Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban said that his decision to revoke the credentials of two ESPN writers who cover his team was "driven partly by concern that automated game reports could eventually replace human-generated content," according to the AP. Cuban yesterday said that he banned ESPN's Marc Stein and Tim MacMahon from home games to "bring attention to the issue of companies using automation in sports coverage." Cuban in an email wrote, "Maybe I will be wrong but I see a direct path from the trends in coverage of games we are seeing over the last couple years to the automation of reporting on games and the curation of related content." He added that his action "wasn't prompted by ESPN's plan to cover the Mavericks, which he said he wasn't changing." Cuban said that he "responded after learning that ESPN was relying on wire services for game coverage on 19 NBA teams" (AP, 11/8). AP Sports Products Deputy Dir Barry Bedlan said, "The Associated Press has a reporter at every NBA game. ESPN has relied on us for years. Nothing has changed from our perspective and there are no plans to change that." Cuban in an email wrote his decision has "nothing to do with editorial." Cuban: "It was purely in regards to my concern about the degree of automated coverage we were getting." Cuban also cited what he "believed was lackluster wire service coverage of the Mavericks season-opener" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/8).
FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT? YAHOO SPORTS' Eric Freeman writes Cuban has a "pretty good point," but it is "not clear why he chose to take a stand only when ESPN.com opted not to cover the Mavericks as often as they have in the past." The site seemingly "hasn’t devoted fewer resources to the NBA as a whole -- it just decided that those resources should not be used to cover every Mavericks home game in depth" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 11/8). In Toronto, Doug Smith writes he will "give Cuban credit" for being "more aware of the need for regular, daily beat coverage than many sports franchises." He "values the off-day stories and game stories that are regularly produced by reporters who cover the team, so much so that the Dallas Morning News has a seat on the team charter to ensure" that its beat reporter, Eddie Sefko, is on the scene. Smith: "But this? This is bullying in some way, I think, and quite counter-intuitive and perhaps the thin edge of wedge" (TORONTO STAR, 11/8).
OFF THE MARK: ESPN’s Rachel Nichols noted ESPN.com "changes its coverage plans each season depending on what seems to matters to the national audience." Nichols: "We don't have the resources to cover all 82 games of all 30 teams and frankly, most of the country wouldn’t be that interested if we did. For instance, it wouldn't shock you a few years ago we were weren't covering every game the Golden State Warriors played, but hey, now we do. Or that we used to have a full-time beat writer in Miami, but now, there isn’t the same national demand for Heat coverage." She added, "I really like Mark Cuban, I like that he speaks his mind. ... But man, I am surprised he is letting his passion dictate his response with this one. Mark Cuban is the last person I would think would need a primer on the dangers of limiting a free press or that you don’t bully the media just because you don’t like their editorial decisions." Nichols: “The world is not going to end if ESPN.com doesn't have the latest update on Dirk (Nowitzki's) injury, but the slope here is slippery and steep. There are plenty of issues that touch the NBA that are much more serious" ("The Jump," ESPN2, 11/7).
SILVER STATE: In Ft. Worth, Mac Engel writes a "real NBA commissioner" would call Cuban "immediately and tell him to knock it off, and to quit embarrassing himself, his franchise and the league." But one of the reasons NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has his job is because "men like Cuban supported his promotion." To support Silver "meant Cuban would have a voice in the big office in Manhattan." As strong as Silver looked in his "denouncement and punishment" of former Clippers Owner Donald Sterling, he "looks like a frightened kitten here" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 11/8).
