On Tuesday, Jackson, MS’ Clarion-Ledger daily newspaper announced their Jackson State football correspondent Antonio Morales would shift to other duties at the paper’s sports section. There’s no replacement and no immediate plans to resume coverage of the 1-5 Tigers, as the paper claims the JSU athletic department has denied access to players and assistant coaches over the last 3 weeks :
“This kind of restriction keeps a reporter from properly doing his or her job,” Sports Editor David Bean said. “Our hope is that this situation will be rectified promptly, and we are able to continue covering the Jackson State football team as it should be covered.”
Interim coach Derrick McCall is the only member of the football program who is available to the media throughout the week, which leaves the perspective of the team to be told through one person’s point of view.
Last week, the university stated mid-term exams as the reason for the lack of access. A “coach’s decision” was the reason given for the action on Monday.
“The actions of JSU are dumbfounding,” Executive Editor Sam R. Hall said. “We’ve never faced this issue with any of the other schools we cover. We’ve been through coaching changes, NCAA investigations, losing streaks, you name it, and the schools have always acted professionally and within the bounds of our normal agreements.”