Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Thirty minutes after Colorado’s upset victory over Kansas, I stretched my arm out with my recorder to catch some of coach Mark Mangino’s postgame thoughts.
Holding an arm straight out for five minutes is about the most athletic thing a journalist does. In the midst of focusing on Mangino’s answers, I felt a slight bump from the television reporter to my right. I retracted my arm as she gave me a menacing look and inched into the space where my arm had been.
In my short time covering KU football, I’ve realized that a being beat reporter for a college newspaper doesn’t necessarily make me high man on the totem pole.
But at least we can say we’re on the totem pole. In Missoula, Mont., the student journalists need binoculars to see it.
Montana football coach Bobby Hauck refuses to grant interviews to reporters from the school’s newspaper, the Kaimin, after a report about an alleged assault by two Montana players was published in the campus paper last month.
He has even gone as far as publicly belittling them. After a Kaimin reporter asked Hauck if he planned to continue rotating quarterbacks, Hauck fired back: “You want something from me now? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Immediately afterwards, a reporter from the city paper asked the same question and Hauck gave a response.
Next week, similar story. A student asked how Montana’s defense would stop a speedy running back. Hauck’s reply? “I’ll give you this, you’re persistent. Who’s next?”
Hauck has also apparently taken it a step further.
According to the Kaimin, when one of their reporters asked a Montana player a question, he said he wasn’t allowed to talk to the newspaper. The student athlete has the choice whether to speak to the media or not, but no players had problems talking to the student newspaper until Hauck did.
The problem is that the Kaimin is claiming that their report on the alleged assault was good reporting and no false information was published. No one else has pointed out any false information.
If Hauck feels that the report was false or contained factual errors, I would understand his position. In that case, he would be defending his players and making a statement that he would not let his players be presented in a false light if they had done nothing wrong.
But I think Hauck’s current position is bogus. He needs to come forward and outline his problems with the alleged assault report. That way, the Kaimin can evaluate its position and determine how to handle the situation.
But without a rationale, Hauck is out of line. He is punishing students for good journalism.
Hopefully Mangino never crosses that line.
— Edited by Betsy Cutcliff
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Comments
Goble: Montana coach shuns student media
The University of Montana's Athletic Director has defended Hauck. This is similar to when OSU coach Mike Gundy attacked his school's paper a few years back and the school defended him as well. Sadly, there is little financial incentive for a school to ever defend its student reporters when they're in conflict with coaches.
Goble: Montana coach shuns student media
You are right. Without a valid reason, which we haven't heard, the coach is out of line to try and dictate journalistic policy to the school (or any other) paper. The AD is also violating academic integrity by not forcing the coach to deal with the school reporters as he does with all others.