No Room For Bloggers In Tampa?

John Fontana of Boltsmag recently shot a note to the Tampa Bay Lightning requesting press credentials. He got the following response from Jay Preble, the team's director of public relations:

Hello John. As I think you are aware, our credential policy regarding websites follows the NHL's suggested policy of only credentialing websites affiliated to national news organizations (espn.com, CNN/SI.com, etc.)

Thanks for your understanding regarding this matter.

First, credit to John for not just being an observer, but instead trying to engage the team in a dialogue. Sure, they said no, but you never know if and when that stance might change.

Then again, I'm not really surprised at their answer, and to tell you the truth, I do think that it's defensible. When you're parcelling out limited space in a press box, you have to give priority to the publications that are going to give the most play to your team -- and the national media clearly fits that bill.

It's not hard to imagine a team like the Flyers, Maple Leafs or Red Wings getting swamped by requests from freelance bloggers to cover the team. And coming from a background in PR and communications, I know how busy folks like Preble can get. Their job is tough enough without having to vet possibly hundreds of bloggers who might want to cover the team.

That doesn't mean, however, that the Lightning, or any other team in any league for that matter, should be ignoring bloggers altogether. While space in a press box will always be at a premium, there are plenty of other opportunities where that isn't a consideration.

I'm talking about regular league conference calls as well as media availability (you don't think it's an accident that two competing newspapers will run a feature on the same player on the same day?) by phone. Even simply putting bloggers on an e-mail list for team press releases would be welcome.

Then again, bloggers need to be aware that access has a price. Anything that a PR person can give you, they can take away for any reason and at any time. Don't think that there aren't sports writers that might have pulled a punch or held a story in the hopes it might get them a favor in return. In general, sports writers are a pretty hard boiled bunch, but everyone has to compromise every once in a while in order to get by.

Besides, sometimes being an outsider can be a distinct advantage. Here in Washington, it was Nats bloggers who called out manager Frank Robinson for his love of the bunt -- something that Washington Post beat writer Barry Svrluga only mentioned after the bloggers had been taking Robinson to task for weeks.

Think about this: What would it be like if you had to ask Frank Robinson, a manager with the reputation of being as tough as nails, if he was bunting too much? Think it might get uncomfortable?

You bet it would. And racheting up that sort of tension every day can backfire on a beat writer. That's why a paper has reporters and columnists -- even ones who might never set foot inside a locker room.

So be careful what you wish for. You might just get it.

Eric 06:17 AM

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