A question of ethics in reporting
December 2, 2009
Okay, I admit it. Since last Friday I have made my share of Tiger Woods jokes. On Twitter I’ve written Tiger Woods’ golf clubs break records and car windows, Tiger Woods can drive a golf ball better than an Escalade, etc. But there’s a line and the media has been repeatedly crossing it.
Woods hasn’t confirmed the affair and Rachel Uchitel, the rumored mistress, has been strongly denying having relations with the golfer. Today on his website, Woods posted a statement about the weekend incident.
“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.
“Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.
“Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it’s difficult.”
Ok, it’s not a statement that releases any details about Friday, but it states what it needs to clearly: he apologizes to his family and supporters for his actions and he requests his privacy.
But the media storm continues. Following the accident, Woods announced he was too banged up to play in the Chevron World Challenge. A blog I read yesterday accused Woods of hiding because in 2008, he played at least 10 months with a torn ligament in his left knee, and sustained a double stress fracture in his left tibia and he still won the US Open. Woods was in a car accident! He hit a fire hydrant, a tree, had cuts on his face, blood in his mouth, and was in and out of consciousness when the police arrived. Even if he didn’t have signs of head injuries, you don’t want to mess with that. Playing with a torn ligament and a double stress fracture in the shin for months isn’t a smart move, but sports people love that. Remember Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in 2004?
Earlier today, TMZ released a voicemail Woods supposedly had left on Uchitel’s phone. Any regular US citizen would be horrified to find one of their phone calls or voicemails was leaked on the Internet, regardless if they had something to hide or not. Any regular US citizen would be upset to find personal information about themselves and their family shared on the World Wide Web. But since Tiger Woods is a public figure, it’s apparently okay.
I am not defending or condoning Woods’ behavior, but everyone messes up and he made the public statement that should have sufficed. The media needs to give the family space and focus on more important matters, such as the economy, social security, and Obama sending more troops to Afghanistan.
“Tiger’s my guy,” Shaquille O’Neal told Bleacher Report. “I’m not going to be like everybody else and say off-the-wall comments. I just hope he’s OK. The problem going on is when you have people disguising as media putting out reports, and then people believing what they read. We don’t know what’s fact, we don’t know what’s true. We just hope he’s OK.”
