Casey At The Bat: What not to wear
A reporter in Northwest Arkansas has been a big topic on sports talk radio stations around the country over the last few days.
Renee Gork worked for KAKS radio, known as "Hog Sports Radio" in Arkansas. She attended a press conference by Arkansas head football coach Bobby Petrino wearing a Florida Gators hat. At that press conference, she asked a question. Petrino answered, then said to her, "That is the last question I will answer with that hat on." Gork claims that she put the hat on without thinking when she left her house that day because it was raining outside.
Florida is one of Arkansas' rivals in the SEC. Gork had the hat because she graduated from the University of Florida. Arkansas fans blasted her on message boards and call-in shows for wearing it while working for Hog Sports Radio.
She was fired from the radio station because of this incident, and we do not know if there were previous issues that led to her firing. The radio station has no affiliation with the University of Arkansas, and the school stated it has no affiliation with the station and make no personnel decisions for them.
It is understood that media members should never wear logo gear of any sort -- such as a hat, shirt or jersey -- of the team or league they are covering in press boxes or at press conferences. The media are there to do a job, and wearing that gear takes away the appearance of impartiality in reporting the news. That would also apply to wearing a Duke sweatshirt to a Maryland press conference, or wearing a Red Sox golf shirt to the Orioles press box if you were covering the game.
There is nothing wrong with being a fan of a university or professional sports team, but you put that aside when you work in the media. Older media members are very quick to let younger reporters know that if they slip early in their careers.
KAKS lets fans know how it sees the University of Arkansas. GM Dan Storrs said, "This radio station is Hog Sports Radio. We are very biased. We support the Razorbacks 100 percent."
Did Renee Gork deserve to be fired? In my opinion, she has to have more common sense than to put that hat on, knowing who her employer was and knowing the unwritten rules about what not to wear.
She said it was a "silly mistake." Apparently, her former employer did not find it so funny after all.
