Indiana Public Media’s decision to lay off 18 employees last month was already a heated debate when news from their WNBA team, the Fever, negatively added to the situation. Earlier this week, they revoked credentialed team access of their long-time reporter Scott Agness over three words that he stands by. With the discussion not seeing any positive turn, Agness reflects on what these decisions could mean for sports media.

“We’re seeing – where so many jobs are negatively impacted that I fear for where sports media, just media as a whole, could go,” Agness said on the Yahoo Sports Daily podcast. “And so if someone like me, who is willing to commit — this is my job; this is not, to be clear, my secondary job (or) I do it in evenings only, whatever — and that’s admirable. But this is what I think about when I wake up. This is what I think about before I go to bed, and I have for more than the last decade.

“The other thing that’s more frustrating is that I’ve been around this team for so long. I was even around the team well before that, now more than 20 years. So to be treated like this. To have it over an email, to not have a conversation about it with key figures that I know. It’s just frustrating.”

In May, IPM laid off 14 part-time employees and 4 full-time employees from WFIU/ WTIU due to a lack of state and federal government funding. According to IPM, WFIU/WTIU lost about $1.8 million after the government-aided funding was stopped. The two reporting houses work from Indiana University’s campus and find funding from there. However, a lack of funds might not be the reason for Fever’s decision on Agness.

According to what he reported, the Fever mailed him about the revoked rights after he reported that Caitlin Clark was added to the injury list less than 100 minutes before their season’s first matchup against the Portland Fire on May 20. Agness said that this decision, which opposed the WNBA’s guidelines, was “part of a strategic management plan.” That’s where the problem started.

What these three words could’ve been taken as was that Clark was never really injured, but was entirely removed from the game as a precautionary step.

He wrote that the Fever later barred him for allegedly spreading “inaccurate and unsubstantiated information.” Since then, Agness has reached out to Indiana PR but never heard back. And he has been with the Indiana basketball teams for at least two decades, with his website Fieldhouse Files launching in 2020 to cover both the Pacers and the Fever. But here’s what makes this situation scary for the entire sports media landscape.

The Fever probably doesn’t have a financial crisis to remove a reporter they had worked with for years. Even if a team reasons that they send out press releases, a fan wants to know a 360-degree coverage of the reports. That is exactly what beat reporters and insiders like Agness do.

Agness did update his initial Clark report with head coach Stephanie White mentioning the point guard’s back issue and not a management strategy, but he refused to edit out his previous claim as per the Fever PR’s request. But the timing of these reports also matters.

WNBA requires every team to release its injury reports by 5 p.m. one day before its games. And while they can make updates closer to tip-off, they usually do so when players are listed as either questionable or doubtful. But since Clark’s late scratch came out of nowhere, the league issued a warning to the team. However, it goes on to say that Agness simply reported the facts and what his sources told him.

For now, the Fever stands by its decision. And so does Agness.

The PBWA Backs Scott Agness

For Agness, the main issue stems from the fact that he didn’t even get the chance to make his case, as the franchise didn’t communicate about the issue with him.

While the Fever PR did briefly reach out to him before the Fire game to challenge his reporting, he stated that no meeting or further discussion followed before he was informed that his access had been revoked.

So what began as a reporting dispute has now escalated beyond the team, with media organizations weighing in on the decision. 

“The PBWA objects in the strongest possible terms to any reporter losing access for the act of reporting,” the Professional Basketball Writers Association WNBA Chapter board that includes Howard Megdal, Kareem Copeland, Alexa Philippou, Cassandra Negley, and Sabreena Merchant wrote to Front Office Sports.

“Any effort to prevent reporters from doing the work of informing the public reflects poorly on any team and league which attempts to do so, and runs contrary to the best interests of all involved, most of all the public.”

This is the second time that Agness had his rights by the Pacers Sports & Entertainment revoked. According to his own confession, Agness’ rights to the NBA’s Pacers have been barred for two years now. Then, he was accused of parking in the media parking lot during the 2024 All-Star weekend. He denies that charge as well.

Despite everything, Scott Agness has made one thing clear — he will continue covering the Indiana Fever just like he has.