Local newspaper stops covering Jackson State football after media access was limited

The Jackson State Tigers of the Southwestern Athletic Conference have lost five of their first six games halfway through their football season. Head coach Harold Jackson was fired five games into the season following an embarrassing 59-27 loss to Grambling earlier this month.

And that's where this story really gets going.

Outside of the fact that Jackson State administrators figured it was a good idea to fire a coach after just 17 games, the man they replaced Jackson with is changing the MO of the football program in his first couple weeks at the helm.

Since Derrick McCall took over on an interim basis earlier this month, he's apparently limited at least one local newspaper of the access it had during Jackson's regime. And it's led to that media outlet deciding to stop covering the football program.

The Clarion-Ledger in Mississippi had this announcement to make on Monday:

"Jackson State athletic department has not allowed media access to football players or assistant coaches for the third consecutive week, prompting The Clarion-Ledger to cease day-to-day beat coverage of Jackson State athletics until the situation can be resolved."

The paper's sports editor, David Bean, added:

“This kind of restriction keeps a reporter from properly doing his or her job. Our hope is that this situation will be rectified promptly, and we are able to continue covering the Jackson State football team as it should be covered.”

We saw some drama unfold with the Chicago Bears during John Fox's first training camp as the team's head coach. Restricted access to the players and less-than-upfront injury reports played a role in the media in Chicago pushing back against Fox. However, Fox's handling of the media has been well known since his days with the Carolina Panthers. And since the season has started, the local media has been quiet on this front.

As it relates to what's happening in Jackson, it seems to be completely out of left field. There's been no real issues between the football program and the local media. And short of the Tigers struggling on the field, there doesn't seem to be a real explanation as to why the media's access has been restricted.

For its part, Jackson State released a statement Monday night responding to The Ledger's decision to stop covering the football program:

"The decision to close football practice and to not make assistant coaches and players available to the media throughout the week was not undertaken lightly and is done in respect to the JSU football program, the coaches, players and to local and regional media outlets. 

​JSU football practice has been closed since the first week of this season. We decided to not make assistant coaches and players available to the media for the last two weeks so that the team can adjust to and work with the new coach on putting a quality product on the field - without too many outside influences."

There is some sense to be made of this decision. Rather than focusing on the media, McCall wants the players giving all their attention to performing at a higher level on the field.

The issue here is access. For the media to do its job, there is an unwritten rule that it be given the necessary access to do so. Short of that, covering a beat can be ridiculously difficult. Figuring out the player's mentalities, potential injuries, getting quotes to run in stories and simply providing the reader with information he/she deems helpful all become problematic.

A fledgling football program in a small southern conference restricting access isn't a good look. Doing so simply because the team is going through on-field changes is a bit absurd.

It's most definitely not going to paint McCall in a great light moving forward, especially if he somehow retains the job on a full-time basis following this season.

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