Per 980: Media not allowed to tweet / Shanny overwhelmed by media

[SkinsHokieFan]

Huh? Are you serious?

They are supposed to report on facts, not rumors. That is their job. Watergate wasn't rumors it was facts. That is the whole friggin point.

A lot of "rumors" are based on facts from sources.

A good example, our almost trade with the Bengals for Ocho Cinco.

Essentially the team is saying reporters cannot write or say "according to sources" which is where 75-80 percent of news comes from.

To be honest, I don't think this is neccessary because the team has been great in preventing leaks and whatever else this year. Nobody saw the DMac trade coming, there were no "rumors"

[SlobberKnockinFootball]

Obviously you just don't get it and I'm not inclined to help you out.

Nah, I get it.. I just find it funny that's all.

[Mad Mike]

Sure he can do it. Tweet during practice and you can't watch practice any more.

Ding!

This is not an unreasonable rule. There is no rule that the media must be allowed access to practice in the first place. On the other hand, you cant enforce a no rumors rule. Unless it's a blatant fabrication that other reporters understand crossed the line, it will only be seen and reported as censorship.

[Truant]

Good.

In this new age of sports "reporting" it's more important to get your name out there associated with big news. Reporters are too fast to throw out whispers and innuendo without doing the proper legwork to verify news. It was only a matter of time.

In most other markets the local press WANT the team to do well. Here some of the local hacks seemingly hope for the team to fail so they can try to get some outlandish quote from a mercurial player.

It's dangerous to fight with the media, but when reporters turn into bloggers with lols and brbs then the game has truly changed and the old rules no longer apply.

[HBnotBlades]

While I agree with much of this, keep in mind that the press coverage the Caps get (and hockey in general) is a FRACTION of the frenzied coverage that the Redskins (and the NFL) receives. They almost aren't comparable. Football coverage in the U.S. is a multi-million dollar industry in a way that the hockey media can't even touch. The result are lots of bottom-feeder, low-grade "journalists" out to generate nothing but website traffic by "reporting" bogus rumors and innuendo. Good on Shanahan to try and rein some of it in.

This is exactly what I was going to say. There is so much demand for NFL coverage, that the "throw everything against the wall" reporting method is becoming commonplace and accepted. Shocking news, even if it's completely inaccurate, generates traffic and revenue for a lot sites. This offseason was the worst I've ever seen in terms of "reports" from "sources" that are later proven to be completely false.

[doghouse4x4]

A lot of "rumors" are based on facts from sources.

A good example, our almost trade with the Bengals for Ocho Cinco.

Essentially the team is saying reporters cannot write or say "according to sources" which is where 75-80 percent of news comes from.

To be honest, I don't think this is neccessary because the team has been great in preventing leaks and whatever else this year. Nobody saw the DMac trade coming, there were no "rumors"

A great example is our almost trade with Cincy. That is exactly the stupid bull**** that should be stopped, along with our every practice move.

75% of news isn't rumor. News is fact. Rumor is rumor. They are not synonyms. The massive issue is people try and make them equal, not just in sports, but in all media. Any cutting out of baseless bull**** is welcome in our society as a whole.

[Conn]

A great example is our almost trade with Cincy. That is exactly the stupid bull**** that should be stopped, along with our every practice move.

75% of news isn't rumor. News is fact. Rumor is rumor. They are not synonyms. The massive issue is people try and make them equal, not just in sports, but in all media. Any cutting out of baseless bull**** is welcome in our society as a whole.

......The Cincy trade WAS based on fact. It wasn't rumor. It almost happened.

[texasthunder]

I like the practice tweets ban. No matter how much they make our days go by faster, Shanny has been getting more and more pissed about formation sub leaks, etc.

Can he actually do all of this, though? I hope so. The more secrecy, the better. I don't care how bored I am from Tuesday to Saturday, as long as we kick ass on Sundays and Mondays.

And really, who needs more trade rumors anyways?

Can he actually do this? Sure, he can close down practices to the public.

While I am disappointed with #1 and #2, I understand it, doubt the media will tho.

As for #3, I would hope that the Redskin PR dept will be a little more forth coming with

"rumors, trades, player moves, etc".

The most we have heard from Coach Shanahan is " It's not our policy to discuss player negotiations", or, "I am not going to discuss what is said between a player and a coach".

Not that I think these policies are bad, but if you are going to limit the media stories, then you have to give them some stuff to write about.

[S.T.real,lights,out]

Yea gotta say i agree with u!

[doghouse4x4]

......The Cincy trade WAS based on fact. It wasn't rumor. It almost happened.

Nooo.... The part where we were talking is fact. The baseless speculation that it was going to happen is rumor. Pretty elementary...

[Destino]

The more things change...

The Washington Redskins have decided to tell the media what they are allowed to report and that they aren't allowed to use anonymous sources? Incredible. The ego on these people is stunning and for their own sakes they better WIN a lot of games. The media will go insane if this team struggles because telling journalists that the rules that apply for the rest of the nation aren't good enough for football is going to create a lot of anger.

[mossomo]

Shanny mentioning he is overwhelmed by the media coverage here

Welcome to Redskins country Shanny! Best fans evah!!!! Hail.

