Reporters and SIDs: Tensions start early

Joe Gisondi writes in his "On Sports" blog this week about a study illuminating the ways college journalists and SIDs clash over access to players and over other issues. The study, published in College Media Review, reveals results of a survey of SIDs and college sports editors. Gisondi describes a gulf between the ways SIDs and journalists see their roles on everything from the ways journalists identify themselves to the tactics they use to secure interviews (such as using Facebook). The study seems to point to a couple of issues: The chasm between journalists and athletes/coaches at the college level (one that is sure to grow), and the need for formal training in ethics and professionalism for college sports journalists.