Dear CoSIDA Member:
Last year, the U. S. Basketball Writers Association created a task force to examine issues related to the credentialing of online entities and websites.
The task force developed a set of guidelines and best practices to help sports information directors, conference officials and others make decisions about credentialing online entities covering college basketball.
You can access the guidelines and an application to apply for online credentials by clicking on this web link:
http://www.sportswriters.net/usbwa/credentialing/
The application is for online entities wishing to be endorsed only and only those covering college basketball games. The USBWA will not be endorsing individuals and individuals need not apply.
The deadline for online entities to apply for credentials is Sept. 1, 2014. Several national sites have already been endorsed by the USBWA task force. These are posted on the USBWA website (
usbwa.com) and through the link above.
A task force subcommittee comprised of Chris DiSano of College Chalktalk, Randy McClure of Rush the Court and Kirk Wessler of the
Peoria Journal Star will review all applications and determine whether an online entity meets accepted standards to receive credentials. We will post the endorsed sites on the USBWA website and provide the list to conference and school officials.
It is important to note that schools and leagues retain the rights to grant or refuse credentials to any organization. The USBWA guidelines are simply an additional tool to help SIDs and others determine the legitimacy of a specific online entity.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of the members of the USBWA task force subcommittee listed below.
Thank you.
Chris DiSano, College Chalktalk (
chris@collegechalktalk.com)
Randy McClure, Rush the Court (
rushthecourt@yahoo.com)
Joe Mitch, USBWA (
mitch@usbwa.com)
Kirk Wessler, Peoria Journal Star (
kwessler@pjstar.com)
The full USBWA online credentialing task force includes the following individuals: DiSano; McClure; Mitch; Wessler; Gerry Ahern, USA Today/APSE; Rob Carolla, Big 12 Conference; Dana O'Neil, USBWA president/
ESPN.com; Brian Morrison, ACC; Pat Pierson, University of Arkansas; and Dan Wallenberg, Ohio State.