BLC SUPPORTING REPORTERS 100%; TWO
MORE COLUMNISTS TEE OFF ON KC ROYALS
Pulling the credentials of two
radio reporters in Kansas City by the Royals continues to be a huge issue
locally and across the nation. It might the single biggest self-inflicted
PR blunder we at Bottom Line Communications have witnessed in the past 20 years.
We fully admit we are not neutral
on this issue. We are the ones who encouraged the Kansas City Press Club
to get involved in asking the Royals to rescind its ban. We helped them
develop a media statement and we issued it to media outlets. We
support Bob Fescoe of WHB-610 and Rhonda Moss of KCSP-610 100 percent.
We applaud columnist Jason
Whitlock for his commentary in the Kansas City Star (6/17) on the issue
and reporter Todd Hefferman of The Southern in Illinois. Both are
reprinted below:
Posted on
Sat, Jun. 17, 2006
Royals manhandle the media unfairly
JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
Decorum? According to an unsigned blog on the Royals’ Web site, the Glass family
and Royals management stripped radio reporters Rhonda Moss and Bob Fescoe of
their media credentials because of their alleged lack of decorum during a news
conference.
“Appropriateness of behavior or conduct” is what decorum means.
Given the inappropriateness of David Glass’ behavior in announcing his intention
to scapegoat Allard Baird six weeks before firing him, what exactly should’ve
been Moss’ and Fescoe’s decorum when Glass emerged from Arkansas to introduce
the next man he’ll eventually scapegoat?
The Royals are preaching about professionalism while treating their fans to a
steady diet of amateur play and unveiling a cowardly blog to defend a week-old
act of cowardice.
I hope this is not the work of Dayton Moore, the new GM, the guy who is supposed
to raise the professional standard of the organization.
But it is Moore’s face that is/was pictured with the link trumpeting “Around the
Horn” as the new place to get inside information on the Royals.
“With all of the media outlets in today’s world, stories often take on a life of
their own,” the blog item closes. “With that in mind, fans should feel they can
come to this site to separate fact from fiction and hear the truth directly from
the Royals.”
Aaron Babcock, the Royals’ media liaison, said that Moore’s face being plastered
on the new blog was a function of MLB.com and not the Royals.
“I was not happy with that,” Babcock said. “That will be coming down. (Dayton)
has had nothing to do with this (credentials flap).”
Too late. Damage done.
The Royals have turned two nondescript radio reporters into a national cause
célèbre among journalists and broadcasters while smearing the early reputation
of their new GM.
Rather than lift the franchise, Moore looks as if he’s going to get swallowed up
in the club’s pettiness. He could’ve shown some leadership and ended the front
office’s feud with Fescoe and Moss.
Instead, he has done nothing. He might mistakenly believe the Mickey Mouse
actions of the Royals’ business and marketing outfits don’t reflect on the
baseball side. He’s wrong. The Royals’ anonymous attempt to explain away this
public-relations nightmare is a stain on the entire organization, and Glass
hired Moore to be the face of the organization.
The blog item reads:
“It is being widely reported that the Kansas City Royals revoked the 2006 season
credentials of two radio reporters last week for asking tough questions. The
Royals have never stated this as fact. The credentials were not revoked because
someone asked tough questions — we get those every day — but for reasons of
decorum. The tone, the abruptness, and the forcefulness of which their questions
and added commentary were presented, offended many at the news conference.
“The Royals found that behavior to be particularly disruptive of the
introduction of the club’s new general manager, the intended purpose of the
meeting. … Given several comments by media personnel and others who attended the
press conference, the Royals believe the overall situation is now improved.”
The insinuation is that members of the Kansas City media agree with the Royals’
decision to ban Fescoe and Moss. I wish I could say unequivocally that that’s
not true. But I can’t. We know that Fescoe’s boss, Kevin Kietzman, blasted
Fescoe and Moss on air for their alleged poor decorum. We can only imagine what
Kietzman might’ve said to the Royals’ front office privately.
And I know that Moss is not popular with members of the media. She’s a woman
competing in a male-dominated profession. Her style is confrontational and
abrasive. She makes athletes, coaches and executives uncomfortable and in the
process makes members of the media who enter the press box and locker room each
day hoping to make friends uncomfortable.
I can relate to Rhonda’s plight. I’ve been viewed as the trouble-making,
newcomer minority in the locker room. It’s easy to get left on an island
surrounded by people hoping you fail when you’re the unconventional outsider.
This is not a case of a friend coming to the defense of friends. I’m not close
with Moss or Fescoe. Rhonda and I used to work together on radio. Other than
polite conversation at games or practices, this is the first time I’ve spoken to
Rhonda in more than a year.
