NPR’s A Martinez asks sports columnist Kevin Blackistone about Texas Christian University’s decision to rescind a local sports reporter’s credentials following coverage of a locker room incident.
Transcript
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Imagine this. You’re a reporter who covers college football in Texas. The team that you cover is playing in Dublin, Ireland. You’re getting ready to travel, only to find out that your credential for the game has been canceled because of the story you wrote. That is exactly what happened to Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Steven Johnson.
So how did we get there, and what does it mean for coverage of college sports? Let’s ask sports journalist and professor Kevin Blackistone. So, Kevin, first tell us about the story that led to Steven Johnson having his credentials pulled by Texas Christian University.
KEVIN BLACKISTONE: Sure. So he’s the beat writer for TCU for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. And he reported on an alleged incident – fight – in the locker room. And he reported what happened, what the aftermath was, and TCU basically didn’t like the story – that it put them in a bad light. And then they concocted a story that it somehow endangered the victim of this alleged assault. And because of that, they pulled his credentials. They said that his reporting was inaccurate.
We should point out that just a few days ago, or a few days before their game in Dublin, that – the player who was allegedly the victim of the assault posted about it on his social media. And then just a couple days ago, the one who was alleged to have assaulted him turned himself into police.
MARTÍNEZ: So I’m going to read the statement that Kevin Neaves with TCU Athletics gave to NPR. He says, quote, “the Star-Telegram published a false account without corroboration, blaming the victim and accusing him of bullying.” And he goes on to stress that the decision to pull the paper’s credential is not about them covering the incident, but came after TCU warned the Star-Telegram that their reporting was not accurate. So, Kevin, what do you make of that response?
BLACKISTONE: Well, you know, we in journalism from time to time will make a mistake. And you know what we do? We correct it. And sometimes we will write or broadcast something that isn’t particularly clear enough, and so we will produce a clarification. That’s exactly what TCU did, and in a timely and immediate manner. That is absolutely no reason to have one’s credentials pulled.
I will say that the TCU reporter and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was undaunted by this. They flew to the game in Dublin anyway and, without credentials, sat in the stands and covered the game from there with some help from their sister paper the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina. Did their due diligence all the way through this, and, you know, this was a story that needed to be reported.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. And we should note we asked Steven Johnson for a comment. He declined. Kevin, have you ever found yourself in a situation like this, where a school or a professional team was maybe unhappy about something that you wrote or reported on and threatened to pull your access?
BLACKISTONE: Most infamously for me, I wrote something about the Cowboys that Jimmy Johnson, when he was coach, did not like. I went to meet him outside of his office so that he could vent. He did. That’s – I asked him – not that he had the authority to do this – whether or not I could still cover the team. And he explained to me in a very terse manner that, yes, I could. And that’s the way these things are supposed to be carried out. This is a dangerous time in this country, when there are entities that we in journalism cover for the public to know who think that they can put their thumb on what we do as a job. And we just can’t have that.
MARTÍNEZ: That’s Kevin Blackistone, a longtime sports columnist and journalism professor at the University of Maryland. Kevin, thanks.
BLACKISTONE: Thank you.
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