Tiger Woods Scandal Prompts Outrage, Introspection
Dec 14th, 2009 • Posted in: NewsMedia outlets scrutinize golfer, but also their own coverage
VARIOUS DATELINES
Tiger Woods says he will take an indefinite break from golf following a scandal that has cost him fans and possibly sponsors.
The CTV network reports that Woods said in a post on his official website that his “infidelity” has caused great disappointment to his wife and children. It was Woods’s first use of a word related to adultery since the series of incidents and revelations erupted more than two weeks ago.
An auto accident on the morning after Thanksgiving set off a media frenzy in which numerous women came forward, claiming to have had a sexual relationship with Woods.
CBS News reports that before the deluge, “the married father of two young children had a pristine image and raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in endorsements.”
While most sponsors stuck by Woods in the immediate aftermath of the scandal, a PR expert interviewed by CBS says the empire is in danger. “The more women that come out and the more mistresses we learn about,” so-called reputation doctor Mike Paul of MGP & Associates Public Relations tells the network, “the sponsors certainly have more of an evaluation going on, and there’s increased pressure for them to at least consider dropping him.”
The media firestorm provoked some ethical introspection on the part of the media, including this take by Independent columnist James Corrigan: “There is nothing more ironic in journalism than a column preaching about these vile and inherently wrong intrusions into a sportsman’s family life. ‘We need another page on Tiger, but how do we do that without looking cruel,’ ponders the news-desk editor. ‘Simple. Have another page on Tiger saying how disgusting it is we have all these pages on Tiger. It’ll be a good place to use a picture of [alleged mistress] Miss Grubbs.’”
Veteran sports columnist Frank Deford had this take on the coverage in a piece carried by National Public Radio: “So far as I can tell, the only two specialties in journalism that are expanding today are gossip and sports statistics. Well, we get the kind of journalism we deserve. And the tabloid media succeed so well because they are protected by what we might call the First-and-a Half Amendment: a combination of freedom of the press and the right to shoot from the hip.”
Sources: CTV, Dec. 11 — NPR, Dec. 9 — CBS News, Dec. 9 — Independent, Dec. 6.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Dec. 7 — Related Newsline story, Oct. 5 — Related Newsline story, June 29 — Related Newsline story, Jan. 22, 2008 — Related Newsline story, July 22, 2002.
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