COLUMN: Not bad – for photographers

     I spent much of last week worrying about what kind of access I was going to be able to get for shooting photos at the State Wrestling Tournament, with the new media access rules being put into place.

     You may have followed some of this, that the Iowa High School Athletic Association had sold coverage rights to the Iowa High School Sports Network (IHSSN). And the IHSSN was suddenly going to call the shots on what media would be allowed where, and when.

     One of the new rules involved photographers having to stand behind barriers to shoot matches, instead of kneeling or sitting matside. Since shooting photos is the main thing I do at State, this caused me at least a couple hours lying awake in the middle of the night, worrying about how this all would work. Would I be close enough to the action to get decent shots? Would my view be blocked?

     Turns out, I worried about nothing. It was fine. For photographers, it might even have been slightly better than before.

     The barriers were only one side of the arena, by the odd-numbered mats, 1, 3, 5 and 7. And the barriers, the padded, portable kind, were only about three feet high, and were pushed right up against each mat, so I was just as close as always.

     There was plenty of room to stand and shoot, and my view was never obstructed. And on the other side, for the even-numbered mats, there were pads on the floor, right next to the mat, just like always, for photographers to sit and shoot.

     With the press rows gone, there was more room to move from mat to mat. So, with the exception of one Maquoketa Valley match I didn’t get to on time because of congestion along one side, I was in place before each match began. I only missed the first few seconds of that MV match, which went the distance anyway.

     I do see how the daily newspaper people, who in the past could sit on press row in the arena with their computers, could squawk. They were used to watching each match live, getting up to go interview their area wrestlers, and then returning to their work stations, which provided full view of the action.

     This year, they had been relegated to a back room, where they could watch the matches on TV screens. I peeked in to see what it looked like, and it was small and crowded. They could still come out to do interviews and such, but then had to return to the room to get their typing and photo editing done.

     I felt for them. You spend the whole season following and covering these high school athletes, and when they finally get to appear on the biggest stage, you have to do much of your work in front of TV screens. They probably could have provided similar coverage from their living rooms.

     So while those of us who were there primarily for photos didn’t have it bad, I’m sure there will be plenty of media complaints from others.

     It will be interesting to see how this is handled next year.