December 20, 2007
The Old College Try On Live Blogging
Back in June, PostmanE from We Are The Postmen and I had an extensive discussion about the evolution of live blogging and game coverage. For those of you who might not recall, the whole conversation got kicked off after the NCAA ejected a Louisville Courier-Journal reporter from the press box after it discovered he was live-blogging one of Louisville University's regional playoff games.
Now, it's six months later, and the NCAA has finally gotten around to issuing its own guidelines on how folks in the press box will be allowed to live blog NCAA events (PDF). Needless to say, the results are a mixed bag. Here are the limitations on blogging for Winter Sports:
Like PostmanR, I can't help but be a little baffled. Check out this passage from the policy:
The following is the NCAA’s policy for the number of blogs allowed during a Competition or Session (i.e., where more than one contest takes place under the same admission ticket). They apply to all sports listed and are applicable to both genders.
Keep in mind that the press folks at the NCAA have had six months to come up with these guidelines, and they've still managed to demonstrate that they have little, if any, facility with this new medium. Then again, I guess it represents some progress that they've at least made an attempt to understand what's going on, and attempted to accommodate it.
But as I've mentioned before, I've gotten notes from bloggers around the country who have worked with NCAA member institutions, and they tell me that they regularly live blog from the press box without any restrictions at all. So while I hate to resort to a cliche, the camel's nose is most definitely under the tent. So while these guidelines -- which include the NCAA insisting that bloggers include the NCAA logo on their blogs if they cover their events -- are disappointing, at least they're a step in the right direction. And once the folks at the NCAA get a little more experience dealing with bloggers, I'm guessing guidelines like these will melt away pretty quickly.
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I just get a kick out of any policy where it almost makes it beneficial for the writer to stay home and watch it on tv. Odds of getting a good quote after the game are 10:1 at best and few are able to take photos, so...
Posted by:
at December 20, 2007 11:36 AM
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