It is with the utmost respect of The Salt Lake Tribune that Real Salt Lake arrived at our decision to not issue a media credential to one of their columnists.
This issue arises due to the conflicts of interest and personal agendas of one columnist - one who not only draws a paycheck from a competing professional team in the marketplace, but also hosts a daily radio show with a close relative of the former owner.
The individual in question remains fully able to provide his perspective and opinion without a seat in our press box or the access to our players, coaches and executives, as he clearly needs no semblance of reportage or journalistic integrity upon which to arrive at and share his view.
As stated to the Tribune in November, our views have not changed: the staffing decisions are theirs alone to make, and we very much respect that fact.
Conversely, it is our sole prerogative to issue media credentials, and the privileges, hospitality and access associated with that accreditation, to journalists who are professional, fair, objective and unbiased.
This is the central part of our disagreement. At our meeting last November, The Tribune believed their employee to be beyond reproach, while to RSL, the conflict of interest is clear and indisputable.
To be clear, RSL is not trying to control the message, our club is not telling anyone what to write or not to write, but we are simply choosing – in this isolated case – to not invite someone, who we feel is unfair and biased and who possesses a conflict of interest into our house.
We are not prohibiting anyone, including any journalists from The Salt Lake Trubune, from coming to Rio Tinto Stadium and critically reporting their take on the club or event(s).
We have the utmost respect for The Salt Lake Tribune, it's ownership and editorial staff. We greatly respect the work of Chris Kamrani, Kurt Kragthorpe, Matt LaPlante, Aaron Falk and several others who have covered RSL and MLS during our 12 seasons.
During the entirety of our existence, RSL has been consistently applauded for being amongst the most open and accessible clubs in our league and our sport.
Our intent here is not to create an incendiary situation or any hostilities between the organizations. We hope that we can meet in the near future to further discuss the issue.
Respectfully,
Andy Carroll
Chief Business Officer
Real Salt Lake
