Longhorn Ethics

ESPN vice president Stephanie Druley: "Is my job easier if this program is successful, from either the football or if all programs are successful? Yes, my job is easier. But are people in Bristol walking around wearing burnt orange? No." (Photo by John Anderson)

Is the Longhorn Network a fan club or a sports news operation? Well, that may depend on what ESPN wants it to be, and Deadspin and AwfulAnnouncing.com have both called the sports broadcasting leviathan out for including this weekend's UT/Rice game in their college football top 25 preview page.

Why is that important? Because that list is supposed to be for teams in the latest AP poll, and neither Rice nor UT is ranked. Deadspin's Barry Petchesky wrote, "ESPN.com didn't bother to put a ranking next to Texas's name, not even pretending that there's a good reason to have them in here."

While Ben Koo over at Awful Announcing conceded that "this isn't the biggest deal in the world," he made a strong accusation: "It's clear that ESPN's editorial agenda is now being dictated by their business relationships."

Before the launch, the network took the press on a guided tour of the new studio, and the issue of the ethics of the UT/ESPN/Longhorn Network came up. The question came up as to whether ESPN's head office in Bristol, Conn., now has a "rooting interest" in the Longhorns, but Longhorn Network Vice President of Production Stephanie Druley called that "not a fair statement." She said, "Is my job easier if this program is successful, from either the football or if all programs are successful? Yes, my job is easier. But are people in Bristol walking around wearing burnt orange? No."

So what about covering issues of real news value, like injuries? "Our plan is to report it," Druley said.

Immediately?

"ESPN doesn't report anything immediately," Druley replied. "There is a very sort of, and we'll live by this, there's a sort of strict vetting process. It'll go up to our newsdesk in Bristol. We'll talk about it here, it'll go up there. When we go with it, I'm going to let Texas know it's coming to be honest. I'm not blindsiding them. I'm in business with them."

For all the talk of adding other sports into the mix, and the (still unresolved) 15% of all programming given over to non-athletic coverage, everyone at the network seemed fully aware that football will drive the train. Druley said that's why she expects Texas Football All-Access to be one of her biggest shows. She said, "People will be really excited about where they're going to go and what they're going to see."

While her team is getting better access than any media before, she said, "We're not going to get a yes every time." Druley called the ongoing negotiations "a work in progress," and even though her staff will be at football practices, not all the footage will make it on-screen. "It wouldn't make sense for us to give away game plans or game day strategy," Druley said. "I don't think anyone thinks that that would be a good idea. Except for, maybe, people who are not a fan of Texas."

The measurement, she said, is "the fine line of strategy game plan versus what's news value for the fan. So we'll weigh that every day on every case."