Pirates "Black-Out" Protest Coverage

FSN won't show live footage of planned protest at Pirates' game Saturday
Thursday, June 28, 2007

By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette



The Pirates are doing their best to downplay the fan walkout scheduled for
after the third inning of the team's game Saturday night with the Washington
Nationals.


They have asked their television announcing crew not to discuss the walkout
with the media. They have removed all comments about the walkout from their
message board at pirates.com. They have the support of their television
rights holder, FSN Pittsburgh, which does not plan to show the protest as
part of its game coverage.

A near-capacity crowd of 36,000 is expected for the game, where Bob Walk
bobbleheads will be given as souvenirs to all ticket holders. Organizers of
the protest have asked fans to leave their seats after the third inning and
stand in the concourse -- without purchasing concessions -- or leave the
stadium. The protest is an attempt to draw national attention to the lack of
success of the team, which is in the midst of a 15th consecutive losing
season.

That national attention might be difficult to obtain.

The only television cameras allowed to shoot the game are from rights
holders FSN and MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), which carries the
Nationals' games.

The walkout will occur when FSN is on a commercial break. There is no
compelling reason for MASN, also on commercial break, to show it to a
Washington audience that would have little interest.

Todd Webster, who handles public relations for MASN, said, "My guess would
be we wouldn't show it."

There are, however, alternatives for the local stations.

KDKA-TV has a "Tower Cam" on the roof of Gateway No. 1, where its studios
and offices are located, that would give it a good, but not total view, of
PNC Park. It would provide a view of fans leaving their seats and an
indication of how successful the protest is.

"I don't see why we wouldn't use it," said Anne Linaberger, the assistant
news director at KDKA.

WPXI and WTAE could use their news helicopters, as could KDKA, to acquire
footage of the protest.

Contacted about the protest, Greg Brown, who will do the play-by-play of the
telecast along with Walk, said, "I have been asked by the Pirates not to
comment and refer all calls to Brian Warecki."

Warecki, the team's senior director of communications, issued this statement
via e-mail:

"We greatly appreciate the passion of all of our fans and their freedom to
express that passion in any way they choose."

One of the ways they might choose has been blocked. According to Andy
Chomos, one of the leaders of the protest, the Pirates have been removing
content about the proposed walkout for weeks. E-mails from frustrated fans
to the Post-Gazette back up what Chomos said.

Shawn McClintock, the executive producer at FSN, said the decision not to
show the walkout was a difficult one. As rights holder, FSN has a strong
partnership with the Pirates, as they do with the Penguins. The success of
those teams greatly reflects the success of FSN.

"In a number of ways, what we do is different than local news," McClintock
said. "It's a fine line and it has softened over the years, and we had to
come to grips with that.

"It's a tough call. One side of you says, 'It's a story.' The other side
says that 'we're in this for the long haul and our livelihood can be
affected.' The bottom line is we want them to do well. We also understand
the average fan's frustration. We're frustrated, too, as fans and business
partners."

Away from the game broadcast, FSN has covered the story. It covered the news
conference the protesters had Tuesday and had reports on it that night on
"Savran on SportsBeat" at 6:30 p.m. and "Pittsburgh Sports Tonight" after
the Pirates' game.

McClintock said FSN will report on the protest on Pittsburgh Sports Tonight
after the game Saturday.

Of course, the Pirates don't want the world to know the truth, it's easier
to censor fans than it is to actually field a good team.


They all suk.


Chuck




"Willie" <musicman DeleteThis @jukebox.net> wrote in message
news:VYKdne_QepvlSB7bnZ2dnUVZ_gOdnZ2d@comcast.com...
> FSN won't show live footage of planned protest at Pirates' game Saturday
> Thursday, June 28, 2007
>
> By Bob Smizik, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
>
>
>
> The Pirates are doing their best to downplay the fan walkout scheduled for
> after the third inning of the team's game Saturday night with the
> Washington Nationals.
>
>
> They have asked their television announcing crew not to discuss the
> walkout with the media. They have removed all comments about the walkout
> from their message board at pirates.com. They have the support of their
> television rights holder, FSN Pittsburgh, which does not plan to show the
> protest as part of its game coverage.
>
> A near-capacity crowd of 36,000 is expected for the game, where Bob Walk
> bobbleheads will be given as souvenirs to all ticket holders. Organizers
> of the protest have asked fans to leave their seats after the third inning
> and stand in the concourse -- without purchasing concessions -- or leave
> the stadium. The protest is an attempt to draw national attention to the
> lack of success of the team, which is in the midst of a 15th consecutive
> losing season.
>
> That national attention might be difficult to obtain.
>
> The only television cameras allowed to shoot the game are from rights
> holders FSN and MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network), which carries the
> Nationals' games.
>
> The walkout will occur when FSN is on a commercial break. There is no
> compelling reason for MASN, also on commercial break, to show it to a
> Washington audience that would have little interest.
>
> Todd Webster, who handles public relations for MASN, said, "My guess would
> be we wouldn't show it."
>
> There are, however, alternatives for the local stations.
>
> KDKA-TV has a "Tower Cam" on the roof of Gateway No. 1, where its studios
> and offices are located, that would give it a good, but not total view, of
> PNC Park. It would provide a view of fans leaving their seats and an
> indication of how successful the protest is.
>
> "I don't see why we wouldn't use it," said Anne Linaberger, the assistant
> news director at KDKA.
>
> WPXI and WTAE could use their news helicopters, as could KDKA, to acquire
> footage of the protest.
>
> Contacted about the protest, Greg Brown, who will do the play-by-play of
> the telecast along with Walk, said, "I have been asked by the Pirates not
> to comment and refer all calls to Brian Warecki."
>
> Warecki, the team's senior director of communications, issued this
> statement via e-mail:
>
> "We greatly appreciate the passion of all of our fans and their freedom to
> express that passion in any way they choose."
>
> One of the ways they might choose has been blocked. According to Andy
> Chomos, one of the leaders of the protest, the Pirates have been removing
> content about the proposed walkout for weeks. E-mails from frustrated fans
> to the Post-Gazette back up what Chomos said.
>
> Shawn McClintock, the executive producer at FSN, said the decision not to
> show the walkout was a difficult one. As rights holder, FSN has a strong
> partnership with the Pirates, as they do with the Penguins. The success of
> those teams greatly reflects the success of FSN.
>
> "In a number of ways, what we do is different than local news," McClintock
> said. "It's a fine line and it has softened over the years, and we had to
> come to grips with that.
>
> "It's a tough call. One side of you says, 'It's a story.' The other side
> says that 'we're in this for the long haul and our livelihood can be
> affected.' The bottom line is we want them to do well. We also understand
> the average fan's frustration. We're frustrated, too, as fans and business
> partners."
>
> Away from the game broadcast, FSN has covered the story. It covered the
> news conference the protesters had Tuesday and had reports on it that
> night on "Savran on SportsBeat" at 6:30 p.m. and "Pittsburgh Sports
> Tonight" after the Pirates' game.
>
> McClintock said FSN will report on the protest on Pittsburgh Sports
> Tonight after the game Saturday.
>