Letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell

• By: ASNE staff
• On: 07/24/2007 12:12:00
• In: Sports

ASNE President Gilbert Bailon sent a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell asking that the National Football League reconsider its plans to require news photographers to wear vests that carry advertising logos as a condition of covering games. The text of the letter follows.

July 23, 2007

Mr. Roger Goodell
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Ave.
New York, NY 10017

Dear Mr. Goodell:

It has come to our attention that the NFL is proposing to require photographers covering NFL games to wear identifying vests that advertise a maker or makers of NFL-endorsed equipment.

I write as president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors to ask you to reconsider any plans to require identification carrying advertising messages.

We know that the NFL is interested in maintaining the integrity of its game. We understand you have responsibilities to your marketing partners. For instance, we know that many photographers have in recent seasons courteously complied with NFL requests and taped over commercial images on their equipment that would conflict with marketing arrangements at your venues.

Likewise, newspapers are committed to maintaining their integrity as independent voices of news and opinion. We separate advertising messages in our pages from news and editorial content for that reason. We work assiduously to avoid conflicts of interest, or appearances of them. For that reason it is anathema to us that our employees should be put in the position of becoming walking billboards or be viewed as troublemakers for refusing to wear advertising materials just to do their jobs.

It is our hope that the NFL will simply credential our representatives and let them go about their work.

I know this letter arrives following another letter from ASNE, the largest and most prominent organization of directing newspaper editors in the Americas. We appreciated being involved in a conversation with your office on our concerns, which mostly dealt with Internet content policies. We know your staff is reviewing those issues and, along with the AP Sports Editors and others, we await a response on matters we discussed.

We would appreciate, separately, an expeditious response on the issue of photographer vests. We don't want to enter the exhibition season without a clear understanding to share with our members. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Gilbert Bailon
President

cc: Jim Jenks, Associated Press Sports Editors, Tony Overman, National Press Photographers Association