NBA Combine should open access to more journalists

The NBA appears to be channeling the NFL by trying to make its version of the Combine into a big event. Fans were able to watch future pros attempt to impress NBA scouts and executives by viewing ESPN’s broadcast of the workouts earlier this month.

The problem was most journalists were seemingly relegated to the fan experience. A small note at the end of CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman’s review of the Combine mentioned that he was the only non-ESPN journalist allowed to watch the workouts in person, serving as the “pool reporter” as he put it. (Full disclosure: Goodman and I were colleagues at FOXSports.com.)

This is troubling because one media outlet is dominating the coverage and could perhaps control the spin from the Combine. It is one thing to outwork the competition, but it is quite another for competitors to be kept from even playing.

I do not know the arrangement between the NBA and ESPN about coverage of the Combine, so this post is not trying to assign blame. But I know that having a more varied media presence will ultimately benefit news consumers, who are the true losers when the doors are closed to journalists.

-- Steve Bien-Aime

Acknowledging the price of college athletes

ESPN the Magazine recently teamed up with MIT researchers to determine the value of college athletes at Florida University. (The article can also be found here through ESPN’s Insider service.)

The results shouldn’t be surprising to anybody who knows the realities of college athletics: the football players were worth substantially more than any other athletes, and the men’s basketball players were the only other athletes in the positives. In other words, athletes from other sports, including all women’s sports, are costing the university money.

At first glance, a story like this might seem problematic; quantifying young collegiate athletes, especially in dollar amounts, seems directly contrary to the purpose of college athletics.

But, as a member of the media – not of the NCAA, ESPN is well within its rights to criticize the institution of college sports. In fact, it may even be helpful.

While it seems that monetizing collegiate athletes would be completely antithetical to the health of college sports, that is what the NCAA does every year with things like bowl games and March Madness. And this is potentially a much bigger problem. As an outsider, ESPN is simply bringing light to the financial realities of collegiate athletics.

It might seem that this article tacitly reinforces the monetization of student-athletes, but it also provides valuable knowledge and insight into that process for a larger population. Importantly, it also points to a wide imbalance in the relative value of certain athletes under the current system.

This sort of tangible proof is important ammunition for critics of the NCAA. If the NCAA and its member institutions are well aware of the financial benefits that they receive from student-athletes, their opponents should be as well. Defining these benefits, as ESPN has, should only help to clarify and solidify any anti-NCAA arguments.

-Brett Sherrick

'Villainization of LeBron James'?

What is the media's role in turning LeBron James from fan favorite into the NBA's biggest villain? Recent Penn State doctoral graduate and current Bloomsburg University instructor Jason Genovese has some interesting ideas about that.

Genovese presented his findings Thursday at the annual meeting of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport in Minneapolis. James' "The Decision" began the turn as the superstar forward announced on ESPN in summer 2010 that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers for the Miami Heat. Genovese pointed out a little-publicized fact that ESPN actually sought out James for the broadcast.

Through a textual analysis, Genovese examined how the language of articles did not really mention that James earned the right -- via the players' labor agreement with the league -- to determine where he wanted to play.

Also, columnists placed a heavy burden of three to five championships for James to validate his decision.

The James situation also went past the issue of a superstar leaving a team, delving into racial subjects. The mention of slavery drew sharp dismissals from media members, but the historical/cultural context for the slavery references were ignored.

In fact, any perceived misstep from James resulted in enormous negative reactions from the media. It seemed as though James was never allowed to escape the villain label.

When Genovese publishes his paper, it should be a must read.

--Steve Bien-Aime

The potential demise of middle-men journalists

Clay Travis, of Outkick the Coverage, recently declared the death of ESPN. While his thesis might be a little melodramatic, Travis poses an important question for the future of sports media: will the journalistic middle men still be relevant in the future or will sports leagues decide en masse to skip the ESPNs of the world and communicate directly with their publics?

Travis cites, as evidence of this trend, the leagues that have already created their own cable networks. MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, the Big Ten, and – perhaps most alarmingly – the Texas Longhorns all have their own cable networks at this point. (Granted, the Longhorn Network is a partnership with ESPN.) Other teams that aren’t directly targeting their fans through traditional cable TV often provide online, subscription-based services to feed their games immediately to their consumers.