This is about journalistic freedom. If the Royals get away with banning Moss and
Fescoe, why would I not assume that some sports franchise might make an
outspoken sportswriter the next target?
Sports franchises and college teams have been peeling back access and attempting
to control media coverage during the past decade. They don’t have an interest in
disseminating the truth. They want to control how and when they’re questioned
about their decisions and by whom.
I’m not comfortable with that. And you shouldn’t be either. The more people
asking difficult questions the better.
Moss and Fescoe are not fans who built a Web site and are tickled pink that a
pro sports franchise gave them access to a locker room and athletes they
idolize. I don’t agree with all of their methods, but I respect the fact that
Moss and Fescoe go to games and practices year-round and behave in a consistent
manner. They earned the right to ask abrasive questions.
They’ve earned the support of all journalists, including print journalists. I
hope that members of the local and national media support Fescoe and Moss in any
reasonable way they see fit until the Royals return the credentials. I’m eagerly
anticipating the Royals’ next home stand and the end of the NBA finals, so I can
come home and properly support Moss and Fescoe.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To reach Jason Whitlock, call (816) 234-4869 or send e-mail to
[email protected]
We still get to ask,
even if people don't want to answer
By Todd Hefferman, The
Southern
The day after
Herrin's victory over Du Quoin's football team in 2004, I got my first threat of
actual bodily harm from a reader.
Anonymously (of course), someone left me a less-than-flattering message that
Saturday morning that included a threat of violence, to say the least. Human
Resources had to get involved. The Du Quoin Police Department had to get
involved. Du Quoin football coach Al Martin was made aware. John Homan, a brave
soul, was moved from a different football game the following weekend to fill in
for me and give me some distance from the situation.
It wasn't
pretty. It wasn't funny. It happens in this business.
Sometimes even worse things happen, like reporters getting punched in the face
in the middle of their office in the middle of the day, as a co-worker of mine
was.
People don't always enjoy what we write, or blog, or say in an interview or a
press conference. Reporters, at least the good ones, question coaches who send
the runner from third base in a tie game with less than two outs and the No. 3
hitter coming to the plate. Reporters have to ask coaches with $100,000
contracts how their basketball teams blow 20-point leads, and they have to ask
million-dollar players why they strike out so much.
The job is not all smiles, sunbathing in the stands and hobnobbing with local or
national celebrities.
Last week, under the national radar, a professional baseball team forgot the
rules and the first amendment in the same day.
After asking Kansas City Royals owner David Glass how he handled the final days
of general manager Allard Baird last week, two competing sports radio
personalities had their media credentials revoked by a team starving for
attention.
WHB's Bob Fescoe and KCSP's Rhonda Moss grilled Glass about the old GM at a news
conference introducing the Royals' new GM, Dayton Moore, according to The
Associated Press.
As of Thursday afternoon, their credentials had not been reinstated. Not after
an editorial in the Kansas City Star and not after the Kansas City Press Club
asked the team to reconsider its actions.
"The questions asked at the press conference were tough, but fair," the press
club said through a press release Tuesday. "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."
Of all the teams in Major League Baseball, the Royals want to be the first
franchise to turn a blind eye to its darker side.
Kansas City was 17-47 heading into Thursday night's games, worst in the major
leagues, and 24.5 games out of first place in the AL Central. The Royals are on
pace to lose at least 100 games for the third straight year and fourth in the
last five seasons.
Understand that the Royals are in such bad need of publicity, they don't charge
radio stations to broadcast their games, as the St. Louis Cardinals do. They
offer media outlets that cover them complimentary tickets if reporters, editors
and such want to come to Kauffman Stadium, one of the most beautiful stadiums in
the league, and see the team on their days off, as I've done before.
Not that the Cardinals have the right to revoke reporters' credentials if
they're unhappy with what they ask either, but I was especially incensed when I
found out it was the Royals that cut their hands. How upset do you have to be to
cut off one of the few outlets that actually want to cover a team with a losing
record?
When reporters are ousted because their subjects don't enjoy what they ask, or
don't want to answer questions in the public interest, where will our society
go? Newspapers and "SportsCenter" will turn into public relations firms. Forums
like Web blogs and Internet chat rooms will look like they reside in communist
countries. The media's ability to question the comfortable will evaporate.
That's worse than any threat the Royals or out-of-control fans can ever provide.
TODD HEFFERMAN is a sports writer for The Southern. Contact him at
[email protected] or (618)
351-5087 or (800) 228-0429 ext. 5087.
