USC, Lincoln Riley reverse course on suspending beat reporter after 'productive conversation,' public outcry

USC football and head coach Lincoln Riley have reversed course on barring Orange County Register beat writer Luca Evans from covering the team for two weeks after intense public pushback, both locally and nationally. The revocation of Evans’ credential had been appealed and left in place by the USC athletic administration already.

But after the story broke on Tuesday that USC had barred Evans from access for supposed violations of team and athletic department media policies, the backlash was swift and fierce. And less than 48 hours after the story broke, Riley and USC are backing down after a “candid and productive conversation” between the head coach and beat reporter.

“Last night, I received a call from Luca Evans, and we had [a] very candid and productive conversation. We agreed that we both could have handled the situation differently. I appreciate Luca recognizing the policies we have in place to protect our student-athletes and acknowledging to adhere to those in the future. We welcome Luca back to practice and look forward to his continuing coverage of the Trojans,” Riley said in a statement.

Evans released a statement of his own on Thursday afternoon.

“I respect and understand the program’s outlined policies regarding media access, and any missteps came through intent of doing my job and pursuing relationship-building and storytelling,” Evans said in his statement. “I will continue to same reporting and writing with fairness, accuracy and depth, and reach an agreement to lift the restriction on access.”

The final straw was apparently an anecdote in a story about a USC freshman overcoming shyness

Riley took issue with a story — which focused on freshman running back Quinton Joyner excelling this season and trying to overcome shyness — referencing a conversation between players shortly before talking to the media. USC contended this violated a policy that prohibits reporting on the team outside of media availabilities at the practice facility.

Todd Harmonson, a senior editor for the Register, strongly disagreed with the suspension.

“This is a huge overreaction to what the USC program perceived to be a policy violation. We clearly disagree and stand fully behind Luca,” Harmonson said.

USC has apparently raised previous issues with Southern California News Group — the company that owns the Register — about Evans, including that he asked a question right after a press conference concluded and talked to players and coaches on campus outside of designated media availabilities. The exact instances of these alleged violations of the policy were not spelled out in the Register story announcing the suspension.

The SCNG and Register appealed the decision to USC athletic director Jen Cohen and university president Carol Folt. The appeal was denied.

“As an institution, USC prides itself on treating the media as a respected partner and key constituent. We understand the responsibility of reporters is to fairly and objectively cover stories, news events, and their respective beats. As you know, our media policies exist to protect our student-athletes and promote a culture of trust that is critical to building successful programs. After careful consideration and in alignment with the sentiment above, USC supports the football program’s decision regarding Luca’s two-week suspension. We recognize this may be disappointing, but we hope you can understand the need to enforce our media policies as we strive to create a positive and comfortable environment for our players and coaches,” Cohen wrote, denying the appeal.