USC football has suspended Southern California News Group's Trojans beat writer Luca Evans for two weeks. The suspension came after Evans used a conversation between two players that happened outside of media availability with the team, violating USC's policy and upsetting coach Lincoln Riley.
The Southern California News Group believes the suspension is too extreme of a consequence for Evans' story. They tried to get USC football to overturn their decision by sending in a letter, but were unsuccessful in their efforts.
USC Athletic Director Jennifer Cohen replied to the letter with the following response, “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,” via The Orange County Register.
Article Continues Below“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.”
Luca Evans will still get to report on the Trojans during his suspension, but will not have media access. His suspension ends on September 28th, which means he will miss being around the team to cover their game versus Arizona State.