Press Credentials....Denied!

In the world of Professional Sports, the media is considered a friend. After all, how would they distribute their victories and defeats to millions of fans all over the world? This only becomes a problem when certain members of the media are deemed detrimental to the reputation of different sports entities, right?  If so, who makes this determination and what would cause a sports owner to go so far as to deny credentials to the press? If it were as easy as avoiding negative press or trying to control what viewers see, the owners would simply form alliances with media personalities and limit their coverage to them. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy.  Whether it’s a sports fan, owner or sponsor, in most cases they want the coverage of their association to be as objective and fair as possible. So what warrants the denial of press credentials?

In an article written by Glenn Davis, he suggests that a denied press pass is justified in certain instances, such as in the case of the Miami Heat and Scott Raab. Scott Raab wasn’t denied a press-pass simply because of his hatred of LeBron James, but it was his lack of decorum when expressing that hatred toward the super star on twitter. After all, Adrian Wojnarowski wasn’t denied a press pass and he has also been extremely critical of LeBron James. I guess the old saying is true, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”

In the case of Josh Gross, Loretta Hunt and Jeff Sherwood, the lack of decorum was definitely on the other foot. Despite the tumultuous history between Dana White and Gross, Hunt and Sherwood, the denying of their press credentials seemed unwarranted. It seems as if the denial was based more on personal reasons rather than questionable media coverage. Here’s the video of the attack on Loretta Hunt and nothing about it gives any reason why her press credentials were denied except the fact the he definitely does not like Loretta Hunt. I guess with anything concerning the media, the facts have to be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. It is also imperative to think before you speak or react, because anger has a way of lowering your Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and making you look incredibly ignorant.