Balancing the Needs of Coaches and Athletes with the Needs of the Media

Speakers: Darryl Seibel, U.S. Olympic Committee chief communications officer; Michelle Kaufman, Miami Herald sportswriter

By Chelsea Accursi
2007 AWSM intern at the Salt Lake Tribune

U.S. Olympic Committee spokesman Darryl Seibel advised his media relations colleagues to “keep a foot in both worlds” in order to best serve the interests of the athletes and reporters.

Michelle Kaufman, a Miami Herald sportswriter, said that the biggest problem reporters have with a media relations professional is when they perceive that the person is not really trying to help them out or get them the athletes and coaches to whom they need to talk.

Seibel agreed, stressing again that it needs to be balanced. It is the media relations person’s job to help you out, but they can’t do all your work for you, he said.

“If you’re not working every day to get the respect and credibility you need to get (the athletes) out there on big days,” Seibel said, “then, frankly, you’re not doing your job.”

As for Olympics coverage, Kaufman urged reporters to go out and find the story that no one else is getting. She cited examples of Cuban athletes going to Kmart to buy things to send back to their families, the first Israeli gold medalist and the Kenyan cross-country skier.

“Break from the pack,” Kaufman said. “Be brave and don’t be afraid to be the only person doing something."

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