sportsbarShould sport stars be protected from the media?
April 19th 2008 08:48
With the recent departure of the undoubtedly talented but troubled Parramatta playmaker, Tim Smith, I along with many were left wondering what the role of the media was, were they to blame and what does it say about our society?
It is a two edged sword, what is the responsibility of the media and what is the role of the sport stars? Should they be treated differently from the average person, or are they role models that should know better? Is their personal life really any of our business?
Take the average Barry from Blacktown, if he takes illicit drugs and gets caught he would be lucky to get any media coverage at all, why should he, this is not newsworthy. Why then does Ben Cousins get ostracised in the media and publicly vilified day after day for the same crime? Do we the public have a right to know about his personal life?
The problem started not long ago, with media entities trying to make sport more personal. Trying to align the fan with their idols, thus more and more human-interest stories were created. The idea being that we would become more interested in sport and thus more likely to consume sport products. We were taken in to the homes of our stars, the expansion of media meant that we knew everything about our heroes – from his favourite breakfast, to where he lives and where he spent his spare time… The fans ate it up – and the stars – not knowing where this new found exposure could lead – embraced it…
However, the lines are now blurred and the role of the sport star has forever changed.
Take the drinking culture in rugby league for example, in the old days it was widely accepted and would not make front and back-page news. Player’s openly drank and the media (who often tagged along) said nothing. Same with the Australian cricket team who had an open drinking culture, especially in the late 80’s and early 90’s. David Boon is praised for drinking 52 cans of beer in one flight between Australia and England.
Dean Jones on the incident: “Boonie never set out with the intention of breaking the record, which, from memory, was 46 by Rod Marsh, beating the previous mark of 44 by Doug Walters, but not long into the flight, the Qantas staff advised us that they’d been keeping count, and Boonie was well on target.”
Boonie is held up as an Australian icon – a legend and sponsors have jumped on for the ride – Boonie is immortalised and VB have a Australian Hero pushing their product… Hypocritical… You bet
The event went relatively unnoticed in the media. Fast-forward to the present environment and a sport star doing this would be absolutely hung out to dry. The shift in focus has come rapidly. What can be attributed to this? There is the obvious sport stars becoming role models, but also the shift to professionalism also plays a huge factor in this.
Now days, any athlete caught even slightly drunk is smeared across papers; Sonny-Bill, Candice Falzon, Todd Carney etc. Meanwhile, Cliff Lyon drinks before games, smokes during halftime and not one word is said in anger (he is actually considered by most quarters as a legend…. Rightly so!). My point is the hypocrisy that occurs in the media.
This could not have been more poignant when the Team of the Century was debated late last year… a Collection of historians, media mainstays and ex players converged at Peter Doyle’s on Sydney Harbour to come up with the Greatest team to ever play Rugby League… Now I was interested to listen in when they rolled around to the number 7 and the blatant question was inevitably rolled out surrounding Andrew Johns Inclusion – should his off field discretions hamper his chance to stand alongside history as one of the greats?
A calming older voice – one I didn’t expect to voice such an opinion – spoke up..
“I’m not saying that we should definitely pick him, but I think he should be judged for his deeds on the field and not off it…
“If you cast your minds back to yesteryear – you guys know better than most what the older players used to get up to… These guys were not saints by any means…”
“If we discuss their inclusion without bias – why should Joey be any different?”
Here's the problem.
The type of person and attitude required to succeed in sports, especially violent sports like football, make athletes almost by definition; a tough sell as role models. What makes a player successful on the field; anger, aggression, risk-taking, may not make him someone you want living next door or as a role model for your kids… Anybody thinking of Barry Hall at this stage?
This is where the big question lies, sport stars are people, they are just like anybody else, yet are expected to behave as saints. Teenagers are thrust into the sporting spotlight and expected to become a mature different person overnight. Suddenly every little thing they do is documented, and every mistake is broadcast to the sporting public. Of course they make mistakes, their young, its what we young people do. They are thrust into a glass vacuum and expected never to make mistakes, its just not plausible.
The media could handle things differently, but then again, why would they? Sonny Bill and Candice Falzon’s encounter was undeniably going to sell countless papers. Was it newsworthy in a traditional sense? Of course not, but their celebrity status meant that the story had more weight. Both were publicly vilified from all sides…
There is no escaping the eternal question; what is the role of the media and what is the role of the sport superstar? Personally, I feel that there is way too much pressure on sport stars. They are people just like us and they- like us- make mistakes. It is easy for the journalist to point the finger of blame at them and report every little stuff up. In a way it is hypocritical and vindictive. If the shoe was on the other foot would the journalist want his or her every mistake documented?
Society seems to have double standards, what applies to ‘us’ does not apply to them. In answering this question I have tried to bring in examples of double standards and portray the evolution that has occurred in the media. Obviously this topic as I mentioned above is double sided, and would cause quite a passionate debate.
Personally, I think the old ways were much better, but in modern society things will never be the same again. In trying to be personal we have invaded the privacy of sport stars. Yes, they are role models for the young, but nobody is perfect. The media perpetuates their mistakes and exaggerates them. If the media did not report these imperfections there would be no problem.
