“We’re not just athletes or entertainment, we’re human, too, and we have emotions and feelings and things that we’re working through behind the scenes that we don’t tell you guys about” (Teen Vogue)
— Simone Biles, post retirement from the Tokyo Olympics
People love sports. From alleyway soccer games to Sunday golf tournaments, the vast majority of the world has spent some amount of time watching, playing, or talking about these uniquely human displays of athleticism. Yet, in the world of big sports, and the media that accompanies it, people often forget that the players they love so dearly are more than just tools for their entertainment, and no matter how much time they spend cheering or booing, they don’t actually know the individual under the spotlight.
I am a pretty casual watcher of sports, but a decently serious reader of the media that stems from it. Though I try to stay away from the worst pieces, I am often unable to. Like other forms of celebrities, major athletes cannot escape the prying eyes of camera lenses and reporters. Everything they say and do is scrutinized and criticized, on and off the playing field. For viewers, this influx of media provides an illusion of knowledge. And when people think they know something, they often want to share it.
Whether it is output as simplistic as that found on social media, or that of the lengthy articles produced from big-time journalists, people rarely hesitate to divvy out their “expert” opinions. Remarks that in most other senses would be considered baseless cruelty are thinly disguised as credible fact. Videos and interviews are dissected and twisted to become declarations of something that isn’t even remotely in the scope of reality (see: Drive to Survive).
Why does this pass for good journalism? It is no wonder so many athletes struggle with mental health. They are constantly being talked about without a shred of human decency. They are subject to ruthless assumptions and vastly incorrect portrayals. It seems that everyone wants to be right so badly that they will forgo their morals and the truth to get there.
I’m not saying it is wrong for media creators to have an opinion; I’m saying that with the modern age, media is losing its professionalism. Good journalists should be able to develop their opinions maturely. Headlines do not have to be “Brock Purdy was the most underrated quarterback in the NFL. Now, he might be the most overrated one” or “Lando Norris ‘hates everyone’ as he eyes F1 title comeback” to get views (the former is a case of opinion masquerading as fact, and the latter is a quote taken out of context just to garner attention). Like Biles explained, these athletes are real people, trying to perform under immense pressure. They are putting in insane amounts of effort to meet the expectations placed on them by their teammates, fans, management, and their own minds. Of course they mess up!
As enjoyers of their discipline, their effort, their time, media producers owe athletes the courtesy of keeping media output based on fact and opinions stated with respect.
One of the worst angles of this malevolent side of sports media is that it is often that so many people are busy distorting something trivial that they fail to focus on meaningful aspects of the game or worse yet, actual crimes. If you want to write cruel articles, write about the athletes that actually do cruel things. I assure you, there’s plenty of them.
Ultimately, this devolution of sports media falls the hardest on the one of the parts of athletes that isn’t seemingly superhuman: feelings. Nobody wants to be lied about, and nobody wants to be talked about unkindly. Athletes know when they make it to the big leagues that they will have to face the consequences of fame, but just because it is the way it is should not mean it is the way it has to be. If we bring basic respect into journalism, we improve the quality of life for athletes, and thus that of the world that watches them.