So, here's my take on the Tiger Woods car crash that has been in the news. Is this really newsworthy? He got in a crash, no major injuries that we know of, it was a solo vehicle accident, his wife got him out of the car and he went to the hospital and was later released. Those are the facts that we know; sadly, the reason this is a news story is the speculation and rumormongering that has become the news business. I am in the business and sadly, you can see it everyday in one story or another. Working on Sunday, our network headline bottom of the hour story was Tiger Woods and not the fact that four police officers were brutally shot in Washington. What I want to know is when did TMZ and the National Enquirer start becoming legitimate forms of journalism? Is there more to this story? I'm sure details will come out one way or another. The fact that this involves the world's most famous athlete makes it a story...but let's be careful and not start blowing things out of proportion. I'm not a huge fan of Tiger Woods but am an avid golf fan. I respect his golf skills and feels he's a once in a lifetime athlete that we may never see the likes of again. But I also respect his wishes to keep this private, even though he is such a recognizable public figure. He has that right as we all would if we were in his situation. But unfortunately, I don't think this story will die and it will be dragged out until something comes out, whether good or bad. It is really one of the first "scandals" he has been involved in and it will be interesting to see how he handles it. But, now people realize why he has not been very forthcoming in speaking out on issues in the past. He wants his private life to be private, no matter how big his public persona becomes. He will never be Muhammad Ali, speaking out against what he felt was wrong with society. That's just not his nature, even though he is probably a very bright, well-spoken guy who has a different worldview than others. Unfortunately, this story will probably not die because the news media won't let it. Bad journalism is journalism filled with rumors, accusations and false reporting...where are the days where reporters actually go the source of the story and try to find out the truth, rather than restating something from another, less reliable source. Reporters should be held accountable for these actions. In the end, it's just one in the line of journalistic behavior these days, a life of soap opera type stories filling our front page.
