Southeast's approach to PR adds fuel to the fire
The good thing about Southeast Missouri State University's athletic department? They sure keep us guessing. And thinking. And talking.
Especially talking, since Southeast usually doesn't.
This week, No News Is Good News University stumbled its way into the media with two more headlines, first when football player Tim Holloman was declared ineligible for the rest of the season. Within three days, blogs were buzzing with news that basketball player Brandon Foust is in hot water with the school after a legal run-in on campus.
And the word from Southeast? A few standard company lines followed by a hush job. And what we've learned from Southeast athletics is that if the brush is good enough, and the rug big enough, any bad news can be swept away quickly.
T.J. Walls' injury? B.J. Smith's firing? Hardly worth a mention from the university, juding by the school's glaring lack of explanation in both cases. The result? Rumors. Assumptions. Worst-case scenarios.
Welcome to the Larry Craig School of Public Relations.
Sure, the school says honesty in sensitive situations violates privacy. Makes sense. When an award-winning coach is cut loose for unspecified violations (Smith), or when a star football player is suspended for unspecified reasons (Holloman), or when a popular athlete is said to be immobile and facing a life-threatening injury (Walls), we're best left to use our imagination, let rumors fly, or even better, forget about it.
Southeast has never had a problem using paper to issue lengthy news releases on its multitude of championships, its athletic awards, its community interaction. Its accomplishments draw headlines in local print media with regularity.
So far, it's won no rewards for its openness.
2 comments:
This is interesting, and a tough call for me personally. I have a Human Resource background, so I may have a different view than most of the media. I kind of agree with the majority of your argument though, but also disagree to an extent (I'm no journalist, so this post may make no sense).
Semo is terrible at getting info out when it is not positive, and that does lead to much more speculation (often negative) than what the reality is -- so I agree wholeheartedly with you on that. Why couldn't the University just come out and say that 'Foust was suspended indefinitely for a campus issue, an altercation in the dorm took place and Brandon's case is under review from the University's Judicial Affairs office, he is suspended until the case is resolved'. And put this out BEFORE semosportsweb or semoball posters talk about it! By saying nothing, it does lead to wild speculation. We don't even know if Foust was in the wrong yet, but when reading the blogs people are already condemning him. My issue is the timeliness, and that they should be somewhat more informative, but probably not as much as the media would like (again, my HR background thinking).
On the other hand, is that any different than any other University or company for that matter? I'll give an example...
Murray had a football player dismissed from the team earlier this season because he beat up a 16 yr old kid, and then urinated on the kid (literally). Did Murray send out a press release on why this kid was no longer on the team? Of course not. Did their HC or AD ever make any comment about it? Of course not, they would only say 'it was an internal matter'.
Then think about all the times that we have read about people getting fired/suspended from their jobs (regular people, not sports people). The company only says something along the lines of 'violation of company policy to discuss personnel matters', etc. I know this because I used to issue those statements for a certain company.
On the other hand, I do agree that some sort of release should be issued for these things. The timeliness, or lack thereof, is what really irks me from Semo though.
The TJ Walls issue is a perfect example of why I'm torn personally. If the University had come out and said something, anything really, then all the wild speculation may have died down (much of which was unfounded rumors to begin with). On the other hand, see the story about hospital workers being suspended releasing medical information on George Clooney while he was in the hospital recently.
I'm torn really. I'm sure this made no sense to anyone reading it, but I don't have a Journalism background so writing blogs isn't my strength. I just find it an interesting issue, one that I don't have as definitive an opinion on as the media. I understand Jamie's issue, and agree with alot of it, just not all of it.
I understand your points too, and agree with the basic idea that Southeast can end a lot of the rampant rumors and speculation by being more straightforward and honest.
There will, of course, be times that privacy is a concern, but for the school to ignore or minimize an issue with a well-known athlete or coach gives the appearance that it's hiding something.
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