A new practice was put in place at University of Idaho that severely disappoints Post editors.
The score of Thursday night’s regular season opener doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. The real loser is the University of Idaho athletics department.
The university’s football program is embattled, to put it lightly. The Vandals might soon lose their status as a football-only member of the Sun Belt Conference.
Last month, coach Paul Petrino returned almost $400 worth of clothing some of his players stole from a university bookstore. The bookstore declined to file charges.
Perhaps most concerning for us, though, is the team’s new media policy.
Following Petrino’s alleged tirade against a local news reporter who, as Petrino said at the time, produced negative coverage of the team, the Vandals are only allowing pre-approved reporters attend their practices, besides those specifically designated otherwise.
Journalists working at Idaho’s independent student newspaper, The Argonaut, and the Lewiston Tribune heard from the Vandals, who said they could attend practice.
It’s unclear if Petrino’s alleged encounter, which he and Idaho Athletic Director Rob Spear later denied took place, spurred the change on media rules.
Regardless, the policy appears to be a dubious, knee-jerk reaction to the Idaho coach’s apparent inability to deal with local media.
We applaud the Tribune and Argonaut for deciding against attending further practices while the policy remains in place.
We stand with the affected reporters and urge Idaho Athletics to rescind this discriminatory practice.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: Editor-in-Chief Emma Ockerman, Managing Editor Rebekah Barnes, Opinion Editor Will Gibbs and Digital Managing Editor Samuel Howard. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
