STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — High school athletics continue to be the lifeblood of many smaller local newspapers, making it imperative to have a grasp on the evolving issues involved with fair, thorough coverage.
Among the wide range of topics discussed at the Associated Press Sports Editors Mid-Atlantic meeting here were coverage of disciplinary and transfer issues, and the grouping of non-boundary, private schools.
Panelists included Brad Cashman, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association; Melissa Mertz, the assistant director of the PIAA; and Mike White, a high school sports reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Ben Brigandi, sports editor of The Williamsport Sun-Gazette and the APSE’s third vice president, moderated the discussion.
Disciplinary issues appear best covered on case-by-case basis. A high-profile athlete in a sport such as football or basketball would likely warrant space, while a school’s fastest cross country runner likely would not.
“It’s a fine line you walk,” White said. The likelihood of these cases involving juveniles make naming names off limits by many newspapers’ policies often means reporting is limited to phrases such as “violating school rules.”
Transfers remain difficult to cover because schools can request closed hearings at the district or state level. Mertz said she would address any inquiry on transfer rule clarifications but would direct a reporter back to the school for comment on a specific case.
In addition to transfers, balancing the number of private versus public schools competing for state championships has been difficult to handle since the General Assembly forced the PIAA to admit private schools into the association.
As more private institutions pop up, the PIAA can do nothing to deny schools access to these championships as long as the school meets the standards of the US Department of Education.
Gaining traction, Cashman said, is the thought to blend an equal number of non-boundary, private schools with boundary, public schools in state championship tournaments at each classification level.
The issue came to the forefront again recently when the boys state basketball championship game in the largest classification featured two charter schools.
Also discussed:
*- Panelists were not concerned about the rise of online databases such as MaxPreps directing readers away from newspapers. MaxPreps has an arrangement with the PIAA in which the state association encourages all schools to send their schedules, stats and rosters to the site.
“They had assured us they are not interested in competing with anybody,” Cashman said.
Added Mertz: “Newspapers have the lure of interviews with coaches and kids. There’s a lot of glamour with that.”
*- The PIAA does not see the use of photographic reprints by newspapers to earn extra money as a problem, citing a low demand. Other state athletic associations have put limitations on media outlets being allowed to sell reprints.
*- Cashman said championship venues in Pennsylvania have moved away from the Harrisburg market and into State College because of more accommodating facilities, although he said any market is willing to bid for any championship.
Nate Mink is a senior journalism major at Penn State and is the football editor at the Daily Collegian. He will work this summer for MLB.com, providing coverage of the Philadelphia Phillies.
