Sports coverage you can hang your hat on? Nope.

story by Gary Brown, president of College Sports Matchups (CSM is a content partner with The City Wire)
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Arkansas football coach Bobby Petrino has worn 13 hats in his coaching career that spans barely a quarter of a century. It is amazing he found it necessary to chastise a reporter for wearing the wrong hat to a press conference the other day.

It is even more amazing that, from indications to this point, a radio station operating on a frequency allotted to them by the federal government believes their first obligation is not objectivity when it comes to reporting on the Razorbacks, but cheerleading.

Radio station KAKS recently fired one of their employees and the early indications are that her offense was wearing a Florida hat to a Petrino press conference.

To this point all Dan Storrs, the general manager for radio station KAKS, has said is that the matter is a personnel matter and he will have no further comment. He did go on to tell The Associated Press, "This radio station is Hog Sports Radio. We are very biased. We support the Razorbacks 100 percent."

What does the part about the station supporting Arkansas 100% mean? If the university is cutting corners when it comes to recruiting will they choose to overlook that information in their programming? If the defense fails to produce this season will they serve as apologists for their play? If the high expectations for this season are not met will they choose to forgo critical analysis of the situation?

Press conferences are important in our culture, even when the subject is just sports. They were created as a time for an objective press to ask questions of those who step to the podium.

Journalists have an obligation during these events to be objective and not choose a side regarding the news they cover. They should not come to an event as a homer or an opponent.

When journalists become homers for the teams they cover Razorback fans are not well served. When the rules for access require passing a loyalty test of some kind then journalists can no longer be trusted to deliver the news Arkansas stakeholders are entitled to.

Why was Renee Gork dismissed from her job?

It can’t be determined what the facts are yet, but here are some thoughts for consideration.
• A real professional would not have worn a Florida Gator hat to the press conference.

• It should also be expected that  journalists will check their fandom at the door.

• It also does not seem quite appropriate for a man who has changed hats during his career as frequently as Petrino, to have his feathers ruffled because he does not like the one someone else has on.

• Most bothersome of all is a media outlet that does not feel any higher moral calling in their reporting than to be “very biased.”

Razorback fans deserve better. They deserve information that is trustworthy.