Knicks May Or May Not Stop Roughing Up Reporters
The new president of the New York Knicks, Donnie Walsh, promised to be more open to journalists, perhaps improving what is widely regarded as one of the more miserable reporting beats in the city. Most recently, a Post reporter was manhandled by Knicks security for daring to try and talk to another reporter. Walsh isn't saying exactly how he'll improve the situation, only that he thinks it is important to provide more access. Everything is very vague. Apparently a policy against physical confrontation with reporters, or ripping off their press passes, is too much to ask at this early stage. It's not like Walsh has much of a mandate from the man who hired him, Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, who backed many of the Knicks' tight media controls in the first place:
Walsh said he was aware of problems between the Knicks and the news media, "but I didn't really know because, let's face it, New York has such a large group of media that I thought maybe it was necessary for that." But in recent days, he said, "it just seemed to be a bigger problem" and when he mentioned the policy to Dolan during their contract negotiations, he said Dolan told him, "Fine, then you take it over."
