4:59 PM ^
The most f-cked up part of the whole thing is that the writers at the Daily are F-CKING STUDENTS AT MICHIGAN! Its like holding a college sporting event and not allowing the students access! I don't know why but this is the last straw for me. Maybe Dave Brandon didn't have any hand in this but I don't care. He is overseeing a department that has made far too many wrong decisions the past several months and I've had it with him. The day he is fired or leaves cannot come soon enough for this guy.
I mean, to leave kids studying journalism off the invite list for a school-related press conference? AND to invite paid "professionals" with a history of slamming the school and program?! I don't know what the f-ck is going on anymore.
Seriously, run for politics now, Brandon. Lets get all of your skeletons of out that closet of yours. If they are anything like the rumors, I'll have popcorn ready.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:58 PM ^
If they are anything like the rumors, I'll have popcorn ready.
Do tell, I have my popcorn ready right meow. I've tried digging up info on Brandon before, but never had any luck.
February 3rd, 2014 at 5:39 PM ^
The favoritism applied to the football program, and the AD that artificially insulates troubled athletes from investigation is no different at UM that at the schools we poke fun at.
There are a majority of UM athletes that are great kids that play by the rules and represent the university well. This is true at other schools as well.
I was one of the first to be irate at Jim Harbaugh's comments years ago but it did open my eyes.
If we are above the rest, we should be clamoring for DB to stop playing petty games , have more transparency, and restore John U Bacon's status.
Don Canham said," Never turn a one-day story into a two-day story". This will be a one month story if nothing changes.
February 3rd, 2014 at 6:14 PM ^
The attention has suddenly shifted from "UM Botchedly Handles Gibbons Case" to "UM Ath Dept (or Ath Dir if you wish) At Public Odds with Michigan Daily"
Attention has been subtley diverted to another growing crisis/clash/etc.
Invite the Daily to the next presser (or a couple from now) and this will be a non headline any more.
February 3rd, 2014 at 6:57 PM ^
Davae Brandon is a snake. I can't wait until he runs for governor and loses.
February 3rd, 2014 at 7:19 PM ^
Does somebody have a link to a copy of the document(s) the Daily has?
February 3rd, 2014 at 8:48 PM ^
They know the documents are confidential and as students of the University they could probably be held liable by the University for breaking student confidentiality. Maybe even be held criminally liable. Yep, pretty chickenshit of them.
Not saying they did, but they could just make something up out of whole cloth, and then demand answers knowing full well the University can't comment. Meanwhile they hide behind the veil of informant confidentiality themselves, a veil nobody must question because nobody should ever question freedom of the press.
February 3rd, 2014 at 9:19 PM ^
Seems whatever law they would be breaking by showing the documents would also be broken just by writing the story and printing excerpts.
I doubt it was totally fabricated, but isn't it possible they were duped? They did say the documents didn't come from the university.
February 3rd, 2014 at 9:36 PM ^
the documents didn't come from the University, they said words to the effect that they weren't provided by the University.
They may or may not be held liable, but why take the chance if you can still rake the muck without providing proof?
February 3rd, 2014 at 9:53 PM ^
"The Michigan Daily did not obtain these documents from the University."
It also refers to them as "documents reviewed" implying they may not be in possession of them. Legal gymnastics I assume.
February 5th, 2014 at 8:13 AM ^
The Daily wouldn't be found liable for publishing the information as long as they a) didn't steal it themselves; or b) didn't ask someone else to steal it for them. I published this same link a little earlier on the thread, but put it here again just for ease of access.
I assume, like others here, that the reason they haven't published copies are there is something on the documents that would reveal their source.
However, as you pointed out, they may not actually have copies and only saw the documents. Again, it may be there is something that would indicate who the leaker is on the document and that might have been smart on the leaker's part to not give copies.