Power is in the tape

NFL photo vest controversy has easy solution

By JOHN CHERWA
Tribune Sports Coordinator

Story posted on Aug. 22, 2007

TOM FOX / DMN A television photojournalist tapes over the advertising on his mandated sideline vest during the Dallas Cowboys/Indianapolis Colts preseason game at Texas Stadium on Aug. 9.

The tempest that was the National Football League photo vest controversy seems to have quieted with neither side claiming victory nor defeat. And to figure out how it turned out you have to go to the tape.

Literally.

The problem arose when the NFL announced that photographers would be required to wear a vest at games so they could be easily identified. The problem with the vest is that it contained a Canon logo on the front and the Reebok logo on the back.

This put many of the photographers in violation of various newspapers' ethics policies, which forbids a journalist from advertising a product.

Every major news advocacy organization wrote to the NFL asking them to reconsider. The NFL politely said: "What's the big deal?"

It seems that photographers have been wearing logos on vests at major sporting events for quite some time. The Olympics and Kentucky Derby were cited as two of the events. But no one seemed to notice or care until the NFL mandated the sponsored vests.

In fact, in the upper right corner of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Web site resides a box that lists the logos of the group's "national sponsors": Avid, Canon and Nikon.

Greg Aiello, vice president of public relations for the NFL, did pledge not to increase the size of the logos or to add any more advertising. The logos were relatively small on the vests and could not be picked up by television cameras. Aiello said the sponsoring companies were just helping to cover the costs of the vests and nothing more.

Photographers still did not like being put in the position of having to wear sponsored vests. It's more about the principle rather the size of the logo.

It gets to the core principles of not being beholden to anyone and standing up for core ethical beliefs in an era where monetization seems to be a more common word.

But let's get back to the problem and, hopefully, a solution.

After consulting with officers and the legal affairs committee, APSE President Mike Fannin offers this recommendation to members. Simply take a piece of gaffers tape and place it over the logos.

Simple as that.

Many newspapers have been doing this since the first exhibition game without incident. The NFL doesn't seem to be fazed by this solution. And there is a reasonable expectation that it won't in future because it was never the league's intent to use the vests as a quid pro quo revenue stream with Canon and Reebok.

Fannin does pledge to keep working with the NFL on this and other issues, especially those concerning restrictions on non-rights-holders audio and video.

But for right now, everyone seeking a workable solution to this flashpoint has to, simply, (un)roll the tape.

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