The challenges of access to college athletes

Abstract

News media access to college student-athletes has been a source of contention over the past twenty years. While the media had unlimited access to athletes in the past, reporters now must jump through metaphorical hoops in order to speak with them in a one-on-one scenario. University athletic departments across the country have bolstered their communications departments, giving them the power to control what is said about their athletic teams and what information gets out. This has created a wedge between them and the outside news media. This project will examine how this has changed over the last twenty years and how college athletics reporters have worked around the challenges in front of them to get their stories.