Tiger Woods "Scandal" Shows Blurry Line Between Journalism and Gossip

Written By Bob Cunningham On Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Tiger Woods, the golfer, is all I barely care about.



With the recent attention given to Tiger Woods and his low-speed, single-car accident that produced no known serious injuries to anything alive (rest in peace, fire hydrant), we also see that the line between legitimate sports journalism and school-girl gossip is getting very blurry.

ESPN and other sports media outlets are going to report on what is going on because most people believe that following sports does not end after the fourth quarter, the third period, the 90th minute, or, in this case, the 18th hole. However, when reputable sports media outlets fall into the gossip side of the story, it's time to step back and re-evaluate.

Facts and facts alone are to be reported by such outlets. Leave it to the people over at TMZ or the fine reporters (use that term loosely) at the tabloid magazines to dig into it and let anyone who has enough time on their hands to be interested to find out from them.

As far as I'm concerned, sports media outlets reporting on every bit of rumor that comes out of a case like this kills their credibility little by little.

Perhaps I'm in the minority on the subject, but when I turn on a program like SportsCenter it's because I want to hear about sports. I want to hear the score of the games, I want to see the statlines, I want to hear about any injured players or any storyline that will actually take place on the field of play.

Unfortunately, every 15 minutes is dominated by the newest rumor in the Tiger Woods incident.

Nike isn't dropping him as a sponsor, he did or did not have an affair, his wife did or did not beat him and attack his car with one of his golf clubs, and whatever other nonsense is coming out that anyone with half a brain could care less about.

Don't get me wrong, something like the death of Steve McNair is in a different category. He died suddenly and tragically and, especially with the seeming incompetence of the police department, it was something that needed looked into.

There's an obvious difference, and a huge one at that, in the minor incident involving Woods and the tragedy surrounding McNair or anyone else from the sports world.

All I'm saying is that the man deserves his privacy and, more importantly, it's not a big deal. He didn't kill someone or himself, he wasn't drunk, and it's not going to affect his golf game. And really, isn't that all we should care about?

That's all I'll say on the subject. Now back to your originally-scheduled Eagles-related news.


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