This direct targeting of teams’ individual nations – made much simpler through online social networking – could be really positive for the teams, really negative for traditional sports journalists, and potentially disastrous for anybody who cares about ethics in sports.

Traditionally, the middle man function of journalists has not simply been one of direct conduction; instead, journalists have historically acted as watchdogs of news, attempting to keep newsmakers honest. If teams communicate directly with their fans, then that role may no longer be fulfilled.

According to Travis, ESPN has already foregone that responsibility – out of fear of upsetting their important league partners. If he’s right and this is an increasing trend, the sports world could see the return of a brand of irresponsibility and lawlessness that has largely been restrained and chastised in sports for decades.

Even with 24/7 coverage of every Chris Johnson Tweet and Kenny Britt Facebook update, plenty of athletes still find their way into trouble. If they have no fear of exposure by the media, athletes and teams may become even more reckless.

-Brett Sherrick

Paterno, Krzyzewski meet to talk about teaching, leadership

Joe Paterno and Mike Krzyzewski are two coaches that often seem larger than life. Their tenures as coaches for Penn State football and Duke men’s basketball are among the longest in collegiate sports history, and their strategies for success are often emulated by their peers.

During the filming of ESPN’s “Difference Makers: Life Lessons with Paterno and Krzyzewski” the two legendary coaches discussed their philosophies of teaching and coaching. As they reminisced about the people and events that influenced them, it was hard to believe it was the first time the two had met.

In between moments of reflection and playful banter, the two touched upon topics such as teaching and values. They highlighted the importance of providing athletes with support outside the realm of athletics. Both coaches discussed the need to attend to athletes to help them succeed scholastically while instilling values that will eventually help the “boys” become men. A running theme was that the coaches’ respective universities went a long way to encourage a culture that has allowed the programs to enjoy long-term success.

When asked about NCAA reforms, Paterno and Krzyzewski offered some basic, but insightful opinions. Paterno suggested the NCAA need to consider making freshmen ineligible, allowing them to work with special coaches to help ease them into the university environment. Krzyzewski believes one of the biggest problems the NCAA needs to address is a modernization of policies. In particular, he pointed to how changes in technology have made practices related to recruiting and contacting athletes different than in years past.

For another review of the event, visit the gopsusports.com blog. Additionally, photos of the event are available on gopsusports.com. The 90-minute show will air on June 30, beginning at 8 p.m. on ESPN and continuing at 9 p.m. on ESPNU.

- Melanie Formentin

Twitter users compare men's basketball to the women's game

Although Butler left the floor feeling low after the men’s basketball national championship, it was women’s basketball that took a beating Monday night. In describing just how bad and boring the men’s final was, users of the site repeatedly compared it to the women’s game, implicitly discounting the sport in the process.

CBS analyst Roland S. Martin wrote “It is not a stretch to say that the women’s national championship game will be far more interesting.” Another blogger tweeted “I’d rather watch the #WNBA than this #NationalTitleGame.” ESPN.com’s “The sports guy” tweeted: April 2011: The month that women’s college basketball caught up to men’s college basketball. A

Make no mistake: The men’s national final was painful to watch. The two teams set a new record for lowest combined first half points total and Butler shot a horrid 18.8 percent from the field – the lowest mark ever in a national final game. And although UConn took home the trophy, they won by scoring just 53 points on 35 percent shooting.

The game was boring. Illustrating just how boring it was by comparing it to women’s basketball denies the women’s game the legitimacy it deserves. As Dave Zirin wrote, also on twitter. “I hope every last person hating on this game, watches the NCAA women's finals tomorrow. See two teams actually make shots.”

--Erin Whiteside

PSUers at NASSS: Research Review

Presentations at the 31st annual NASSS conference wrapped up this weekend, highlighted by a handful of Penn State College of Communications alumni and current students. Alumna Erin Whiteside and graduate student Jason Genovese began the final day of presentations before students Laura Caldwell and Melanie Formentin also presented their current research.

Genovese, currently teaching at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, kicked off an early morning session with his presentation The Complexity of Sports Television Reporting in the Modern Sports-Media Complex. He highlighted the factors that complicate the reporter-source relationship in sports television media production. Using ethnographic techniques, Genovese outlined how reporters are adapting to the changing nature of contemporary reporter-source relationships. Reporters are feeling a push to adapt to new technologies, becoming more versatile and multi-skilled to work with changing technologies. Reporters also face conflicts of ownership; one group often owns the media outlet and the team being covered, meaning reporters must consider the wants of the ownership group when reporting on an issue.

