Barta discusses negative news/ media reaction

[JRHawks5969]

There should have been some information shared at the initial presser. You can't talk about what condition they have, their treatment, etc.? That's perfectly fine, it's the law. But seeing as how the whole thing seemed to center around the workout, why couldn't any details about the workouts be released? Not giving the media anything in a case like this, when there is information that you can afford to release, is not a good idea. A lot of the negative attention goes away if Ferentz/Barta is there to answer questions about the workouts.

Are you serious?

The staff was too busy simultaneously tending to sick players and completing an outstanding recruiting class to waste time with a few no-talent "journalists". The "journalists" will get their info after the important work has been completed.

 

[tm3308]

Are you serious?

The staff was too busy simultaneously tending to sick players and completing an outstanding recruiting class to waste time with a few no-talent "journalists". The "journalists" will get their info after the important work has been completed.

Are you serious?

The entire argument for the people saying that Ferentz didn't need to come back was: "What's he gonna do? Hold their hand? How's that going to help them?"

Which is true. The staff turned them over to the hospital. What are the coaches going to do to help after that point?

It sure as hell wasn't going to hurt, releasing information about the workouts, instead of letting the media speculate. People's imaginations run wild. The more information you can give them, the less room for imagination there is. And releasing the information about the workouts wouldn't have hurt.

The responsible journalists want answers just as badly as the nutjobs. They just don't go off and throw spaghetti on the wall to see what sticks. But they want answers too.

And BTW, Ferentz wasn't recruiting 2011 guys. He was working on next year's class.

 

[JRHawks5969]

Are you serious?

The entire argument for the people saying that Ferentz didn't need to come back was: "What's he gonna do? Hold their hand? How's that going to help them?"

Which is true. The staff turned them over to the hospital. What are the coaches going to do to help after that point?

It sure as hell wasn't going to hurt, releasing information about the workouts, instead of letting the media speculate. People's imaginations run wild. The more information you can give them, the less room for imagination there is. And releasing the information about the workouts wouldn't have hurt.

And BTW, Ferentz wasn't recruiting 2011 guys. He was working on next year's class.

When you say "people's" imaginations run wild, who are you talking about? Shock jocks? Internet message board posters? Because, frankly, those clowns came out of the recent Hawkeye "controversies", particularly the DJK one (remember 21 Hawks failing their drug tests?!?!), looking foolish and lacking credibility. Hell, they're probably lucky they're not facing a lawsuit from specific players (McNutt, Bernstein, etc.) that were wrongfully accused of failing a drug test.

 

[tm3308]

When you say "people's" imaginations run wild, who are you talking about? Shock jocks? Internet message board posters? Because, frankly, those clowns came out of the recent Hawkeye "controversies", particularly the DJK one (remember 21 Hawks failing their drug tests?!?!), looking foolish and lacking credibility. Hell, they're probably lucky they're not facing a lawsuit from specific players (McNutt, Bernstein, etc.) that were wrongfully accused of failing a drug test.

Everybody speculates. Some are able and willing to speculate on the record, some aren't. But letting out the details from the workout helps to clear the air a bit, and doesn't leave room for anyone to believe that you might be trying to cover anything up. If you let out the information and somebody still thinks that, then they're an idiot and you can call them out immediately. But when no information is released, you can't really say that they're wrong, because you don't have anymore facts than they do.

They just kind of left themselves hanging, and it wouldn't have taken much to prevent that.

 

[Rawkhawk73]

There's really two issues at work here, simultaneously:

First, there's the issue of immediacy in reporting. Bloggers, journalists, shock jocks, etc, feel it is their God-given right to know things 2 seconds after they happen and if they don't they will basically make stuff up or take a quote or two and extrapolate it to the entire event. They were in the wrong and Iowa was in the right. When you have an event that ends up affecting the health of 13 young men, there's no sense in releasing information until the facts have been gathered and a conclusion can be drawn. If it makes the media mad, then f**k 'em, they can wait. And it's really no skin off Iowa's back long term because the average attention span in this country is now down to minutes.

