Let newspapers do what they do best

This is in response to Michael Murphy's letter to the editor on Dec. 20 concerning IHSA only being fiscally responsible.

As I understand it, the position the Daily Herald has on the IHSA photo issue is this: Let the Daily Herald and any other newspaper continue to do what they've been doing for years -- cover the high school sports in Illinois.

As a parent of two high school athletes, I look to the Daily Herald for great photo coverage of any and all games my sons competed in, including state playoffs. Daniel White, Mark Welsh, and many others have done a terrific job and yes, I have ordered copies from the Daily Herald Web site. The fact that they are no longer allowed to post their playoff pictures for resale on the Daily Herald Web site is ridiculous.

Let the consumer choose where to buy high school photos from. Why does the IHSA get to choose who can and cannot post photos for resale? They are not taking the pictures, in fact, they've hired Visual Image Photography to do it for them, and this company doesn't even reside in Illinois. They're from Wisconsin!

What happened to freedom of the press? Is the IHSA supposed to be non-profit? Well then they shouldn't be looking to secure a deal with an out-of-state company to have exclusive rights to the photos taken of our Illinois athletes.

It is not the IHSA's job to tell newspapers they can't sell photos taken from IHSA events when without the newspapers, there wouldn't be any written coverage at all. Who cares if the Daily Herald photographers make money taking pictures? The IHSA's mission statement is about "providing leadership in equitable participation in interscholastic athletics and activities that enrich the educational experience". They do a great job of this. Let the Daily Herald continue to do the great job they've done for all these years and give the readers the excellent photo coverage they're used to.

Sheila O'Gara

Buffalo Grove