Whiteside, currently teaching at the University of Tennessee, presented her work “I Repeat: I am Not a Lesbian!” Sexuality and Heteronormativity in the Sports Media Workplace. Using discourses of sexuality she analyzed underrepresentation and marginalization of females in sports media. Through interviews with female SIDs, Whiteside found that sexuality is an overwhelming part of the sports media workplace environment. Female sports media practitioners are consciously and constantly fighting the notion of being a lesbian simply because of their choice of profession. Experience playing sports, marital status, and working with women’s sports enhanced these feelings, making these professionals feel as though they needed to defend their sexuality in the work place, whether they were heterosexual or not.

Caldwell’s research, ESPN’s “Body Issue” and the Limits of Liberating Gendered Bodies, used textual analysis to assess that the images presented are both positive and negative. Caldwell analyzed both ESPN “Body” issues to determine if they explored and celebrated athletic form or simply sexualized the athletes photographed. Although the 2010 issue was more sexualized than the original issue, stereotypes of athletic beauty were challenged through the presentation of females engaged in sport and the inclusion of disabled athletes. Male figure skater Evan Lysachek also challenged athletic stereotypes by being shown in a graceful pose. She suggested that, ultimately, interpretations of the images are likely to be dictated by audience perceptions.

Finally, Formentin presented her work Moving Beyond the 2004-05 NHL Lockout: A Fan Survey. In this study, she looked at the 2004-05 lockout as an organizational crisis and attempted to gauge perceptions of the NHL’s reputation five years after the event. Using Situational Crisis Communication Theory, she surveyed 140 fans to assess whether variables of the theory can predict or be attributed to reputation following a crisis. A survey of 140 fans suggests that the league’s reputation has marginally improved. Additionally, Formentin found that it may be possible to deconstruct the notion of reputation to assess both organizational and industry reputation when developing crisis management strategies.

- Melanie Formentin

Female television sports reporters: Be attractive, but not too attractive

As pundits and opinion-makers have continued to weigh in on the Clinton Portis saga, discussion has turned to what reporter Ines Sainz was wearing, and whether or not her attire was to blame for the humiliating sexual harassment she was forced to endure from members of the New York Jets. Focusing on Sainz’s clothing and appearance places the blame on Sainz instead of a problematic locker room culture, and is reflective of tired “she asked for it” patriarchal discourse.

Blaming Sainz’s attire is a curious argument, given that there is an obvious unspoken rule that in order to appear on camera and cultivate a career in televised sports, women must exude a kind of heterosexual attractiveness through their physical appearance and dress. Women are thus left in a double-bind: In order to join “the boys” they must be appealing to boys, but should they be too appealing in a certain context (see locker room, Jets) their attractiveness becomes their own fault. Until we begin to see female reporters as qualified sports reporters and not, as Hannah Storm had to remind her two male colleagues on a recent ESPN debate “there to check guys out,” women will continue to be reduced to their bodies in ways that are never on their own terms.

--Erin Whiteside

ESPN dishes out big assist to LeBron James

In devoting one hour of prime-time coverage to LeBron James Thursday night in its “The Decision” special, ESPN further blurred the lines between entertainment and sports journalism. The network effectively ran a 60-minute ad for the LeBron James brand that was less journalism and more production – despite that at its core, this was about a huge story in the sports media world.

ESPN reporter Jim Gray appeared to read off a script of questions, failing to follow up on key points, which protected James from addressing difficult issues. At one point James said “I never wanted to leave Cleveland,” but Gray never pressed James to reconcile that statement with his decision to leave. Later, during Michael Wilbon’s Q&A with the basketball star, James said his decision was not about money, something Wilbon accepted at face value. Yet arguably, moving to a bigger media market where he will have better opportunity to bring visibility to his personal brand will earn him much more money in the long run, issues that were not discussed either. Further, the “special” was sponsored by Vitamin Water, one of James’ major personal sponsors. Each commercial break featured ads starring James resulting in one straight hour of devotion to the player.

