Taking I'm just here so I won't get fined to the next level...

[laughedatbytime]

What are an athlete's obligations to the media? And do they come at the cost of being able to compete? I have to admit I don't exactly know what her contractual obligations are but this seems pretty draconian to me.

 

https://awfulannouncing.com/tennis/all-four-grand-slams-issue-joint-statement-threatening-naomi-osaka-with-disqualification-and-suspension-if-she-boycotts-media.html

[goose]

It will be interesting to see how her fellow competitors respond.

 

I can see this happening more and more, as too many of the post-match interviews seem to have little value in that the questioning is either trite or antagonistic.

Edited May 31, 2021 by goose

[laughedatbytime]

It will be interesting to see how her fellow competitors respond.

 

I can see this happening more and more, as too many of the post-match interviews seem to have little value in that the questioning is either trite or antagonistic.

Or designed to draw out controversy in the heat of the moment, before the competitors can process what actually happened.

[goose]

Why more players might follow her lead...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AMhTQQxUC8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH5-veO0L5s

[goose]

And, of course, it's not unique to tennis.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2KPPzKJrbg

[The Analog Cub]

I've never been a fan of the athletes having to speak to media as part of their job. It's all a marketing ploy but some athletes only care about their shop, not the soap operas the sporting leagues want to create, or the cookie cutter question/answers you always see in post-games. Some athletes just want to perform in their field, not also be a personality or cultural icon.

 

Mike Trout, Kimi Raikkonen, Marshawn, just a few examples of exemplary athletes who have little tolerance for the politics and drama of it, and just want to do their thing. My opinion is that they should get their way.

[The Analog Cub]

Hell, even some musicians are widely regarded, yet can't stand giving interviews unless it's with someone they can "talk shop" with, see Peart.

[Principled Man]

I have to admit I don't exactly know what her contractual obligations are but this seems pretty draconian to me.

 

Management always fears workers getting uppity. This management staff seeks to make an example of this uppity troublemaker.

 

If the press is that bad, then the only way to fight back is a united boycott by all of the players. One or two boycotters won’t be enough.

[laughedatbytime]

I have to admit I don't exactly know what her contractual obligations are but this seems pretty draconian to me.

 

Management always fears workers getting uppity. This management staff seeks to make an example of this uppity troublemaker.

 

If the press is that bad, then the only way to fight back is a united boycott by all of the players. One or two boycotters won’t be enough.

I'd love to see it. If not in France, at Wimbledon would be perfect.

[IbanezJem]

Pretty strong response from the WTA, and all grand slams are in agreement too about escalating punishments for repeat "offences". I think it may have been a mistake from Osaka to unilaterally decide to skip the press conference, without any conversation with her employers first (which is effectively what the tennis authorities are), but she has a solid point. And she`s still giving the on court jibjab immediately after the match. I think the media and the WTA are wildly overstating the value of "You won. How do you feel?" and "You lost. How do you feel?", and also feel the 30 minutes deadline for the media to hear from a player is tough. I`d want a bit more than that to shower, have a strong drink, punch the wall, blame my coach etc. after a bad loss in a match I may have tailoring my life around for many months.

 

Oh, she`s pulled out of the tournament now. That`s probably a better way to hurt the sponsors and media and organisers and more likely to result in a sympathetic solution.

Edited May 31, 2021 by IbanezJem

[Principled Man]

I think the media and the WTA are wildly overstating the value of "You won. How do you feel?" and "You lost. How do you feel?", ....

 

What was going through your mind when you.....?

 

How important is it to win this match?

 

Do you have a response to [..............], who said that you [......................]?

 

:facepalm:

[IbanezJem]

It will be interesting to see how her fellow competitors respond.

 

I can see this happening more and more, as too many of the post-match interviews seem to have little value in that the questioning is either trite or antagonistic.

