News Media Robbing Australian Athletes of Privacy
Courtesy of digital technologies and news media, we now know everything about the lives of sporting stars. From their drunken victory parties to their latest relationship status, we know about it. We have VIP access to their personal lives, begging the question whether they have the right to privacy.
Previously, Australian athletes did not face the media scrutiny that exists today. Their connection and interactions with fans were on game day alone and their lives outside their professional careers were private. Nowadays, the life of athletes is monitored 24/7 due to the ever-changing role of journalism and the advancement of digital platforms.
With commercial interest at hand and technological disruption to the sector, it is no surprise that the public questions the nature and quality of journalism today. This turn of events means that today the public are informed about what they want to know, not simply what they need to know.
Australian Policy
Unlike other countries, Australia has no law that guarantees an individual privacy from the media. Essentially, this leaves sporting athletes out to dry with nothing being off limits.
The journalism Code of Ethics states that journalists ‘respect private grief and personal privacy’ and must ‘resist compulsion to intrude’. This is the only reference to respect of privacy and only relates to the death of a loved one, an assumed act of human decency.
As a result, it seems the privacy of Australian athletes is becoming more of a luxury than a basic right. The moment they walked onto the field and agreed to sign their autograph they became public property.
Let’s consider Nick Kyrgios as an example. Labelled as the “bad boy” of tennis, he is constantly under scrutiny for his pregame behaviour and nightlife antics. The never-ending news cycle captures his every move and tears him to shreds as a result. The ramifications of this media scrutiny is clearly disruptive to Kyrgios, with him admitting that he sees two psychologists for his mental health.
But as the saying goes, it takes two to tango. As a society we tend to be more interested in Kyrgios’ childish episodes than in his training regime, and hence he cannot misbehave without an audience watching. Despite the media backlash he receives for his poor behaviour, Kyrgios has escaped cancel culture with his prominent social media presence of 1.2 million Instagram followers. Inevitably, this continues the vicious cycle whereby journalists are encouraged to invade his privacy to meet public interest.
Privacy Invasion
Chief Executive of Australia’s Professional Footballers Association Brendan Schwab also discusses this extensive coverage and directly blames the media for driving the various forms of privacy invasion. From his point of view, athletes are already under enormous pressure and don’t need the media to add to this by invading their personal lives.
The lack of media regulation surrounding journalism leaves our athletes disempowered, as discussed by Margaret MacNeill. Back in 1997 she recognised the unjust ethical codes that existed and predicted journalists would be straying from these guidelines… And she sure hit the nail on the head with that! I wonder if she could foresee the media’s explicit investigations into the Bulldogs naked mad Monday antics or the scarring bubbler photo that cost Todd Carney his career.
This is not to say that the media doesn’t deserve to call out athletes’ wrongdoings. Take David Warner’s recent experience, for example. His being shamed by the media for the ball-tampering scandal is justified because of his unsportsmanlike behaviour. In this scenario the media have taken on the role as a watchdog, holding people to account. However, the revelation that his marriage is ‘on the rocks’ is completely irrelevant to his professional career and an invasion of his personal life.
All in all, it seems that being an athlete is not as glorious as we might envision it. On one side, they have the opportunity to represent their country, compete with the best and are paid to play the sport they love. But on the other side, being in the limelight comes with immense pressure.
James Radford calls out the perceived glamorous life of athletes in his article ‘Who’d want to be a sports star in the social media age?’, exposing the harassment and abuse they face every day. He reveals the added pressures from the public, media, sponsors and employers that come with sporting fame.
Not only does their performance leave them exposed to media criticism, but aspects of their personal lives are fair game too. But what does this mean for the future of Australian athletes?
Whether we like it or not, 24/7 news media coverage is here to stay. Until media regulation takes a stricter stance, the invasion of privacy will come alongside the professional sporting careers of Australian athletes.
