Caps and the media

Caps and the media Ted Leonsis's recent blog post about media relations was inspired by the White House and Fox News. It wasn't about the Redskins. But it led to a discussion about how sports teams should deal with the media, which is how I got interested in it. And then my interest multiplied when Redskins general counsel David Donovan went on 106.7 The Fan's Mike Wise Show on Tuesday and laid waste to The Washington Post. I think I've made it clear that I disagree with some stuff The Post has done in its sports coverage, both regarding the Skins and other local teams. I've poked at Jason LaCanfora for some of his front office vitriol. I've disagreed with Sally Jenkins writing off the 2008 season after Week 1. I don't think we're perfect, by any means, in any way, and I think we're certainly a fair target for criticism. Still and all, I thought it might be worthwhile to contrast Leonsis' advice last week with Donovan's words this week. Leonsis: "Can you ever take on the media and blame them for your troubles? I don't think so." Donovan: "I think the vast majority of your coverage is extremely hostile, and it's different than the coverage other cities give their hometown teams. The Post treats professional sports like politics." Leonsis: "There have been times in my past that I wanted to blame the media for over hyping some issues or for using fake quotes or making up stuff. They are good people. They are just doing what they need to do to complete their tasks at work." Donovan: "When visiting teams come to town, game after game after game, the first comment they make to us is, 'What is the deal with your local cheap nfl jerseys from china newspaper? We don't see anything like this.' And these are teams, the Buccaneers and the Rams and the Chiefs, they don't get coverage like this. The Post http://www.chungcuminihanoi.org has been on a bandwagon, and they do this to sell newspapers." Leonsis: "Be consistent and open and honest with all members of the media in good times and in bad times. Don't get too high with the highs and too http://www.HeartSandHealing.org low with the lows. Talk to everyone. It is better to go on record and talk than it is to avoid or offer up no comments. And never Cheap sports jerseys lie. Be silent on a tough issue if you have to be but never lie. Be yourself. Don't be too polished or too handled. Other cities, it doesn't happen in other cities." Leonsis: "Never blame the media for your troubles. Never call one out for saying something provocative one member of the media said something this weekend about one of our players rather than respond. We shall disregard and minimize the individual." Donovan: "If there was some news value to John Cooke having sour grapes about not getting the team because his dad made sure he couldn't get the team, then maybe there was some news value to that 10 years ago. I've read the Washington Post since I moved here in 1981, my wife worked there, some of my friends are there, I used to be in journalism myself. I'm a big fan of newspapers and I always will be but I have lost so much respect for the Washington Post in the last three months, I got to the point now where I almost cheap authentic nfl jerseys don't believe anything you print." Leonsis: "Communicate often and directly. Be unfiltered." Vinny Cerrato: "There's a lot of media people like you and everybody else out there that says Dan Snyder needs to come out and talk, Dan needs to say this, do that. Dan has never spoken to the media during the season for over a decade now. And Dan's thing is, he feels that during the season, the stage belongs to the head of football operations, the coaching staff, the players. That's why he doesn't talk, all right?" [That was from his radio show last week.] Leonsis: "Honesty is the best policy. Transparency is better than no comment. Be yourself. Be authentic. Don't be too handled." Donovan: "You guys ran a column about three, four weeks ago from your ombudsman about how the most read stories that you guys publish are cheap hockey jerseys stories involving the Washington Redskins. And so we end up on the front page with stories that in any other town probably wouldn't even get printed because they're so thin." Leonsis: "Don't get too high with the highs and too low with the lows." Donovan: "When you guys run some of the stories that you've run, specifically about brokers and the story about lawsuits, that causes people, that causes our fans to think less of us and it puts us in a false light because those stories put us in a false light. It didn't accurately affect what we do or what we've done. And people read the headline and they say, 'Oh, sue the fans, sell to brokers, those are terrible things.' You're right, and we don't do those things." Leonsis: "And just win. The rest will take care of itself." Donovan: "You had to be encouraged when you saw the number of fans that showed up for that game [Monday] night and the enthusiasm of the crowd. I mean, we had an enormous crowd, with hardly an Eagles fan to be found in there. To have the fans show up in those kind of numbers, plus these kind of TV ratings, I think it pretty much disproves the thesis of The Post article, that somehow our fans are starting to abandon the team. In fact, I'd be a little surprised why The Post doesn't run another article that says 'Notwithstanding 2 5 start, Redskins fans sticking with the team.' " (Thanks to the Redskins Blog for some of this transcript; read more here.) I recommend reading the whole Mike Wise/David Donovan transcript at Matt Terl's Redskins Blog. It provides even further proof of the croneyism that goes on in that organization. Donovan is obviously a very smart guy, but he makes himself sound childish because he has to stand up for Dan Snyder no matter what. Kudos to Mike Wise for not backing down at all, and defending the coverage of the Redskins. As a former KC resident, I still keep up with news there. Jason Whitlock was, for the better part of 10 years, incredibly critical of Carl Peterson in his columns. Both Whitlock and Posnanski were very critical of Herm Edwards and management during last season's debacle. Posnanski has been highly critical of David Glass and the way the Royals have been run (I know MLB, but it's the theme). KC loves its teams, but the Star has been very critical of both teams, ownership (they even criticized "saint" Lamar Hunt when he famously tried to make a lowball offer to buy the Royals on the cheap, which would have shorted KC of charity proceeds from the sale). Drives me crazy that he can get away with saying things like this which are flat out untrue.