Blogger removed from NCAA baseball game for blogging

It appears that college baseball officials may have been taking lessons from the censorship masters in Soviet Russia.

That at least is the sense after a blogger from the Courier-Journal of Louisville, Ky., was expelled from a college playoff game for live-blogging.

According to the Courier-Journal, staff blogger Brian Bennett was approached by NCAA officials in the fifth inning of a game between the University of Lousville and Oklahoma State, told that blogging "from an NCAA championship event 'is against NCAA policies (and) we're revoking the (press) credential and need to ask you to leave the stadium.'"

In its article, the Courier-Journal quoted its executive editor, Bennie Ivory, as saying, "It's clearly a First Amendment issue. This is part of the evolution of how we present the news to our readers. It's what we did during the Orange Bowl. It's what we did during the NCAA basketball tournament. It's what we do."

Indeed, live-blogging has become as much a part of the news reporting landscape as traditional stories. With so much competition around, many publications find that the only way to get a leg up is to report goings-on as events unfold, and technology like Wi-Fi and EV-DO is allowing reporters to get Internet connectivity from almost anywhere.

The Courier-Journal said that the University of Louisville sent out a memo from NCAA manager of broadcasting Jeramy Michiaels, prior to Friday's game. The memo said, in essence, that no blogging was allowed during the game.

But Bennett had not been approached after live-blogging previous games in the playoffs.

It's understandable if sports organizations like the NCAA want to control access to video of their games, but it's hard to see how they can expect news organizations to keep from reporting the news as it happens.

And when they do, it makes them look like they are stuck very, very far in the past.

[Pete Bardo]

Blog this!

This isn't about blogging, it's about the money. There's a lot of money in exclusive rights to broadcast these games. It could be argued that live blogging infringes on those rights.

[cnhbradley]

get over it....

It is just a baseball game with broadcast rights. I had to register at cnet just to reply. Why couldn't I just reply anon.

So, Danny, in the famous words of the Eagles "Get Over It!"

[apearson3290]

First Amendment?

Doesn't the 1st Amendment prohibit the GOVERNMENT from restricting speach? NCAA should be able to do what they want. Is this really a first amendment issue as stated by the executive editor???

[jitgos]

Amen!

Exactly! I was going to make that exact point. People just do not understand the constitution anymore.

[wylbur]

wylbur

if the NCAA has sold live broadcast rights, they may have
entered into a contract that forces them to prevent others from
reporting live from the game. One would have a hard time
selling broadcast rights if just anybody could blog from a
game... and they do have to draw the line before others start
video blogging. Far from being backwards and old fashioned,
they are forward thinking and understand that they have to draw
the line if they are going to be able to sell broadcast rights.

As far as constitutional rights go, the government can't stop
people from blogging. However, if you want press credentials
from a sports league, you have to abide by their rules even if
they change them and you don't like it.

[iggy74]

Perhaps the NCAA official was an OSU alum

and did n't want the word to get out on tme cowboy massacre!

[devbost]

Why do sports orgs hate their fans?

First it was the MLB Extra Innings debacle, then baseball made another PR blunder with its antagonism toward Slingbox.

Now the NCAA is getting in on the act.

You can go to ESPN.com or any number of other web sites and see a near real-time box score for these games. Functionally, that isn't appreciably different from having someone live blog the game. But it's "against NCAA rules"? Please.

What gets me is that these people don't seem to realize that the PR hit that they take from idiocy like this far outweighs the benefit of keeping their product so far behind lock and key that somebody writing about the game in near real-time presents a perceived threat.

[DormRoomDude]

Sounds pretty disappointing. <a href="http://www.collegepad.com">college gear</a>