Still, by leaving his hometown and disappointing several other major cities (notably Chicago and New York), LeBron James finished the “special” not necessarily in the best graces outside of Miami. ESPN helped out once again, dishing out another assist by allowing James to promote a large donation to the Boys & Girls Club. Certainly this donation is a wonderful gift, but in the context of the announcement, and at a time where James will feel some immediate “heat” from Cleveland fans, the additional airtime arguably helped him do some initial “damage control” in this emotional moment, capping off one of the longest sports advertorials we’ve ever seen.

--Erin Whiteside

Sports Journalism, Athletes in for a Big Challenge

TMZ.com, a leading gossip and celebrity news web site, has entered the sports media market, launching TMZ Sports at the start of the year. And if its recent coverage of the Gilbert Arenas story is any indication, established sports media outlets are facing a legitimate contender in this saturated industry. Already the web site scooped everyone from ESPN to the Washington Post by first reporting that Arenas does not have a license to carry the firearm he is accused of brandishing in the Wizards’ locker room, and that according to “law enforcement sources,” the locker room is monitored by surveillance video, making it a real possibility that footage of the incident exists.

As a gossip web site, TMZ Sports will have to prove its reporting accuracy in order to solidify a reputation as a reputable source for sports media news. But TMZ Sports isn’t just covering sports in the traditional sense; rather, it is building off what TMZ.com does well: gossip. In doing so, the web site is challenging unspoken agreements between athletes and media that private lives generally stay private. The site has held no punches in its Tiger Woods coverage, even posting grainy cell phone photos of Woods in various nightclubs, which directly contradict the pristine image Woods has worked so hard to create. In just a few short weeks, the site has posted everything from documents in Shaquille O’Neal’s divorce proceedings to pictures of baseball player Matt Kemp grabbing the backside of his girlfriend, Rihanna.

If TMZ Sports stays on this course, major athletes will have a major problem. Without a free pass from the media, the private, sometimes unsavory and always un-manufactured side of our “All-American” athletes will be on full display for the world to see. Considering that a carefully guarded image is critical for marketing (and financial) success, athletes have a real reason to be nervous: After all, if TMZ Sports been around 20 years ago, everyone’s favorite Nike pitchman might not have enjoyed such public admiration had stories and pictures of his now-infamous gambling habit been so readily available.

--Erin Whiteside

ESPN's 'Body Issue' does its job

According to a report by The Wrap about the Magazine Innovation Summit in New York this week, ESPN boosted subscriptions to its "Insider" (a companion to the magazine) by 400 within two hours of posting its "Body Issue" images online. Newsstand data wasn't released.
Of course. That was the point -- it doesn't take a genius to see how the SI Swimsuit edition and other flesh-baring editions of sports-related titles do on the newsstand: They sell.
ESPN's sex-sells issue was, in my mind, different in some significant ways from the SI swimsuit edition. ESPN had argued that the mag was driven by journalistic motives, and while that's highly debatable, the images do exhibit a range of athletic images. It is much more ambivalent than SI -- alternating back and forth between images that can be read as liberating because they challenge ideal-body norms, and those that reinforce a "hetero-sexy" apologia by female athletes.

ESPN's guidelines put boundaries on social media

Given the gaffes made by some journalists in recent weeks and the irreverent Tweets by NFL players (leading to some team restrictions on the practice), it's not surprising that ESPN's guidelines, announced yesterday, put some hard limits on the use of social media by employees. It is likely that other media orgs will look to the net's guidelines, such as, "If you wouldn't say it on the air or write it in your column, don't Tweet it," as a model. The guidelines seem to serve two functions: to keep employees from posting on social media in ways that could reflect poorly on ESPN, and to allow the net to funnel all such networking to its properties, bolstering the bottom line. It's part of the bigger movement by media companies to co-opt and monetize the grassroots appeal of social media.

Another diagnosis: What ails sports media

ESPN ombudsman Le Anne Schreiber warns at the beginning of her monthly column that it is long and quixotic. I would characterize the column as engaging and thought-provoking. Schreiber effectively uses the recent Gundy-Carlson incident and ESPN's coverage of it to argue that sports news and chatter (to use Eco's term) has become "the molehill on which mountains of opinion are built." She pleads for strong reporting to replace shrill, rumor-driven confrontainment that has unfortunately become the norm. Her column, I think, nicely builds on the arguments made by the Esquire's recent column on saving sports journalism.