Big brother SEC
My old employer, Gannett, has joined other news organizations, including the Associated Press, in refusing to agree to game coverage restrictions being imposed by the SEC for their college football games this fall. The restrictions prevent news organizations from using audio and video on websites, and limits post-game interview video and game photograph publication.
It’s the SEC’s way of trying to control their “product” and drive everyone to athletic department websites.
Imagine what would happen if other government agencies (yeah, except for Vanderbilt, the SEC schools are government operations) did this?
FOX News would have a fit — and rightfully so.
These SEC rules also prohibit fans from posting photos or videos from the stadium on their fan-based websites. If the Big 12 did this, we’d have to shut down our website. Would that be good for college football? Or, in our case, Oklahoma football? (Well, Ok, shutting us down might be a good thing.)
This is a disturbing trend in college sports to chase after the almighty dollar. Don’t give me that “it’s been big business all along, get real” line — I know all about that, especially when it comes time to pay for season tickets. But when college athletic directors see more money as the measure of success (ala Mike Holder), then fans are bound to suffer for it. This is especially true when the powers that be start wielding such control over the public’s experience that it no longer is worth it to be a sports fan.
Gannett and AP are meeting with SEC officials to work out the differences between them. As far as I’m concerned, the SEC gets hyped enough (thanks to the Tebow-worshiping ESPN), so just don’t cover their games. That will be lesson enough.