A trip out to Monument Park in Yankee Stadium reveals a collection of baseball legends - Babe Ruth, Micky Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio. They were treated like celebrities and royalty, getting anything they wanted, Marilyn Monroe included. Being treated like a celebrity these days, however, is very different than it was in the 20th Century.
Welcome to the new age of sports journalism: last week, the New York Post chronicled a late-night exploit of Yankee third-baseman Alex Rodriguez with a "mystery blond," complete with a picture of the two and their schedule for the night. The paper has gone so far as getting fan reaction of the "news" and witness accounts from people who have seen A-Rod with the woman in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Dallas. The Post isn't the only paper on the story, as the less-tabloidy New York Daily News also digs deep with their foray into this travesty of investigative journalism.
This kind of paparazzi treatment had been reserved for movie stars and British royalty/the Bekhams. In this digital age, websites like TMZ.com and various blogs like PerezHilton.com rely on camera phones and legions of rabid readers ready to get a picture at any time. Athletes have found embarrassing situations and their personal relationships exposed on the internet, but delving into a player's personal life to this degree is new for mainstream print media, away from the sensational, gossip-filled tabloids at the newsstand and next to the daily dish of news. Journalists are no longer protecting the athletes' exploits as they have in the past, when leagues worked with the media to upkeep the most pristine image of their players and their game. And fans are eager to become news makers rather than news consumers.
By paying for the exclusive rights to the photo, the New York Post has opened the same can of worms that the National Enquirer and Star have - creating a market for pictures of athletes in salacious situations. Why would a photographer be one of 30 others trying to get the best shot of Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton when they can be one of three trying to do the same with an athlete-celebrity like A-Rod or Peyton Manning? If they're paid well, they have no reason not to stalk athletes like they do Hollywood's finest. The tactics of blogs and websites that conventional media scoffed at just ten years ago are now being employed by those very detractors.
Does this mean a throng of photographers will be camping outside of LeBron James' house? Will they wait outside of a team's practice facility like they did for Michael Jordan? Jordan found a way around it - he sped his car up and exited the parking lot with such speed, no one could follow him. He even employed police escorts.
The day where all athletes need to consider such precautions seems to have arrived. Legitimate print media is only fulfilling the demand sports fans have to know the personal lives of the athletes that the fans invest so much of their time and money into. This kind of interest in the private lives of sports stars unfortunately isn't going to go away, meaning athletes won't be able to have many secrets.
As unfortunate as that may be, this is the new territory of professional athletics and sports stars must learn to protect their own persona.
good points...media is escalating the situation and turning athletes lives into that of Paris Hilton (who asks for the paparazzi to follow her, knowing she's nothing without them)..but when your competitor posts or prints a story or photos ..what does the next paper or website do but hop in. I'm hoping its limited to NY Post and tmz.com, but doubtful.
Posted by: Debbie | June 12, 2007 at 03:23 PM
So, the question becomes, which athletes get shot? OK, Lightning A-Rod is a bad example; but why would any member of the pap stake out Peyton Manning? On the off-chance that he'll take a late-night drive to "Red Lights R Us?" The "puppy teams" do this to make money, and if an athlete is boring, there's no money to be made. Translation: Don't get drunk in public and grope co-eds, and you won't find yourself on Deadspin.
Posted by: Miguel | June 13, 2007 at 10:48 AM
If you can get that one picture of Peyton doing anything remotely salacious, it probably would be worth a lot of money.
Posted by: pree | June 14, 2007 at 04:23 PM