[AzSkinsFan63]

:applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause::applause:

[Redskins Diehard]

The third one is the only head scratcher. I understand it's annoying to talk about it but its apart of the job description. This is a tough market, not as tough as NY or Dallas, but it's up there. This is a much more high profile job than the Broncos job and he is learning that. I hope eventually he loosens up to the media a little but he can thank his 100 million dollar fatass for this trouble. Thanks Albert!

It isn't Albert's fault that people are making up rumors about him.

[HA1LV1CT0RY]

Good, no matter how much the players say it isn't a distraction, I truly believe it is. Not only that, reporters have asked and leaked questions pertaining to plays on the practice field (Brandon Banks in the wildcat for example.)

[McD5]

Screw twitter.

Just ban all of those losers from practice.

[THEREALTOR1]

I believe it is just setting the stage to start holding closed practices. I saw Shanny in an interview last week warning about this when Hanesworth was practicing with the scout team. He said the media had gone to far and were leaking game strategy.

TK posted a week or two ago (I think it was after the tweet about the odd D-Line formation during practice) that one of the reporters was on the verge of getting his ass barred from practices if he kept it up. I think Shanny is simply laying down the ground rules for everyone that wants to play "reporter", so if they do tweet,post,write,blog,etc... something that doesn't jive with the new rules, they'll be no "I didn't know you couldn't do that" excuses when they are asked to turn in their credentials. Just my :2cents:

Disclaimer: The first sentence isn't exactly how TK worded his post, just my interpretation, and I wasn't able to track down the actual post since the "View Member Posts" tab was reset during the board conversion.

[Redskins Diehard]

A lot of "rumors" are based on facts from sources.

A good example, our almost trade with the Bengals for Ocho Cinco.

Essentially the team is saying reporters cannot write or say "according to sources" which is where 75-80 percent of news comes from.

To be honest, I don't think this is neccessary because the team has been great in preventing leaks and whatever else this year. Nobody saw the DMac trade coming, there were no "rumors"

Problem is that "sources" aren't what they used to be. "Sources" are now posts on this message board. I am sure he is sick of talking about stuff that has no basis in fact whatsoever. So now the local media is going to try and find dirt on the skins? I think that is pretty much the current model we are working with. There is a whole radio station dedicated to that very thing.

[Soup]

The more things change...

The Washington Redskins have decided to tell the media what they are allowed to report and that they aren't allowed to use anonymous sources? Incredible. The ego on these people is stunning and for their own sakes they better WIN a lot of games. The media will go insane if this team struggles because telling journalists that the rules that apply for the rest of the nation aren't good enough for football is going to create a lot of anger.

I agree, Denver fans have said shanny has a huge ego. Why wouldn't shanny just kick the media out for practice and allow them in when its over? Why make rules?

Shanny is a huge control freak but he can't think he has control over what he media writes, especially the national media.

[Stugein]

An unnamed source has confirmed to me that the Redskins are looking to trade Albert Haynesworth to the Jets for two unspecified draft picks, one of them conditional.

Hey look, I'm a sports reporter now.

In all seriousness, sports "reporting" has gotten really lazy in the "instant communication" age. Writers get bits and pieces of a story and whereas in the past they had to time before the press/print deadline to do some investigative work and actually confirm their stories, today they just blast it out to the 'net from their mobile device and hope enough of it turns out true so that they get a rep for being trustworthy. It's lazy and most of these guys should be professionally ashamed of themselves. I don't have any problem with what the Redskins are trying to do, but all that said, enforcement of Rule #3 is an impossibility.

[Redskins Diehard]

An unnamed source has confirmed to me that the Redskins are looking to trade Albert Haynesworth to the Jets for two unspecified draft picks, one of them conditional.

Hey look, I'm a sports reporter now.

In all seriousness, sports "reporting" has gotten really lazy in the "instant communication" age. Writers get bits and pieces of a story and whereas in the past they had to time before the press/print deadline to do some investigative work and actually confirm their stories, today they just blast it out to the 'net from their mobile device and hope enough of it turns out true so that they get a rep for being trustworthy. It's lazy and most of these guys should be professionally ashamed of themselves. I don't have any problem with what the Redskins are trying to do, but all that said, enforcement of Rule #3 is an impossibility.

Well enforcement of #3 is an impossibility in the grand scheme of things. Especially for the national crew. But local people can be leveraged with access to the park and players.

[Veretax]

Well I guess that means if the NY Times was covering the skins, they'd be out of business eh? This won't stop anything. People will still do stuff that is questionable.

[rick7423]

It is really about time. You could see the frustration in his face during interviews along with statements like "Is that all?" and "Anything else?". Reading these phrases make them sound harmless but hearing Shanny say them, you know right away that he hates the media circus in DC.

I agree, Denver fans have said shanny has a huge ego. Why wouldn't shanny just kick the media out for practice and allow them in when its over? Why make rules?

Shanny is a huge control freak but he can't think he has control over what he media writes, especially the national media.

If he does this the local media will get all bent out of shape and start an anti-Shanny crusade. Very similar to what the media does to Belichek.

[TheGreatBuzz]

I'm guessing with rule #3 shanny will get a list of reporters that continue to spew rumors and will not even acknowledge them at press conferences. Right or wrong, I think i can have a big impact on it. But it will never completely stop.

[Boss_Hogg]

It's about damn time someone reigned in the media on this team. No more Jason LaConfora BS of throwing stuff up against the wall and hoping it sticks.

Jason La Conforma is a joke. I can't believe that **** got a job with the NFL.