The idea of reporters flying for free just doesn't fly
The Islanders' team-sponsored blog weighed in on belt-tightening at Newsday, and we here appreciate his sentiments. However, Chris Botta is misguided in one major area.
In an effort to help Newsday save money, he said we should make an agreement with the Islanders that allows reporters to travel on their charter for free. He paints it as a win-win for both sides because the Islanders would not be at risk to lose coverage and Newsday would save money.
OK, class, what's wrong with this? It's called Conflict Of Interest.
It's all good to say, "The only agreement necessary is that the team must not expect the coverage of Newsday’s writers to be compromised by the travel arrangement."
But . . .
As a reader, would you buy that for a second? From the standpoint of trust, the mere perception of possibly being on the take, even if untrue, is no different than actually being in someone's pocket.
To objectively report about the good, the bad and ugly of an organization, one must be completely separate from the people they cover. (*see bottom of post...) Why should you trust us to give objective Islanders news if we're accepting free travel from them?
Travel plans are one of the most misperceived facets of a sports reporter's life. I was asked so many times if I flew with the Yankees when I was on the beat. No. Never.
Reporters used to travel with teams, because back in those days reporters considered themselves friends with the players, drank with the players and oftentimes protected the players from negative press. Obviously, that's not right.
Somewhere along the way newspapers thought they could solve the problem by simply reimbursing teams for the travel fees. But, there's still a problem there. A reporter has to be a reporter at all times; he or she can not be expected to wear his reporter hat during the day and then take it off on flights with the team.
Entering into an agreement like this opens us to conflict-of-interest questions we should not have to deal with. There's a reason this practice ended many years ago.
* Yes, the flaw in this is that we're owned by the same company that owns the Knicks and Rangers. We realize that. That's why we mention that fact in every story we write about those teams that has to do with off-the-court stuff. We point it out to you, the reader, as full disclosure. And we hope over time you trust we are not conflicted by this.
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Comments (5)
Jim,
I may be way off here, as I am not sure how political reporting is done, but don't journalists travel on candidates' buses and planes all the time on the presidential campaign trail? We still trust that they deliver news in an unbiased way. Perhaps there is something different about that arrangement though.
Yes, presidential campaigns are an exception.
From what I've read, it's done largely because candidates go to so many places that it would be downright impossible for reporters to follow them around on their own. It's not as if they have a set schedule like the Islanders and Mets, etc.
I recently read an interesting profile regarding the art of political campaign reporting in GQ. The reporter said some days he wouldn't know until late at night what time their wakeup call would be because the politician hadn't completed his schedule yet. He also said newspapers reimburse the campaign for the travels.
Again, not ideal. But in that scenario, there might not be any other choice.
Knock Knock?
Who's there?
Reality.
So how ARE those pre and post game feedbag spreads at Yankee Stadium?
Free Parking at the Stadium?
I don't see any difference in those perks and deadheading (NO OFFENSE!!) on their charters.
Traveling with the teams would simply be a COST EFFECTIVE extension of "perks" that are already provided.by sports organizations.
Do you really think that if say YOU became the beat reporter for the Isles that we readers would think that you and your writing would be corrupted by the travel perk?
Do you think we'd really care?
Newsday and other newspapers are heading into dire economic straits. Get off the moral high horse and get on the plane, cuz that horse ain't gonna take you to Calgary to cover the team
much longer.
Just my opinion.
More misperceptions by 505.
Free spreads pre and postgames? LOL. Where do you get your info?
Fact: There is a pregame meal offered to media types at shea and yankee stadium for around 10 dollars. I forget the exact price because I rarely ate it. everyone will tell you it's not worth half that price. I bring food or go to the concession stands. The only postgame spread is for the players, as should be the case.
There is free parking for the beat writer, although that might be changing at the new yankee park next year. I don't care about paying to park. I just want to know there is somewhere I can park when I get there at 2 for a 7 pm game.
Anyway, free parking is hardly the equivalent of free flights and everything that comes with that, if you really want to compare perks.
You ask if I think readers would care about the ramifications of a reporter traveling with the team? Of course I do. You guys all the time talk about this reporter being pro-isles and someone else being anti-isles with no legs to stnd on. You yourself have said arthur is pro rangers because he covered the rangers for newsday. How does that make any sense?
Yet in this scenario we would become part of their traveling party. How would that look? No thanks.
I stand corrected on my "misperceptions".
Points accepted regarding fly privileges.
Pay your own way.