From: Poynter.org

Al Tompkins takes a look at a News Director who stands up for his right to shoot a presser.

When Lane Kiffin, the University of Tennessee football coach, was about to have a press conference to announce he was stepping down, unique restrictions were placed on TV cameras.

“In this YouTube video, you will see Bud Ford, the UT sports information director, demand that TV stations shut off their cameras for the first portion of the news conference (in which Kiffin would not take questions) and then record the second portion of the event. The entire statement would be “on the record,” just not on TV. Everybody could run audio recorders.

When WBIR-TV News Director Bill Shory said he could not agree to turn off his camera, Ford pushed back, saying, “You’re in OUR building.” The Athletics Department building is on the UT campus, so it is worth remembering that the building is actually owned by the state of Tennessee. Shory correctly pointed out that Kiffin is (or was) a state employee.”

Read the rest of the story – including an interview with Bill Shory at Poynter.org.