re: Stetson exposed as a douchebag today

quote:

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As per Outkick the Coverage, he told Georgia’s SID office in advance that he would not talk to the media on Saturday. He made one exception for Scott Van Pelt apparently, but other than that he talked to NO one from the media, not this woman or anyone else. IMO it’s on Georgia’s SID office for not letting people know that. My hunch is they probably figured he’d get caught up in the excitement of the moment and talk, but he didn’t.And as someone who’s spent literally most of his life in journalism, and a huge chunk of it in sports journalism covering major college sports, it doesn’t bother me a bit that he didn’t want to talk. I never once thought anyone was obligated in any way to talk to me, and if someone didn’t I moved on and made it work a different way, but too many of my brethren in the trade wanted things to always be easy for them. Quote journalism is a pestilence on the trade anyway, IMO, turns reporters into stenographers.

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Thank you for the perspective. I didn't know he'd expressed that he didn't want to talk to reporters. It's hard for me to blame the SID. I've know Claude for 40+ years and he's the consummate professional. Maybe the WSB reporter knew and thought Bennett would talk anyway. It was live so there wasn't the opportunity to ask him ahead of time. It just came across as a bad moment during what should have been an upbeat occasion.
I've worked in journalism for 40 years. Although I'm not in sports, I've had occasion to cover the Braves, Falcons, and Bulldogs. I agree that reporters should never assume an athlete will talk to us. It's not their job to make our jobs easier. Sometimes, they decline gracefully. Sometimes, they act like A-holes. I've learned to expect just about anything.