"Trite or antagonistic - SOCN could become the Naomi Osaka Tribute Thread :D

[pjbear05]

Pretty strong response from the WTA, and all grand slams are in agreement too about escalating punishments for repeat "offences". I think it may have been a mistake from Osaka to unilaterally decide to skip the press conference, without any conversation with her employers first (which is effectively what the tennis authorities are), but she has a solid point. And she`s still giving the on court jibjab immediately after the match. I think the media and the WTA are wildly overstating the value of "You won. How do you feel?" and "You lost. How do you feel?", and also feel the 30 minutes deadline for the media to hear from a player is tough. I`d want a bit more than that to shower, have a strong drink, punch the wall, blame my coach etc. after a bad loss in a match I may have tailoring my life around for many months.

 

Oh, she`s pulled out of the tournament now. That`s probably a better way to hurt the sponsors and media and organisers and more likely to result in a sympathetic solution.

Exactly. Except I don't see the sponsors causing it, but msm is. Perhaps a big "f--k you" to them will cause them to take notice. OTOH, it could blow up in her-and every other athlete's-face.

[Nova Carmina]

It sounds like she has some other, bigger issues she should be working on first before tennis anyway.

 

And while I agree with nearly all that has been said upthread about dumb questions, or drama creation, etc., let's remember that modern sports are a TV show. They're not exactly built to celebrate the purity of the athleticism, but to celebrate how much money can be made from it, and creating content churn is one of the ways to do that. She wouldn't be one of the highest paid female athletes in the world if it weren't for the media hyping her*, and sponsors wanting a piece of that hype. To pretend the media is somehow some evil "outside" influence is really just a complaint about modernity.

 

(and her talent, of course!)

 

Having to face rote questions after you've been crushed in some key game has got to be one of the weirder things we ask athletes to do, though.

[IbanezJem]

It sounds like she has some other, bigger issues she should be working on first before tennis anyway.

 

And while I agree with nearly all that has been said upthread about dumb questions, or drama creation, etc., let's remember that modern sports are a TV show. They're not exactly built to celebrate the purity of the athleticism, but to celebrate how much money can be made from it, and creating content churn is one of the ways to do that. She wouldn't be one of the highest paid female athletes in the world if it weren't for the media hyping her*, and sponsors wanting a piece of that hype. To pretend the media is somehow some evil "outside" influence is really just a complaint about modernity.

 

(and her talent, of course!)

 

Having to face rote questions after you've been crushed in some key game has got to be one of the weirder things we ask athletes to do, though.

I broadly agree, however... if there ever was a sport that an alien could land on earth and understand within seconds, it`s Tennis (and if this isn`t the case, the alien in question would not have mastered space flight) so it is extremely banal. I also think traditional media is micturating into a headwind as Osaka et al. have their own channels with "content" that is direct, more personal and unfiltered by a reporter. I`m not sure that the next generation of sportspeople are waiting to read tomorrow`s newspaper write-up of Osaka`s performance.

[Rhyta]

I've always hated the whole trend in sports of pouncing on the losing team/athlete and grilling them about why did you lose? Seems like a bunch of sharks attacking the chum in the water. Yes in someways, it comes with the territory that you won't always win so you will be open to those types of pressers. I think she is a young woman who has a struggle with it and as an introvert, her response is to avoid them. Perhaps it would have helped had she reached out with her manager to the officials of the tournament but old habits die hard.

 

And showing exactly why Osaka might not want to face the tennis press day in, day out, while dealing with depression and the pressures of a Grand Slam tournament, here's the opening to a question rising star Coco Gauff faced during … a press conference at the 2021 French Open: “You are often compared to the Williams sisters. Maybe it’s because you’re Black. But I guess it’s because you’re talented and maybe American too.”

 

Serena Williams and others have expressed support for her so this may be a way to start a conversation about how to proceed. Toughing it out isn't for everyone and it would be good to try a more nuanced approach in the future.

Edited June 2, 2021 by Rhyta

[goose]

I've always hated the whole trend in sports of pouncing on the losing team/athlete and grilling them about why did you lose? Seems like a bunch of sharks attacking the chum in the water. Yes in someways, it comes with the territory that you won't always win so you will be open to those types of pressers. I think she is a young woman who has a struggle with it and as an introvert, her response is to avoid them. Perhaps it would have helped had she reached out with her manager to the officials of the tournament but old habits die hard.

