Denying access to reporters is not going to help a struggling league make money.
Sept. 12, 2011
It took nearly 2 1/2 weeks to get an interview with one of the new coaches in the bj-league this summer because a certain PR director felt this reporter's work consisted of "destructive criticism." He wanted to know why I'd want to interview the coach. Why? It's my job. And maybe I have opinions, too. Guess what? That's part of the job. Columns offer opinion, and there are plenty of things this league doesn't do right nearly enough.
Or as one well-connected observer pointed out in a recent email:
"The whole league needs lessons in being open to the media," he said, "Sadly since Japanese media almost never do hard interviews, or give any coverage at all, they make even a casual observation on your part stand out and look negative. A sad state of affairs.
"Censorship by lack of access. And why would anyone want to learn about their new coach? You must have evil intentions....
"Tell me your reasons! Unbelievable...
"The league should be fining any teams that deny access....
"Can't we get a major league (NBA, NFL, etc.) media manual for teams and translate it into Japanese?"
It took nearly 2 1/2 weeks to get an interview with one of the new coaches in the bj-league this summer because a certain PR director felt this reporter's work consisted of "destructive criticism." He wanted to know why I'd want to interview the coach. Why? It's my job. And maybe I have opinions, too. Guess what? That's part of the job. Columns offer opinion, and there are plenty of things this league doesn't do right nearly enough.
Or as one well-connected observer pointed out in a recent email:
"The whole league needs lessons in being open to the media," he said, "Sadly since Japanese media almost never do hard interviews, or give any coverage at all, they make even a casual observation on your part stand out and look negative. A sad state of affairs.
"Censorship by lack of access. And why would anyone want to learn about their new coach? You must have evil intentions....
"Tell me your reasons! Unbelievable...
"The league should be fining any teams that deny access....
"Can't we get a major league (NBA, NFL, etc.) media manual for teams and translate it into Japanese?"
