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S. Camille Broadway.
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Credibility may determine access to information

Hard to separate sites | Selection committees

Credibility does not just impact who visits a site, it also can affect the online reporter's ability to gather information.

Consider the following incidents in 2000, according to The Associated Press and USA Today:

• Online reporters were asked to leave a Goldman Sachs investment symposium in February while newspaper and magazine reporters were allowed to stay.
• The Grammy Awards refused to issue press credentials for the managing editor of CDnow.com's Allstar news although she used to be an editor at Billboard magazine.
• The NCAA denied media credentials to all Internet-based reporters seeking access to the Division I men's basketball tournament.
• Stateline.org, which covers state governments, has 19 reporters, all of whom have been denied congressional press credentials and must apply separately for each congressional event they cover.

Paul Shefrin, who handled publicity for the Grammy Awards, told USA Today that although he knew Carrie Borzillo from her days at Billboard, he had never heard of her new employer and didn't issue an access pass.

"No media area has ever had as many entities or grown as fast. How do you know which is some guy at home doing it or a big corporation doing it? There is no way that any of us have the time to investigate every one of these," Shefrin said.

Jim Marchiony, media director for the basketball championship game, told The Associated Press that the NCAA would review its credential policy during summer of 2000. But he said of denying access to online reporters: "There's just a finite amount of seats and space, and there's no legitimate way to distinguish between legitimate and non- legitimate Web sites."

The NCAA also assumed in handing out press passes that the Web sites associated with other new organizations could get their content from their sister publication, he said.

With this proliferation of media organizations, being able to prove a Web site is "legitimate" and credible may well determine if that site is able gather information and get access to important events.

Keith Cutler is the executive president of sales and marketing at Turner Sports, which will be a part of America Online when AOL's merger with Turner parent company Time Warner is complete. Speaking at a sports panel at the University of Florida on March 30, 2000, Cutler said that access to events would become the big issue for online sports reporters.

Some organizations are already making an effort to include Web sites when they are handing out press passes, according to The Associated Press. The White House, for example, has a staff member dedicated for sorting through Web site requests and handing out credentials for online reporters.

Oscar organizers have a committee that reviews online applications. Thirty-four Web sites applied for press passes this year, up from 20 last year.

It's more work," Oscar spokeswoman Leslie Unger told the AP. "But we recognize that this is clearly a medium that has made a foothold in the world and is going to continue to do so."

Online journalist say that organizations should be checking out the Web sites. "If we were a newspaper or a magazine or a TV network, they investigate them before they gave them credentials," Rich Jaroslovsky, managing editor of The Wall Street Journal's interactive edition and founder of the Online News Association, told USA Today.