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SPJ News Release

Thursday, June 15, 2006 

Contact:

David Carlson, President, (352) 846-0171, [email protected]

Beth King, Communications Manager, (317) 927-8000, ext. 211, [email protected]

SPJ Letter to Kansas City Royals and Commissioner Bud Selig
Urges Reinstatement of Radio Personalities’ Credentials

INDIANAPOLIS – The Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s most broad-based journalism advocacy organization, today sent a letter to Kansas City Royals owner David Glass and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, urging a reinstatement of media credentials to two reporters who asked hard-hitting questions at a recent news conference.

On June 9, Bob Fescoe of WHB and Rhonda Moss of KCSP, who work at competing sports-talk radio stations, had their credentials revoked one day after attending a press conference in which the Royals introduced its new general manager. Team officials offered no specifics for pulling the credentials. However, a team representative confirmed that the credentials have been revoked for the “foreseeable future.”

The Society is calling upon Kansas City Royals’ management to promote and support the free flow of information by reinstating the reporters’ credentials. Additionally, SPJ is encouraging other local media to send back their credentials in protest.

“The Royals’ decision to revoke the credentials of two journalists calls into question the organization’s commitment to transparency, open access and general fairness,” said David Carlson, president of SPJ. “It smacks of an attempt to control the message and to slap the hands of those who do not play along to your specifications.

“A baseball club depends on public support for its survival, and the public depends on the news media to keep it informed. Reporters are the public’s surrogate; they attend games and press conferences to serve the public interest. Part of that interest is to ask the tough questions.”

Founded in 1909 as Sigma Delta Chi, SPJ promotes the free flow of information vital to a well-informed citizenry; works to inspire and educate the next generation of journalists; and protects First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and press.

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USA Today (6/13/06)

Statement below

Press club trying to help restore reporters' credentials

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Press Club is asking Kansas City Royals management to reconsider its decision to revoke the credentials of two reporters who asked contentious questions at a news conference.

Bob Fescoe of WHB and Rhonda Moss of KCSP, who work at competing sports-talk radio stations, had their credentials taken away Friday, a day after Dayton Moore was introduced as the Royals' general manager.

David Witty, the team's vice president for communications and marketing, has said the credentials were withdrawn for the remainder of the season.

At the news conference Thursday, the two reporters questioned Royals owner David Glass about his handling of the firing of general manager Allard Baird.

"The questions asked at the press conference were tough, but fair. The game played at Kauffman Stadium is hardball, not softball, after all," a statement from the Kansas City Press Club said.
 

PRESS CLUB ASKS ROYALS MANAGEMENT
TO RESTORE PRESS CREDENTIALS TO REPORTERS
For Immediate Release!!


KANSAS CITY, MO. (June 13, 2006) --- The Kansas City Press Club, with members from electronic and print media across western Missouri and eastern Kansas, is asking the Kansas City Royals’ management to reconsider the recent decision to revoke press credentials to two reporters following the Royals press conference Thursday.

The press credentials of Bob Fescoe of Union Broadcasting (WHB-810) and Rhonda Moss of Entercom Communications (KCSP-610) were revoked for the remainder of the season on Friday.

Reporters in Kansas City, as in any big league city, have a duty to the public to ask questions that are on the minds of thousands of fans. The questions asked at the press conference were tough, but fair. The game played at Kauffman Stadium is hardball, not softball, after all.

Decisions made in the heat of the moment often lead to mistakes. But now that time has elapsed, the Kansas City Press Club trusts that cooler heads will prevail, credentials will be reinstated quickly, and the focus will return to where it belongs: getting the Royals back to winning form.

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    (Contacts: Jack Miles. Vice president, Kansas City Press Club,  (913) 381-1010; John Landsberg, Bottom Line Communications, (913) 338-5760)