I do not feel like I can write about my feelings on ethics in sports media in the grand scheme of things. This is due to the fact that I am relatively new to the sports media world. However, from my little experience with the industry this semester in my sports media class, there was one issue that arose a couple times too many for my liking. This was the fact that if I wanted to contact a student athlete here at the university, I would have to first contact the designated Sports Information Director and hope for the best.
Throughout the semester, the topic of student athletes being “normal people” like all other students was highlighted and talked about. We, as a class, feel that it is very important to treat these student athletes as equals, being careful not to put them on a pedestal or treat them like a celebrity. However, with the rule of not being allowed to contact the student unless it is through an S.I.D., our access to them is greatly inhibited, as well as our abilities to treat them just as equally as we would a non-athlete.
I understand that one of the main responsibilities of an S.I.D. is to make sure that the athletes are helping to shed the university in the best light possible and not screwing up, for a lack of better terms. I support their efforts in doing so, however, the amount of loopholes that media members and/or other students have to go through in order to just speak to, let alone email the athlete, is absurd. Turns out that half the time, the S.I.D. won’t even allow contact to happen unless there is a valid reason or if the athlete even has time to do so.
I also understand that athletes are busy students and have many things to juggle, but I don’t fully trust the S.I.D.’s to give me the true feelings or wants of the athletes. For example, I tried to contact a woman athlete here at the university in order to do a story on her ( I am leaving details out on this so that I respect her privacy). She is in two of my classes this year, so I felt that as a fellow classmate, I could go ahead and email her directly to ask. I then was reprimanded by the S.I.D. for not coming to him/her first, and in consequence, received one email from the athlete answering my interview questions. For anyone who has ever had to interview someone and then write a story on them, you probably know that 1. Email interviews are extremely tough because you can’t see the subjects responses in person (body language, how they say their answer, tone, etc.) and 2. She only could send me one email due to time constraints, therefore, I couldn’t follow-up with more questions.
This experience rubbed me the wrong way, and to be reprimanded for contacting a fellow classmate, who is just as much of a regular person as all of the students at Ohio State, was frustrating. It made me feel like I was not important enough of a person to have access to the athlete and like I was trying to contact a major celebrity who hardly has encounters with his/her fans. I hope that one day this inaccessibility will be re-evaluated and changed so that more students and media members can have access to athletes. If they are the “regular” people that we are told to look at them as, then let’s treat them like “regular” people.
Cleats&Convo 