 

And showing exactly why Osaka might not want to face the tennis press day in, day out, while dealing with depression and the pressures of a Grand Slam tournament, here's the opening to a question rising star Coco Gauff faced during … a press conference at the 2021 French Open: “You are often compared to the Williams sisters. Maybe it’s because you’re Black. But I guess it’s because you’re talented and maybe American too.”

 

Serena Williams and others have expressed support for her so this may be a way to start a conversation about how to proceed. Toughing it out isn't for everyone and it would be good to try a more nuanced approach in the future.

:goodone:

[goose]

After Osaka skips the French Open over the press conference controversy, Petra Kvitova complies with the press requirement only to suffer a tournament-ending ankle injury while fulfilling her media duties.

 

Right out of a Leslie Nielsen comedy.

[laughedatbytime]

After Osaka skips the French Open over the press conference controversy, Petra Kvitova complies with the press requirement only to suffer a tournament-ending ankle injury while fulfilling her media duties.

 

Right out of a Leslie Nielsen comedy.

Sounded too incredible to be true, but it is...

[laughedatbytime]

https://amp.economist.com/by-invitation/2021/06/04/susan-cain-on-being-comfortable-with-public-speaking-at-work?__twitter_impression=true

 

This would probably be an interesting article, but I don't feel like paying for it.

[goose]

Headline:

We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences

 

"Young athletes are expected to answer the most intimate questions in a cynical and often predatory environment"

 

,,,

 

"On Monday night, after being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka quit the tournament altogether. Meanwhile her stance has been universally scorned by the print media, who as we know have traditionally been the best people to judge standards of behaviour. An “uppity princess”, one newspaper columnist wrote. Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent”."

 

"The real problem here, it strikes me, is not Osaka or even the impressive self-importance of the written media. Rather, it’s the press conference itself, which when you think about it is quite a weird idea, and one that essentially fails at its central function. The great conceit of the press conference is that it is basically a direct line from the athlete to the public at large, that we humble scribes are but the people’s faithful eyes and ears in the land of the gods.

 

In case you hadn’t noticed, this hasn’t really been true for a while. Athletes now have their own direct line to the public, and spoiler: it’s not us. Hard as it is to believe, Osaka’s function as an entertainer and corporate billboard is contingent on her playing tennis at an appointed hour, rather than being forced to sit in a windowless room explaining herself to a roomful of middle-aged men.

 

And so the modern press conference is no longer a meaningful exchange but really a lowest‑common‑denominator transaction: a cynical and often predatory game in which the object is to mine as much content from the subject as possible. Gossip: good. Anger: good. Feuds: good. Tears: good. Personal tragedy: good..."

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2021/may/31/were-not-the-good-guys-osaka-shows-up-problems-of-press-conferences

Edited June 6, 2021 by goose

[laughedatbytime]

Headline:

We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences

 

"Young athletes are expected to answer the most intimate questions in a cynical and often predatory environment"

 

,,,

 

"On Monday night, after being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka quit the tournament altogether. Meanwhile her stance has been universally scorned by the print media, who as we know have traditionally been the best people to judge standards of behaviour. An “uppity princess”, one newspaper columnist wrote. Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent”."

 

"The real problem here, it strikes me, is not Osaka or even the impressive self-importance of the written media. Rather, it’s the press conference itself, which when you think about it is quite a weird idea, and one that essentially fails at its central function. The great conceit of the press conference is that it is basically a direct line from the athlete to the public at large, that we humble scribes are but the people’s faithful eyes and ears in the land of the gods.

 

In case you hadn’t noticed, this hasn’t really been true for a while. Athletes now have their own direct line to the public, and spoiler: it’s not us. Hard as it is to believe, Osaka’s function as an entertainer and corporate billboard is contingent on her playing tennis at an appointed hour, rather than being forced to sit in a windowless room explaining herself to a roomful of middle-aged men.

 

And so the modern press conference is no longer a meaningful exchange but really a lowest‑common‑denominator transaction: a cynical and often predatory game in which the object is to mine as much content from the subject as possible. Gossip: good. Anger: good. Feuds: good. Tears: good. Personal tragedy: good..."

