I think it depends on the blogger.

Some are very professional in their writing style and the way they recap games, summarize stories, etc.  They might want to ask the kinds of questions that require access to team staff and players that wouldn’t normally be available without a press pass, and would (obviously) be expected to adhere to some standards for accuracy, etc. as would any other writer or journalist.

Some bloggers focus on gossip, funny names, photoshops, sarcastic poetry, etc. and they would likely not even want press credentials, because what kind of questions could you ask of a player when you just photoshopped his head onto a goat’s body after a bad game?  Their blog is a way of venting or opining as a fan, not as a journalist.

It depends on the individual and what they want to do with their writing, and not dealing with bloggers on a case-by-case basis is irrational.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 05/22/07 at 04:52 PM ET

i understand why journalists are protective of their territory.  most of them are professionals who had to ‘pay their dues’- first in journalism school, then by working their way up the ladder at their paper or whatever- and i can see why they’d feel that that process makes them better equipped to cover the sports and more deserving of access than someone who just got grabbed themselves a blogger account and started typing. 

the thing is, i’m not sure that in the realm of sports journalists have much of a professional edge apart from their access.  i don’t think that journalist-training necessarily makes people better hockey-writers or hockey-analysts.  yes, a lot of blogs out there are just personal ranting, but a lot of them are very insightful, and gramatically correct as well.  moreover, i’ve seen plenty of vitriolic editorials by professional journalists that contained factual errors and logical fallicies- most journalists are fans too, and just as susceptible to getting carried away when they feel passionate about something.

in my experience, most people who trash bloggers made up their minds a priori and don’t actually read many blogs.  i think if they did they’d see that there’s a meritocracy to the hockey blogging world.  those blogs that offer good writing and good ideas are successful, those that don’t are generally ignored.  i think that (almost) any nhl franchise would benefit considerably from paying some attention to the blogs that cover it, and giving some degree of access to those they find most deserving.

Posted by E on 05/22/07 at 05:14 PM ET

Don’t worry, E, they do, and so do the journalists that cover said franchise.  They just won’t admit it...often, if at all.  Therein lies the problem.

Posted by Ninja on 05/22/07 at 05:33 PM ET

Would I love to get a media credential to a Wings’ game? Of course. Do I see it happening in the near future? Not in Detroit.

I feel that a press pass would benefit my blog, but as a college student would I really be able to use that press pass? Most hockey bloggers do something else for a living and they probably wouldn’t be able to attend and cover every home game like beat writers for a newspaper. Bloggers have the advantage of watching the game on Tivo before making comments and that’s how they can maintain this hobby while working elsewhere.

I would love nothing more than to experience a Wings’ game in the press box and learn what goes on behind the scenes in terms of dealing with journalists and the athletes. At least in the Detroit market, I don’t see them paying attention to bloggers anytime soon based on their past history. My blog isn’t big by KK or Off Wing Opinion’s standards, but I know that a Detroit News beat writer reads my blog regularly and that other reporters have been impressed with my work. Does that mean I deserve a press pass? Not necessarily.

I’d have to agree with Baroque that teams need to look to bloggers on a case-by-case basis to determine if (1) access would benefit the team and the blog and (2) how would the blogger treat their access?

I think everything Eric has said and done so far in this area has been fantastic.

Posted by Christy on 05/22/07 at 06:26 PM ET

I personally think the bloggers pass along way more information than do a lot of news agencies.  There are a lot more people reading through blogs and online news than there is buying papers.

I think allowing some bloggers in would be a major benefit to the news and also allow those who want to be serious about blogging and providing real and up to date information.  Now how to make that happen, well who knows, maybe some sort of submission and then lottery drawing!

Posted by Tony from Mid-Michigan on 05/22/07 at 06:30 PM ET

My own opinion of bloggers has evolved over the last year or two....at this point, I see a blogger who subscribes to professional standards of accuracy and conduct as a necessary intermediary that bridges the gulf between beat writer and fan. 

Concept of journalistic objectivity is a noble one, but when you attempt to remove the passion that comes with partisanship from sportswriting, and you get journalists who look for “the story” and file their reports based on a sense of attempting to capture the day-to-day activities of a professional sports team from as detached and objective a perspective as possible.  There are deviations from the norm, of course, and those journalists tend to make the biggest impact, but they’re exceptional in the literal sense as well as figurative sense.

A blogger who is held the the same standards of conduct (i.e. from interacting with players professionally to not cheering in the press box) can channel their subjective passion for the team they’re following into stories, angles, and insights that journalists just aren’t allowed to write about, and the fact that a blogger is almost always very publicly accountable for their content in the form of feedback, constructive criticism, and suggestions for stories, questions, etc. stays a bit more grounded in his or her perspective as a representative of his or her fellow fans. 

When you’re one of the few representatives of the multitudes who has a media credential, you don’t have an excuse to mail in your story on any particular day and wait for the next one to form.  Every second of access is an opportunity and a privilege, and you’re allowed to say, “Well, so and so stank tonight,” but you’re also going to learn how to be polite if one “so and so” doesn’t mind the criticism, and another tells you to get bent every time you dare mention his name in an unflattering light. 

The openly subjective blogger puts the “joy” back in journalism.  He or she makes the objectivity of the beat reporters invaluable so that the whole and unbiased story is told, and he or she gives the fan a representative, a passionate perspective, and, if they’re willing to listen their readers, a means by which fans can recieve answers to the questions they always wished someone with a crediential could answer for them. 

I’d like to think that, over the next five to ten years, those on the vanguard of the blogging front will have their own seats in the press box, and will give their fellow fans a “go-between” that bridges the gap between the individual and collective perspectives of the average fan or fans and the objective, detached perspective of an objective journalist sportswriter.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 05/23/07 at 04:00 AM ET