| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 08:53 - Jul 28 with 781 views | Keno |
Thats a very movingly written article.
It reminds of a conversation I had about 10 years with a retired highly regarded journalist who's biggest concern that with the rise of rolling 24 hour news there was being created what would become media monster. A monster that rather than simply reporting and commenting on events would start to eat anything and everything in its path in order to satisfy its need to create sufficient news for itself.
The bigger its gets the more it will want to eat and the hungrier it will become |  |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 09:16 - Jul 28 with 754 views | Oldsmoker |
An excerpt from an article in the Independent which is also worth reading.
"If you have something to say about Biles and Osaka taking breaks for themselves that aren’t just well-deserved, but very clearly needed, I’d love to see if you’re capable of performing on the same physical or mental levels as them. Are you waking up every morning to train? Restricting your diet to the healthiest foods on the market? Sacrificing the fun of your twenties to represent your country in an international sports competition? I didn’t think so."
The article is a defence of black women in sport and the racism they face when they fail to deliver.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/simone-biles-olympics-naomi-osaka-b1891633. |  |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 09:57 - Jul 28 with 713 views | Darth_Koont |
Excellent article.
I’d also like to add a mention for Don’t Tell Me the Score podcasts that regularly get inside the minds and mental health of athletes. The one with John Kirwan (NZ rugby legend and now helping people with mental health issues) is very powerful and inspiring.
I think what’s important to remember is that despite these people “living the dream” and being superhuman in a facet of performance, they’re 100% human in the rest of life – and it’s that contrast and difference in expectation from themselves and others that can easily cause problems. |  |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:15 - Jul 28 with 701 views | Darth_Koont |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 08:53 - Jul 28 by Keno |
Thats a very movingly written article.
It reminds of a conversation I had about 10 years with a retired highly regarded journalist who's biggest concern that with the rise of rolling 24 hour news there was being created what would become media monster. A monster that rather than simply reporting and commenting on events would start to eat anything and everything in its path in order to satisfy its need to create sufficient news for itself.
The bigger its gets the more it will want to eat and the hungrier it will become |
I’d agree with that. There isn’t enough real content for 24 hour news (we could have a Reuters/PA-style press feed just confirming things happening around the world but that would be exhausting and confusing in a different way).
Instead we get news cycles and themes of certain highlighted events with the gaps filled by pundits, politicians and the public giving their opinions and creating shadowy, gossipy political intrigue, contextless snapshots of complicated geopolitical situations or heaps of tragedy amplified because of the “human drama”.
But it’s voyeuristic and because we don’t learn anything just repeats itself the next day, month or year. On and on and on.
If you want an insight into our overall slipping journalistic standards then 24-hour news is the swirling vortex that’s flushing them away. The rise of “slow journalism” (or “journalism” as I like to call it) that gives people the time to investigate, read and finally understand hopefully can start countering that.
But I’d suggest people switching off and ignoring the drip-feed is the healthiest way to go for all. | |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:21 - Jul 28 with 677 views | lowhouseblue |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:15 - Jul 28 by Darth_Koont |
I’d agree with that. There isn’t enough real content for 24 hour news (we could have a Reuters/PA-style press feed just confirming things happening around the world but that would be exhausting and confusing in a different way).
Instead we get news cycles and themes of certain highlighted events with the gaps filled by pundits, politicians and the public giving their opinions and creating shadowy, gossipy political intrigue, contextless snapshots of complicated geopolitical situations or heaps of tragedy amplified because of the “human drama”.
But it’s voyeuristic and because we don’t learn anything just repeats itself the next day, month or year. On and on and on.
If you want an insight into our overall slipping journalistic standards then 24-hour news is the swirling vortex that’s flushing them away. The rise of “slow journalism” (or “journalism” as I like to call it) that gives people the time to investigate, read and finally understand hopefully can start countering that.
