Out with Public Relations, In with the News Media!

By Emmy Llewellyn

(c) 2008 Associated Press, Photo by A.J. Mast

According to the New York Times, when the New York Knicks franchise hired Donnie Walsh from Indiana as the Knicks' new president, they did not expect him to lessen the restrictions that Madison Square Garden Chairman, James Dolan, instituted on the media in 2001.
Currently the Knicks' policy on dealing with the media is the most restrictive one for any team in the National Basketball Association, according to the New York Times. All Knicks' franchise assistants have to confer with the public relations department before agreeing to an interview or even speaking with the news media.
Dolan originally placed this policy to present a consistent front for teams in the Garden with dealing with the media, according to Richard Sandomir of the New York Times. The reports and interviews were consistent and different reports weren't being given by many people within the Madison Square Garden Arena.
Walsh declared that the new media policy would be less stringent, but did not elaborate. This could mean the end of the public relations step in the Knicks' process of dealing with the media!