Second, there's the issue of leadership, and this is where Iowa failed. When you have an event of this magnitude and you make the decision to have a press conference, the person or persons who are the leaders of that organization HAVE TO be in attendance. They may not be able to answer many questions. But their mere presence signals to the world that the situation is under control and the "sheriffs" are there to get things cleaned up. That is what leaders do. Kirk and Gary both dropped the ball in that respect and Kirk recognized that after the fact. I'm not sure whether Gary recognizes that yet or not.

 

[ShadasRevenge]

1. I think Iowa could have handled the Rhabdo situation better from a PR standpoint, and Coach Ferentz himself has addressed that. Live and learn

2. Some segments of the media have absolutely passed judgement before getting more than 10% of the facts in some instances. From my observations, most of that was not from the local media related to the Rhabdo. I think the local media was in a fact finding mode while some in the national media were already looking for a hangin tree.

As long as Matt Perrault isn't included in category 2, you're right.

 

[Billso]

Again, this country is full of very successful businesses, teams, etc. who don't go out of their way to kiss the media's butt.

Nobody here has advocated that. Proactive media relations is not "going out of your way to kiss the media's butt", and most very successful businesses, teams, etc. understand the difference. If you don't tell your story, it will be told for you.

Tactically, Iowa erred badly by not immediately sharing that Ferentz was in close contact with the players and families. And in not initially describing the workouts (generally) and timeline. And finally, by not simply announcing Monday that Ferentz would speak to the media Tuesday, rather than trotting out mid-level guys to squirm. None of these steps involved additional time or trouble or legal risk or violations of privacy or went beyond known facts... or involved "kissing the media's butt".

 

[BSpringsteen]

Following on what some other people said here...

This only serves to further indict Barta as someone who is gloriously out of touch and ill equipped to be the AD of a major university.

 

[Iowafarmgirl]

Following on what some other people said here...

This only serves to further indict Barta as someone who is gloriously out of touch and ill equipped to be the AD of a major university.

Barta was in front of the story. He turned on his Gateway and defended his program in some AOL chatrooms. He quoted some Ace of Base lyrics to prove he can relate to the players.

 

[racerhawk]

Some on the football staff are up to date on the immediacy and splintering of the media, and have responded. The gohawks.com page is dynamite and I was pretty impressed with the way Eric Johnson (recruiting coordinator) tweeted as LOI's came in on the 2011 recruits and had bios and edited video clips blog-ready as the announcements were made.

But the AD's and SID's offices come across as well behind the curve. Some house-cleaning is in order to bring in a greater awareness of the needs to communicate immediately with the rest of the world.

I agree with you. It's great that Barta has an opinion on the negative aspects of media today, but it's another to have an effective plan in order to deal with those realities.

They do need to get out in front of stories. That's always been true. However, the time line for getting out in front of stories has dramatically decreased. They need to accept that, and adapt to it. In other words, they need to learn from it.

 

[racerhawk]

Nobody here has advocated that. Proactive media relations is not "going out of your way to kiss the media's butt", and most very successful businesses, teams, etc. understand the difference. If you don't tell your story, it will be told for you.

Tactically, Iowa erred badly by not immediately sharing that Ferentz was in close contact with the players and families. And in not initially describing the workouts (generally) and timeline. And finally, by not simply announcing Monday that Ferentz would speak to the media Tuesday, rather than trotting out mid-level guys to squirm. None of these steps involved additional time or trouble or legal risk or violations of privacy or went beyond known facts... or involved "kissing the media's butt".

Very well put.

 

[Iowafarmgirl]

Gary Barta just paged me from a payphone, and when I called him back, he assured me that he is handling the situation like a Monica, not the Phoebe that the Rachel-esque media is portraying him as.

 

[seepig]

Barta needs his own personal PR assistant. This guy wouldn't know PR if it bit him on the ARSE.