Colorado University Athletics
CU's Plati Named To FWAA National Committee On Access/Press Relations
June 30, 2019 | Football, General, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado Sports Information Director David Plati will serve on a newly formed national committee that will help oversee press relations with FBS Conferences moving into the 2019 football season.
The Access/Press Relations Committee, formed by the Football Writers Association of America, will have two representatives for each of the Power Five Conferences, in which many of the issues arise in terms of accessibility. The Group of Five Conferences/Independents will have three representatives and there will be nine at-large committee members from different groups affiliated with college football.
Plati is one of three representatives of college sports information directors to serve on the committee. The others are Doug Vance of the College Sports Information Directors Association (CoSIDA) and Shelly Poe of Auburn.Â
According to a press release from the FWAA, the committee is "a broad-based effort by the FWAA to improve press relations and accessibility with schools in terms of coach, assistant coach and player availability during the regular season and the off-season."
Colorado has annually been recognized as one of the nation's top programs in terms of accessibility to players and coaches. CU this year earned "Super 11" recognition by the FWAA for the sixth time since 2009 and fifth time in the last six years. Criteria employed in determining Super 11 winners not only include how press boxes and media operations are operated, but also the quality and timeliness of information provided. Also judged was the amount of information presented and appropriately updated on websites, and personal responsiveness to media inquiries as well as the accessibility of a program's players, coaches and assistant coaches.
The ratings considered those departments that went the extra mile in servicing the media.
FWAA president Matt Fortuna, a staff writer for The Athletic, said, "We are excited to bring together a talented, experienced, and diverse group of reporters and SIDs to work together to ensure a healthier dialogue between the media and the schools that they cover. Our hope is that this collaborative effort will lead to better opportunities to tell the stories of the subjects that we cover, while giving our members a better platform to highlight good and bad practices when it comes to access."
The committee will serve as a liaison between FWAA members and institutions. Individual FWAA members can report to the representatives of their conference any issues in their league as brought up by Sports Information Directors or FWAA members. The process will also occur with bowl games, and the committee will attempt to keep a running record of incidents reported to them with the goal of trying to improve conditions as well as commend outstanding access and conditions.
"In many ways this can also be a learning experience on both sides," said Steve Richardson, FWAA Executive Director. "We can document thoroughly why a school would or wouldn't be a Super 11 winner simply by comparing a school's list of press availability or policies to the FWAA's list of standards. If there are complaints about media members, these also will be considered by the committee. It can be a two-way street here."
According to the press release, discussions will also extend to game-day operations, including press box conditions, interview area conditions, press parking issues and safety concerns around and in the stadium.
This committee will also help in the decision making for the Super 11 Awards.
The first committee members will include:
— ACC: Gene Wang, Washington Post; Andrea Adelson, ESPN.com
— Big 12: Randy Peterson, Des Moines Register; John Hoover, TheFranchiseOK.com
— Big Ten: Adam Rittenberg, ESPN.com; Shannon Ryan, Chicago Tribune
— Pac-12: Jon Wilner, San Jose Mercury News; Chris Dufresne, TMG
— SEC: Ron Higgins, Rivals; Anthony Dasher, UGASports.com
— Group of Five/Independents: Chris Vannini, The Athletic; Dick Weiss, Blue Star Media; Mark Anderson, Las Vegas Review-Journal
— At-Large: Edward Aschoff, ESPN.com, FWAA; Matt Fortuna, The Athletic, FWAA; George Schroeder, USA Today, FWAA; Doug Vance, CoSIDA; Shelly Poe, Auburn; Dave Plati, Colorado; Vince Thompson, AFCA; Gine Lehe, CFP; Doug Kelly, FBA
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