Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open after initially refusing to participate in the mandatory press availability has launched another round of debate over media access. In the wake of that story, the NFL now plans to keep locker rooms closed to the media for training camp and preseason, likely foreshadowing another year without locker room access for beat writers and other members of the media. .
That’s according to a Washington Post report from Ben Strauss and Mark Maske, and the league also cites health concerns, although in this case Covid and not mental health.
From the post office :
The NFL’s training camp protocols are likely a good indication of what lies ahead for the regular season which is due to begin in September, although negotiations are still ongoing. This means that even if fans return to stadiums and the country as a whole moves towards normalcy, NFL reporters likely won’t be wandering the locker room during practice week and after games, like c was the custom before the pandemic.
The continued restrictions come as members of the media across all sports grapple with questions about access to athletes and what their jobs might look like in the future.
While this certainly falls under media access regulations, there is an important distinction between press conferences and locker room availability when it comes to writers and journalists doing their jobs. Press conferences usually have a superficial air about them, with rote questions and answers the norm. That’s a big part of why the media hasn’t garnered much sympathy throughout Osaka’s story.
For beat writers, however, locker room access is crucial. A lot of legitimately interesting news can actually be attributed to this level of access.
Of course, a pandemic is a pandemic; last season, the concerns were such that no one would have really expected this kind of locker room opening. It would have been irresponsible. Now, however, with the vaccines available and plenty of data supporting their effectiveness, there is reasonable pressure to return to at least some level of access, and journalists may have been counting on that at the moment. approach of the season.
It could still happen, of course; Nothing is set in stone. But the longer the “no reporters in the locker room” practice lasts, the harder it could be for reporters to regain that privilege. If that happens, the job will be very different for sports journalists.
[Washington Post]
