Anyone who follows a sport other than what are regarded as the major football codes in this country knows how distorted the reporting can be. When Not the Footy Show was launched back in 2005 we made a note of how many days in the year AFL was not on the back page of the West Australian newspaper, from memory it was around 70 days.
In the past few days following the horrific incident in Brisbane where a man is alleged to have jumped into his estranged wife’s car, doused her and their three children in petrol and set them on fire, we have seen some truly awful media coverage.
Sadly sensationalism sells newspapers, draws clicks on stories and we are told is essential to survive in a tough media environment. Maybe, but there still should be standards set.
For a start if a news outlet is going to run stories surely the journalist should have a by-line, so we the readers know who wrote the story? This used to be compulsory, unless it was a story from one of the news wire services, and then their company name would take the place of the journalist.
Regrettably today where there are any number of cadets and juniors being tasked with filing internet copy, the media outlets simply write things such as “A staff reporter.” This does little to help that young journalist build a reputation, and also helps the organisation avoid any flack should there be feedback on the story. Sadly many of these stories written with such by-lines are often incorrect, but there is no one that you can refer to to try and have the story corrected.
Just as if we are going to give people freedom of speech on social media there has to be a caveat, in that you are ultimately responsible for what you say or write. That applies to all. If it is slanderous or libellous then you must be prepared to face the consequences. As a news service there too must be standards, whereby the stories are accurate, or you face the consequences.
There has understandably been a backlash on the media’s reporting of the incident in Brisbane. Few media outlets highlighted that this was a horrific murderous act, once news of what had transpired started to come through. A mother taking her three children to school was murdered.
Instead the various news outlets focussed on the fact that the alleged perpetrator was a former NRL player. Even that is debatable as the New Zealand Warriors have been quick to point out. The alleged was a contracted player, but never played a single game in the NRL.
The Fox Sports headline “Ex-NRL player Rowan Baxter dies alongside his three kids and estranged wife Brisbane car fire tragedy.” Is understandably the one that has most people hot under the collar.
If what is alleged to have happened is in fact what happened, and in truth we will probably never know, it is indeed a tragedy. Three innocent young children’s lives taken away from them. The headline “’Goodnight my babies’,” from news.com.au, is truly sickening. Such a headline implies affection. The act and the headline simply do not fit.
There is no doubt that divorce and custody is a very contentious subject. Often the wounded party never gets over the loss. The court system can also make things incredibly hard, in terms of access or indeed protecting a parent if the relationship has been a violent one. Yet to resort to murder is unforgivable. For a parent to commit such an act, it tends make the reason for the split appear more understandable.
There are bound to be people who were close to the perpetrator who will look for the good in them, that is human nature, and few people are all bad. However, how they perceived that individual should not in any way detract from the act that has been carried out.
Many of the stories written focussed on the murderer rather than on the victims. Was that because it was easier to say he was a former contracted professional sportsman who ran a gym, than actually finding out more about the lives of those he took? It was almost as if in this sport obsessed country, because he was an athlete we must have sympathy and forgive.
The crazy fact is his estranged wife was also an athlete, having been a trampolinist. However trampolining falls under the umbrella of gymnastics and that is not a major sport in Australia; unless of course they should medal at a World Championships or Olympics.
Regrettably we have seen far too many athletes protected. Whether it is failing a drug test at the club or drinking issues, many clubs and sporting codes will hush these incidents up to protect their ‘asset’ from bad press. Sadly in the long term this does more harm than good.
What happens is that they never realise that their behaviours are unacceptable, wrong, and often illegal and harmful to themselves and others. So once they are released from the protective arms of their club, they continue to behave the way that they always have. The only difference is now they are solely accountable for their actions. Yet the legacy left from being an athlete is what we have witnessed here, their actions are not reported the same way as if a member of the general public had carried them out.
Is this because those writing the stories are fans first and journalists second? How many of these so called reporters are seen wearing team colours when working at an event? Are they simply too close to the sport, or is it that the sport will withdraw access to the players and events if they write a negative story? Which raises the question why are some of the media outlets there? Are they simply a Public relations arm or a marketing tool for that sport due to “media partnership” agreements?
Whatever the answers are, it is time that clubs stopped protecting these players. It is time the media stopped protecting these players. They must be accountable for their actions just like everyone else.
