Cuban Ponders whether he needs beat Writers.

[Joey]

Marc Cuban took to his blog to make a case bluntly. "I'm going to make this short and sweet. In the year 2011, I'm not sure I have a need for beat writers from ESPN.com, Yahoo, or any website for that matter to ever be in our locker room before or after a game. I think we have finally reached a point where not only can we communicate any and all factual information from our players and team directly to our fans and customers as effectively as any big sports website, but I think we have also reached a point where our interests are no longer aligned. I think those websites have become the equivalent of paparazzi rather than reporters."

I find this interesting ... because I completely agree.

[Apollo]

I agree with him and besides, the juicy gossip never comes directly from the players anyway.

[TRX]

Reporters go into lockers and do their job precisely because their interests are not aligned. Cuban only wants the good reported; fans want everything else too.

Strong rebuttal here.

[Joey]

Nice find TRX.
Though I actually disagree with him on a few points.

The main thing that Mark Cuban is trying to fight is the Unnecessary kicking of Dead Horses.
ie The 50 reporters in the Denver lockerroom every day all asking Carmelo about New York.
It's not benefitial in ANY way to the sport, the game, OR to the fans.
It takes away from the real pursuits of the team, when Journalists go hunting for their own story.
Sometimes, those stories are benefitial to the fan, but most of the time, they are unnecessary.

The interests of the Journalists should be to provide a factual account of the events. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now adays, I'm not sure that is the case. So though I do agree, that any form of censorship is BAD for the game, and the fans, I'm not sure this is what Mark Cuban is looking to do.
He clearly points to the TMZs of Sports Coverage, which I believe, the game was better off without.
He's not looking to shut out the Doug Smiths looking to provide a story to the fans. He's looking to cut out the Non-sense that is being reported Day-in and day-out. All these guys that report from 'unnamed sources' are a load of crap and I personally have stopped reading ESPN altogether.

[Apollo]

I think it should be the team's choice if the media is allowed in. You don't see media having free reign in any other industry. If a player, coach or team doesn't want interviews conducted it should always be their choice. They have the right to refuse.

Cuban will be vilified in the media because of these statements but I'm sure he could care less.

[heinz57]

i totally agree with him. media accesibility is ridiculous these days. especially with the ease of access afforded by social networking.

think about how lightning fast things are getting reported these days.

the days of waiting until first thing in the morning for news that a RESPONSIBLE reporter would have been able to verify and edit before release are long gone.

now everyone wants to be the first person to report something the second it comes out. regardless of it's merit or not.

the TMZ era is shite.