Is this ethical journalism?

[Soundy]

IMHO it is ethical journalism. If there was anything sensitive or secretive going on at practice that the BC Lions did not want the opposition to know about, then the Lions should hold a closed practice. As long as the public and reporters are allowed at practice, then it is safe to assume that there are opposition team's spys present.

Except as fans we don't want the practices to be shut down, they are very intimate with the players and coaches, plus give us an inside look to what is going on with player movement. As for anyone stalking around as a spy, well the Lions are welll aware of who is looking on, so that isn't a problem.

So what's wrong with having some open practices, and some closed ones where "secret" plays can be worked on?

I've said it before, it's silly to try or even want to restrict what reporters write about open practices (or as we've seen before, to complain about videos being posted and the like), because an OPEN practice is just that - other teams that really want that info will have people of their own present, and if they're going to video things, they'll probably be a lot more discreet about it and end up with something a lot better quality than some clip they watch on YouTube.

It doesn't mean you lock everyone out of every practice, it just means you hold the occasional private sessions for working on stuff you want to keep under wraps.

In this case, yeah, it might be "unethical" of MB to report stuff that the coach has asked the media not to report on; I'm all for following the coach's wishes on what we post and don't post publicly, but that's just out of respect for the coach. It's ridiculous to think that it's really keeping the information away from other teams.

[Lions4ever]

This is the play they're working on? A reverse on a kick return? Wow. No wonder Beamish didn't think this was worth keeping a secret about. That play usually gets blown up about 99 times out of 100 anyway.

[David]

I guess the part that bothered me most was that the Leos tried the hitch screen to Cory Rodgers early in the game (again, read the whole article....there seems to be a misconception that he only wrote about a reverse on a kick return) that seemed to get sniffed out almost before the pass was completed.

Would they have stuffed him otherwise? Perhaps. But he certainly didn't do the team any favours.

DH 8)

[Lion Guy]

Isn't 'ethical journalism' an oxymoron these days?

[pinkfreud]

How do we know the "leak" wasn't intentional to throw off the competition?

[Lionut]

One other thought about this -- isn't this part of what makes the CFL so unique and fan-friendly? In the NFL, practices are generally closed, and coaches are so paranoid that any reporter who dared to even comment on a band-aid on the third string QBs' hand would be banned from the team facility. The fact that the CFL is a lot more loose about these kind of things is part of its charm, IMO.

[Belize City Lion]

There is nothing unethical, journalistically speaking, about what Beamish wrote. The practice was open and he was there as a member of the media, with the full blessings of the BC Lions. If Wally wanted to keep something at practice private he either closes practice to public AND media or he makes a request to the media not to report on certain aspects of practice.

If Beamish gave Wally his word that he would not report on the reverse punt return, then and only then did he do something unethical. But I doubt any sports journalist, even Beamish, would risk ruining his relationship with a local pro sports franchise just to report something a trivial as the fact the Lions were trying a reverse punt return in practice.

As for whether Beamish showed poor judgement in reporting on a trick play prior to the game, maybe, but that's his call. The same thing must be said about Wally practicing the play at an open practice (unless he did have a prior non-disclosure agreement from the media).

[Blitz]

There is usually an unwritten agreement with the media that they don't discuss a team's plays in the press at practice.

The question is not whether the practice was open or not, or whether Beamish had the right to write what he did, or whether Wally should close practices when he wants to work on new stuff.

Wally discussed, earlier this season, that he might have to close practices, in the future, in terms of information that might hurt the team. He didnt want to do that and I don't blame him. Fans like to come out to practices, reporters want them to be open. The Leos want to continue to build the product and that is only helped by having an open approach.

It's not easy being a reporter either I would guess, in terms of having the job to report the news of sports because sometimes that involves a conflicting situation..and it's their job to do that and the press are important in keeping fan interest in the game.

It's obviously a gray area but in this case it involved some discretion and I don't believe that was wisely used.....in that it is unusual for a football reporter to write about specific new plays a home team is working on.

It's just an unwritten code that has been around a long time and my hope is that practices will remain open....and yes...another team could spy on practices but that doesn't justify someone in your own backyard helping them.

I'm not angry with Beamish but in this case I just think he slipped with regard to that unwritten code!!

[Soundy]

There is usually an unwritten agreement with the media that they don't discuss a team's plays in the press at practice.

...

It's just an unwritten code that has been around a long time and my hope is that practices will remain open....and yes...another team could spy on practices but that doesn't justify someone in your own backyard helping them.

Not just a "code", but Wally has specifically asked (in general, regardless of what he may or may not have told specific members of the press) that certain aspects of practices not be publicly reported. It's even been requested of members of Lionbackers.com.

Whether or not this REALLY makes a difference or REALLY keeps secrets from the other teams is irrelevant; it's a request made by a very accommodating, very successful coach, and it really shouldn't be a problem for the media in particular to respect his wishes. We do here on Lionbackers.