 

https://www.google.c...ess-conferences

It's very rare that I agree with something from the Guardian, but this hits very close to the mark.

[edhunter]

With a final between 30th ranked and unranked women, maybe they'll listen. The announcers were downright bored. Even when it ended the excitment level in their voices didn't rise.

[Principled Man]

Headline:

We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences

 

"Young athletes are expected to answer the most intimate questions in a cynical and often predatory environment"

 

,,,

 

"On Monday night, after being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka quit the tournament altogether. Meanwhile her stance has been universally scorned by the print media, who as we know have traditionally been the best people to judge standards of behaviour. An “uppity princess”, one newspaper columnist wrote. Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent”."

 

"The real problem here, it strikes me, is not Osaka or even the impressive self-importance of the written media. Rather, it’s the press conference itself, which when you think about it is quite a weird idea, and one that essentially fails at its central function. The great conceit of the press conference is that it is basically a direct line from the athlete to the public at large, that we humble scribes are but the people’s faithful eyes and ears in the land of the gods.

 

In case you hadn’t noticed, this hasn’t really been true for a while. Athletes now have their own direct line to the public, and spoiler: it’s not us. Hard as it is to believe, Osaka’s function as an entertainer and corporate billboard is contingent on her playing tennis at an appointed hour, rather than being forced to sit in a windowless room explaining herself to a roomful of middle-aged men.

 

And so the modern press conference is no longer a meaningful exchange but really a lowest‑common‑denominator transaction: a cynical and often predatory game in which the object is to mine as much content from the subject as possible. Gossip: good. Anger: good. Feuds: good. Tears: good. Personal tragedy: good..."

 

https://www.google.c...ess-conferences

It's very rare that I agree with something from the Guardian, but this hits very close to the mark.

 

I agree with it completely. Press conferences are a total farce.

 

Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent.

 

Dangerous, indeed. Dangerous to the careers of tabloid reporters.

[Rush Cocky]

Headline:

We’re not the good guys: Osaka shows up problems of press conferences

 

"Young athletes are expected to answer the most intimate questions in a cynical and often predatory environment"

 

,,,

 

"On Monday night, after being fined and threatened with expulsion, Osaka quit the tournament altogether. Meanwhile her stance has been universally scorned by the print media, who as we know have traditionally been the best people to judge standards of behaviour. An “uppity princess”, one newspaper columnist wrote. Others have more soberly pointed out that for any athlete, facing the media is simply part of the job, and that by seceding from the process entirely Osaka is setting a “dangerous precedent”."

 

"The real problem here, it strikes me, is not Osaka or even the impressive self-importance of the written media. Rather, it’s the press conference itself, which when you think about it is quite a weird idea, and one that essentially fails at its central function. The great conceit of the press conference is that it is basically a direct line from the athlete to the public at large, that we humble scribes are but the people’s faithful eyes and ears in the land of the gods.

 

In case you hadn’t noticed, this hasn’t really been true for a while. Athletes now have their own direct line to the public, and spoiler: it’s not us. Hard as it is to believe, Osaka’s function as an entertainer and corporate billboard is contingent on her playing tennis at an appointed hour, rather than being forced to sit in a windowless room explaining herself to a roomful of middle-aged men.

 

And so the modern press conference is no longer a meaningful exchange but really a lowest‑common‑denominator transaction: a cynical and often predatory game in which the object is to mine as much content from the subject as possible. Gossip: good. Anger: good. Feuds: good. Tears: good. Personal tragedy: good..."

 

https://www.google.c...ess-conferences

 

This pretty much squares with my view of the media in general. "They're not the good guys" is a massive understatement. If you believe in hell, then you must also believe that a whole lot of media members will be in a very hot corner of it.

 

The media sucks. There is so much drivel out there in cyberspace that I just don't give a f--k about, that somebody is making more money than me to cover. Really meaningless crap. It's a sad country we live in now.

 

If I were an athlete, I would refuse press conferences too. I would talk to ONE media member that I trust and have an actual relationship with. The sharks can go to that person for their feeding frenzy. Hell, I might even pay the trusted media member a stipend for having to endure said frenzy.