Article:Mark Cuban Keeps the Bloggers Away

From: The Sports Point

It appears Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has decided to take a stance against bloggers. Dallas has created a new policy that does not allow bloggers pre-game or post-game access to the locker room.

> The Dallas Mavericks will not allow ANY writer into the locker room areas pre-game and post-game whose primary purpose is to blog no matter what affiliation. They may still represent their respective publication at games but will not be granted locker room access. > > Furthermore, if a blog writer is coming to cover a game, the publication must inform the Mavericks PR staff they are sending a blogger. In order to enforce this policy, we must know this information. > > We have gone this route because we did not want to give preferential treatment to any blogger, whether they are an individual or from a large media outlet. We just do not have enough room in the locker room, nor enough media passes to fairly accommodate everyone.

Tim MacMahon writes a Mavericks blog for The Dallas Morning-News, and he seems to think this is a reaction to a story he wrote recently. Whether this is the case or not, the Mavericks are going overboard with this policy. MacMahon is a journalist just as much as anyone else that writes for that paper. The difference is he has a specialized beat and has decided to craft his stories in a more informal fashion.

There is an obvious difference between professional blogs, such as MacMahon, and your run-of-the-mill blogger. However, most sports organizations are hesitant to except the internet arm of the media, which is no surprise. Surprising is having someone as internet and media savvy as Cuban being less accepting than most.

You should expect to see some type of amendment to this policy to include affiliated writers once the stress of the playoff race settles down.