By Jeffrey Cohen | Sports Editor
In the front of TCU football’s stadium reads the name “Amon G. Carter.”
Carter led the effort to move the Horned Frogs into a new venue in the late 1920s, leading to the stadium’s opening in 1930. The newspaperman and entrepreneur also united the Fort Worth Star and Telegram to create the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, which became one of the more dominant papers in Texas.
The Horned Frogs football honored Carter by naming the stadium after him in 1951.
That is almost a century of connection between TCU football and the Star-Telegram. That tenured relationship broke on August 26 when Star-Telegram Sports Editor Jim Barnes wrote that TCU rescinded the newspaper’s credentials to cover Horned Frogs athletics after the newspaper reported on an Aug. 13 locker–room altercation between safety Jacob Fields, who was dismissed from the program, and wide receiver Dozie Ezukanma.
The Star-Telegram published a series of articles, covering Fields’ dismissal and arrest, Ezukanma’s hospitalization and what led to the fight. Barnes also wrote that a TCU athletics spokesman said the credentials were being pulled because the coverage led to the Ezukanma receiving threats.
The Horned Frogs have received waves of backlash across the college football and sports media worlds over their decision to ban the Star-Telegram.
It seems that removing the Star-Telegram’s credentials has only made the situation worse for TCU. While negative press was imminent after the newspaper reported on the incident and wrote that Ezukanma was not taken to the hospital until almost two hours after the assault, the decision from the athletics department only added fuel to the fire.
It no longer became an issue with one player assaulting another. Rather, it became a debate on sports journalism and covering darker moments within a team. This ordeal has boiled over to how a university’s athletics department responds to honest, but uncomfortable, reporting.
Journalism as a whole is built on reporting the truth. Sports journalism is no exception. Sports writers and reporters have a duty to cover news accurately and ethically, even if that leads to negative press for a team or department that is involved.
The response from TCU should also discourage fans. Whether supporters of the Horned Frogs or those who are just college football enjoyers, they rely on truthful reporting from print, digital and broadcast journalism. This decision feels as though they are being stripped of a small piece of accurate reporting.
The Horned Frogs are also at an even bigger disadvantage with the consistent press. They dropped their season opener on Saturday to North Carolina 15-10. It seems like the assault, along with the fight between TCU athletics and the media, only creates more distractions as the team tries to work its way back into the win column.
TCU banning the Star-Telegram is a loss for all sides. The Horned Frogs receive even more negative attention and backlash, the newspaper has been punished for doing its job and the fans receive a small hit in their trust of sports reporting and its relationship to athletics departments.
