The cardinal rule of working in the press box is that there is no cheering and all members of the press box remain professional. Part of journalism is remaining unbiased and telling the story of how it is. Cheering or rooting for a certain team can have the resemblance of favoring one side and can affect the credibility you have as a writer.
The press box is seen as an office space in the sports world. As a writer, you attend sporting events to do your job. The venue is a place of work instead of being a fan. Granted the majority of sportswriters went into this profession because of their passion for sports so there are plays that will cause excitement internally but their demeanor should reflect their bearing. Is it possible for writers to remain completely unbiased? It’s hard to say, writers have a strong integrity with their writing because of the credibility factor. Behind closed doors I’m sure there are writers who root for teams. A good idea for writers is to root for a team that they don’t write about. For example, Chris Cotillo of Masslive is mainly a writer for the Red Sox and shows outward support for the University of North Carolina athletics.
No cheering in the press box is an unofficial rule as with in baseball you don’t bat flip after a homerun or next at bat you catch a ball to the ribs. According to Jason Linden of The Hardball Times, “The point everyone seemed able to agree on was that “no cheering…” means that, effectively, it’s an office environment. Beyond that, there was also general agreement that writers are not supposed to root for the teams they cover — even internally.”
The significance of this well-aged unwritten rule is solely based on keeping a professional appearance. I’m continuing to compare this matter to baseball’s unwritten rules because of the similarities. Baseball is littered with unwritten rules and apparently so is journalism. In baseball it’s not regular to see players, coaches, managers, etc to have personalities and if a player is shown to have a personality, they’re often ridiculed. In journalism the same thing applies. One case that stands out is when the Las Vegas Golden Knights accused Nashville reporters of cheering in the press box during a game between the Knights and Predators in December of 2017. The accusations took to Twitter and blew up, there were tweets deleted and apologies galore and there were hints of possible media members losing their credentials over this.
I understand the work side of not cheering in the press box because it is a work environment or an office space scene but an unpopular opinion of mine is that it is an out-dated ‘rule’. I personally can abide by this rule because of the respectfulness factor and the unbiased status of it. I believe that not cheering is just a common courtesy more than an unwritten rule.
Adam's Sports Blog 