UofMGrizFan
Well-known member
WTF did they expect from the Griz Football team and staff. I really enjoy their game day paper, but now they can eat sh!t. Publishing a cover story on the opposing team during homecoming. PLEASE...
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index...._able_to_effectively_report_on_griz_football/
Kaimin not able to effectively report on Griz football
Story by Allison Maier | October 8, 2009
Montana Kaimin
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Submit Link to Delicious In journalism, you can’t dwell on anything for too long.
No matter how much blood, sweat and tears were shed for an article, no matter how many discussions took place before it was published, it’s more or less over as soon as it breaks. You then move on to avoid the risk of missing out on the next story worthy of news.
About three weeks ago, the Kaimin published three articles about the University of Montana football team on its front page. One reported an incident at a fraternity last spring in which Griz cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Andrew Swink sent a fellow student to the hospital after kicking him while he was on the ground. A second article listed the nine other incidents involving UM football players that have been reported over the course of two years. The third was an editorial by sports editor Roman Stubbs about head coach Bobby Hauck’s refusal to provide details about the situation.
The Kaimin ran those articles because we believed – and still do – that it was our duty as a newspaper to do so. Our job is to hold the programs and individuals on this campus accountable for their actions.
It was Hauck’s refusal to provide details that led the Kaimin to continue pursuing the Johnson and Swink story in the first place. When the two players, who both started last season, were missing from UM’s first game this fall against Western State, Hauck said simply that they were “both unavailable to compete.” Asked if he wanted to elaborate on his response, Hauck said, “If I wanted to, I would have.” The Kaimin printed that exchange in its Sept. 9 issue, and reporter Tyson Alger continued to look into the story because Hauck continued to give vague answers.
When a witness came forward with information about the situation involving Johnson and Swink, the tenth and eleventh players to be involved in such incidents since June 2007, the Kaimin sought out other sources and made the decision, after a number of long conversations, to publish the information. We then printed one follow-up article and looked for any additional stories to be written. We fielded calls and e-mails – both positive and negative – about our coverage. And now, we’re ready to move on. The problem is, Hauck isn’t.
At first, it looked as though the matter was settled. The Wednesday after the articles were published, the Kaimin received an apology from Hauck (via e-mail from associate athletic director Dave Guffey), acknowledging that he had responded with a profanity when Alger asked him if he wanted to comment about the situation involving the players, but promising that it wouldn’t happen again. He’s kept his word in that regard. But the football program hasn’t let the issue drop.
Last week after football practice, Alger asked one of the players for an interview. The player said he wasn’t allowed to talk to the Kaimin. At Tuesday’s press conference, Alger’s question to Hauck about whether the quarterback rotation would remain the same this weekend was met with this response:
“You? You want something from me now? You have got to be kidding me.”
Hauck then answered the question when a Missoulian reporter repeated it.
It’s not as if the Kaimin didn’t expect something like this to happen. We recognized it as a risk when we started discussions about publishing articles about the allegations. But refusing to talk to Kaimin reporters about the football team doesn’t really hurt the Kaimin.
The Kaimin is essentially just a messenger, bringing information to students from the administrators and officials on campus that those students may never talk to directly. If Hauck doesn’t talk to the Kaimin, the Kaimin can’t provide free coverage of the football team he heads to the campus community.
This Saturday, we will pass out “GameDay” issues of the paper, as the Kaimin has done at every home game for years. It will include the usual team rosters and defensive and offensive lineup visuals, but instead of featuring an 800-word story about a notable player on the Griz team, the cover story will be about Cal Poly, UM’s rival for the Homecoming game.
This arrangement is not what the Kaimin would prefer, and it’s probably not what the students and community members who seek out GameDays would prefer either. But it will remain this way unless Hauck and his players decide to talk to Kaimin reporters again.
In the meantime, we’ll just continue asking questions.
http://www.montanakaimin.com/index...._able_to_effectively_report_on_griz_football/
Kaimin not able to effectively report on Griz football
Story by Allison Maier | October 8, 2009
Montana Kaimin
Email Story
Share on Facebook
Digg This Story
Submit Link to Delicious In journalism, you can’t dwell on anything for too long.
No matter how much blood, sweat and tears were shed for an article, no matter how many discussions took place before it was published, it’s more or less over as soon as it breaks. You then move on to avoid the risk of missing out on the next story worthy of news.
About three weeks ago, the Kaimin published three articles about the University of Montana football team on its front page. One reported an incident at a fraternity last spring in which Griz cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Andrew Swink sent a fellow student to the hospital after kicking him while he was on the ground. A second article listed the nine other incidents involving UM football players that have been reported over the course of two years. The third was an editorial by sports editor Roman Stubbs about head coach Bobby Hauck’s refusal to provide details about the situation.
The Kaimin ran those articles because we believed – and still do – that it was our duty as a newspaper to do so. Our job is to hold the programs and individuals on this campus accountable for their actions.
It was Hauck’s refusal to provide details that led the Kaimin to continue pursuing the Johnson and Swink story in the first place. When the two players, who both started last season, were missing from UM’s first game this fall against Western State, Hauck said simply that they were “both unavailable to compete.” Asked if he wanted to elaborate on his response, Hauck said, “If I wanted to, I would have.” The Kaimin printed that exchange in its Sept. 9 issue, and reporter Tyson Alger continued to look into the story because Hauck continued to give vague answers.
When a witness came forward with information about the situation involving Johnson and Swink, the tenth and eleventh players to be involved in such incidents since June 2007, the Kaimin sought out other sources and made the decision, after a number of long conversations, to publish the information. We then printed one follow-up article and looked for any additional stories to be written. We fielded calls and e-mails – both positive and negative – about our coverage. And now, we’re ready to move on. The problem is, Hauck isn’t.
At first, it looked as though the matter was settled. The Wednesday after the articles were published, the Kaimin received an apology from Hauck (via e-mail from associate athletic director Dave Guffey), acknowledging that he had responded with a profanity when Alger asked him if he wanted to comment about the situation involving the players, but promising that it wouldn’t happen again. He’s kept his word in that regard. But the football program hasn’t let the issue drop.
Last week after football practice, Alger asked one of the players for an interview. The player said he wasn’t allowed to talk to the Kaimin. At Tuesday’s press conference, Alger’s question to Hauck about whether the quarterback rotation would remain the same this weekend was met with this response:
“You? You want something from me now? You have got to be kidding me.”
Hauck then answered the question when a Missoulian reporter repeated it.
It’s not as if the Kaimin didn’t expect something like this to happen. We recognized it as a risk when we started discussions about publishing articles about the allegations. But refusing to talk to Kaimin reporters about the football team doesn’t really hurt the Kaimin.
The Kaimin is essentially just a messenger, bringing information to students from the administrators and officials on campus that those students may never talk to directly. If Hauck doesn’t talk to the Kaimin, the Kaimin can’t provide free coverage of the football team he heads to the campus community.
This Saturday, we will pass out “GameDay” issues of the paper, as the Kaimin has done at every home game for years. It will include the usual team rosters and defensive and offensive lineup visuals, but instead of featuring an 800-word story about a notable player on the Griz team, the cover story will be about Cal Poly, UM’s rival for the Homecoming game.
This arrangement is not what the Kaimin would prefer, and it’s probably not what the students and community members who seek out GameDays would prefer either. But it will remain this way unless Hauck and his players decide to talk to Kaimin reporters again.
In the meantime, we’ll just continue asking questions.
