Book Review Part 1

For my one of my sports journalism classes here at Penn State, we are reading “The Rise and Fall of the Press Box” by Leonard Koppett.

I found the material to be very interesting, and fortunately quite applicable to this blog’s subject.

And so, here is the first part of my review:

My immediate reaction after finishing these first 50 pages was great respect for the author. There is an effortless way in which Mr. Koppett is telling this story that makes me want to keep right on reading. It is easy to see, even in this early stage, why he had such an accomplished career throughout multiple fields.

As an aspiring broadcast journalist, many things struck me in this reading. I suspect that things are somewhat different, considering I have not had any prior experience as a print journalist in a press box. However, I have been fortunate enough to do broadcasting work for ComRadio.

The description Koppett offered regarding the prized status of the press box during the “Golden Age” still hit a personal note, as even with my comparatively meager gig of broadcasting PSU Icers hockey games, I’ve had requests from friends to ‘get them in for free.’ In addition, in the few Penn State football games I have attended either as a play-by-play man or spotter for ComRadio, my friends have nagged me to sneak them up to the booth. And trust me, the stuffy box we’re saddled with is hardly prime viewing real estate, especially when compared to the senior-level student section seats I had to forego.

I also realized that I understood what Koppett was describing when he said the press box/room is no longer as upbeat and friendly. Perhaps it is only because I’m a collegiate broadcaster, but I have always felt excluded and roundly ignored by older and more experienced journalists while in Beaver Stadium’s press area.

Another point made by Koppett that I felt the need to respond to was his intimation that the “new mode” of sports journalism coverage regarding athlete/media relationships is detrimental to finished products. While I can agree, in part, that the loss of informal, open relationships with athletes is potentially a detriment, there have been some marked benefits.

“Back in the day”, athletes were able to hide any indiscretions in plain sight of journalists. Simply because you don’t “out” a friend. The fact that there are far fewer buddy-buddy relationships between writers or journalists and athletes has led to more investigative (although sometimes needlessly invasive) sports journalism. Take baseball, for example. The fact that many players were abusing steroids in the late 80’s and throughout the 90’s was almost completely unreported, despite evidence being right under reporter’s noses. The division in the clubhouse between athletes and journalists has uncovered some of these ugly truths, as journalists no longer feel a sense of familial obligation to their subjects. Sure, sometimes the results aren’t pretty, but then again, the truth isn’t always pretty by necessity.

Interestingly, while investigative journalism has taken a few steps forward as the press box and journalist/athlete relationship has evolved, in some areas it has taken a few steps back. When Koppett asserted that press conferences have become wholly canned events with little individual initiative taken by reporters, I was beside myself in agreement. I have felt that way about press conferences for years. They have become formulaic, with the only noteworthy cracks in the dry shell being certain coaches’ or athlete’s personalities breaking through the drudgery.

Overall, I felt that the reading was interesting and very relatable, and I am excited to read the next few chapters.