Unfortunately – becoming a sport star puts you into the media spotlight – the media spotlight brings you the fame – the fame brings you the money – the money brings you an expected responsibility … And it can all be taken away with one mistake…
It is a two edged sword, what is the responsibility of the media and what is the role of the sport stars? Should they be treated differently from the average person, or are they role models that should know better? Is their personal life really any of our business?
Take the average Barry from Blacktown, if he takes illicit drugs and gets caught he would be lucky to get any media coverage at all, why should he, this is not newsworthy. Why then does Ben Cousins get ostracised in the media and publicly vilified day after day for the same crime? Do we the public have a right to know about his personal life?
The problem started not long ago, with media entities trying to make sport more personal. Trying to align the fan with their idols, thus more and more human-interest stories were created. The idea being that we would become more interested in sport and thus more likely to consume sport products. We were taken in to the homes of our stars, the expansion of media meant that we knew everything about our heroes – from his favourite breakfast, to where he lives and where he spent his spare time… The fans ate it up – and the stars – not knowing where this new found exposure could lead – embraced it…
However, the lines are now blurred and the role of the sport star has forever changed.
Take the drinking culture in rugby league for example, in the old days it was widely accepted and would not make front and back-page news. Player’s openly drank and the media (who often tagged along) said nothing. Same with the Australian cricket team who had an open drinking culture, especially in the late 80’s and early 90’s. David Boon is praised for drinking 52 cans of beer in one flight between Australia and England.
Dean Jones on the incident: “Boonie never set out with the intention of breaking the record, which, from memory, was 46 by Rod Marsh, beating the previous mark of 44 by Doug Walters, but not long into the flight, the Qantas staff advised us that they’d been keeping count, and Boonie was well on target.”
Boonie is held up as an Australian icon – a legend and sponsors have jumped on for the ride – Boonie is immortalised and VB have a Australian Hero pushing their product… Hypocritical… You bet
The event went relatively unnoticed in the media. Fast-forward to the present environment and a sport star doing this would be absolutely hung out to dry. The shift in focus has come rapidly. What can be attributed to this? There is the obvious sport stars becoming role models, but also the shift to professionalism also plays a huge factor in this.
Now days, any athlete caught even slightly drunk is smeared across papers; Sonny-Bill, Candice Falzon, Todd Carney etc. Meanwhile, Cliff Lyon drinks before games, smokes during halftime and not one word is said in anger (he is actually considered by most quarters as a legend…. Rightly so!). My point is the hypocrisy that occurs in the media.
This could not have been more poignant when the Team of the Century was debated late last year… a Collection of historians, media mainstays and ex players converged at Peter Doyle’s on Sydney Harbour to come up with the Greatest team to ever play Rugby League… Now I was interested to listen in when they rolled around to the number 7 and the blatant question was inevitably rolled out surrounding Andrew Johns Inclusion – should his off field discretions hamper his chance to stand alongside history as one of the greats?
A calming older voice – one I didn’t expect to voice such an opinion – spoke up..
“I’m not saying that we should definitely pick him, but I think he should be judged for his deeds on the field and not off it…
“If you cast your minds back to yesteryear – you guys know better than most what the older players used to get up to… These guys were not saints by any means…”
“If we discuss their inclusion without bias – why should Joey be any different?”
Here's the problem.
The type of person and attitude required to succeed in sports, especially violent sports like football, make athletes almost by definition; a tough sell as role models. What makes a player successful on the field; anger, aggression, risk-taking, may not make him someone you want living next door or as a role model for your kids… Anybody thinking of Barry Hall at this stage?
This is where the big question lies, sport stars are people, they are just like anybody else, yet are expected to behave as saints. Teenagers are thrust into the sporting spotlight and expected to become a mature different person overnight. Suddenly every little thing they do is documented, and every mistake is broadcast to the sporting public. Of course they make mistakes, their young, its what we young people do. They are thrust into a glass vacuum and expected never to make mistakes, its just not plausible.
The media could handle things differently, but then again, why would they? Sonny Bill and Candice Falzon’s encounter was undeniably going to sell countless papers. Was it newsworthy in a traditional sense? Of course not, but their celebrity status meant that the story had more weight. Both were publicly vilified from all sides…
There is no escaping the eternal question; what is the role of the media and what is the role of the sport superstar? Personally, I feel that there is way too much pressure on sport stars. They are people just like us and they- like us- make mistakes. It is easy for the journalist to point the finger of blame at them and report every little stuff up. In a way it is hypocritical and vindictive. If the shoe was on the other foot would the journalist want his or her every mistake documented?
Society seems to have double standards, what applies to ‘us’ does not apply to them. In answering this question I have tried to bring in examples of double standards and portray the evolution that has occurred in the media. Obviously this topic as I mentioned above is double sided, and would cause quite a passionate debate.
Personally, I think the old ways were much better, but in modern society things will never be the same again. In trying to be personal we have invaded the privacy of sport stars. Yes, they are role models for the young, but nobody is perfect. The media perpetuates their mistakes and exaggerates them. If the media did not report these imperfections there would be no problem.
Unfortunately – becoming a sport star puts you into the media spotlight – the media spotlight brings you the fame – the fame brings you the money – the money brings you an expected responsibility … And it can all be taken away with one mistake…
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