But I’d suggest people switching off and ignoring the drip-feed is the healthiest way to go for all. |
'24 hour news' also gives more space for editorialising. if you have to fill a constant cycle you can go looking for stories which illustrate a theme or develop a particular narrative. you have an opportunity to create news to fit a line and then to link stories together to exaggerate or drive an agenda. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:25 - Jul 28 with 661 views | Radlett_blue |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 08:53 - Jul 28 by Keno |
Thats a very movingly written article.
It reminds of a conversation I had about 10 years with a retired highly regarded journalist who's biggest concern that with the rise of rolling 24 hour news there was being created what would become media monster. A monster that rather than simply reporting and commenting on events would start to eat anything and everything in its path in order to satisfy its need to create sufficient news for itself.
The bigger its gets the more it will want to eat and the hungrier it will become |
I think the big difference is the greater intrusion into sporting stars' personal lives. Maybe it's possible for someone to shun social media and bat away any personal questions, while fulfilling their media responsibilities, which are part of making a professional sport financially lucrative.
Those who go into professional sport would do well to question their own motivation for doing so. |  |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:26 - Jul 28 with 656 views | lowhouseblue |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 09:16 - Jul 28 by Oldsmoker |
An excerpt from an article in the Independent which is also worth reading.
"If you have something to say about Biles and Osaka taking breaks for themselves that aren’t just well-deserved, but very clearly needed, I’d love to see if you’re capable of performing on the same physical or mental levels as them. Are you waking up every morning to train? Restricting your diet to the healthiest foods on the market? Sacrificing the fun of your twenties to represent your country in an international sports competition? I didn’t think so."
The article is a defence of black women in sport and the racism they face when they fail to deliver.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/simone-biles-olympics-naomi-osaka-b1891633. |
what i don't understand, and this isn't critical because i simply don't know the answer, is why leading sports people, who make so many constant sacrifices in order to excel, don't cut themselves off from social media in order to protect themselves. just don't use the platforms other than for friends and family. you don't have to engage with all the evil stuff which is out there. | |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:34 - Jul 28 with 629 views | Darth_Koont |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:21 - Jul 28 by lowhouseblue |
'24 hour news' also gives more space for editorialising. if you have to fill a constant cycle you can go looking for stories which illustrate a theme or develop a particular narrative. you have an opportunity to create news to fit a line and then to link stories together to exaggerate or drive an agenda. |
Yes, I think that’s right.
A case in point was Syria which I avoided at the time because I couldn’t really get a grip on what was actually happening despite massive coverage. Because it just looked like competing stories and a lot of grey areas in between. Now it’s slipped off the news cycle but sorting through the detritus to understand what went on and is still going on (bad faith, propaganda and a casual attitude to human life on both sides is where I am now) is very difficult. Trying to get an objective truth will be the job of historians in all likelihood.
Returning to the sports theme though, you can see how that tendency to get an angle, build content and a story has crept into sports too. I didn’t see it but that reporter asking Tom Daley about his dead father after winning gold seems utterly ridiculous, and purely designed to fit this story telling/theme-building tendency. But in that way, Tom Daley becomes a commodity to exploit, a raw material to extract, rather than a human being. | |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:39 - Jul 28 with 616 views | lowhouseblue |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:34 - Jul 28 by Darth_Koont |
Yes, I think that’s right.
A case in point was Syria which I avoided at the time because I couldn’t really get a grip on what was actually happening despite massive coverage. Because it just looked like competing stories and a lot of grey areas in between. Now it’s slipped off the news cycle but sorting through the detritus to understand what went on and is still going on (bad faith, propaganda and a casual attitude to human life on both sides is where I am now) is very difficult. Trying to get an objective truth will be the job of historians in all likelihood.
Returning to the sports theme though, you can see how that tendency to get an angle, build content and a story has crept into sports too. I didn’t see it but that reporter asking Tom Daley about his dead father after winning gold seems utterly ridiculous, and purely designed to fit this story telling/theme-building tendency. But in that way, Tom Daley becomes a commodity to exploit, a raw material to extract, rather than a human being. |
absolutely. and i'm afraid that i do often find that the bbc news website is one of the worst for themed based reporting. it too often muddies magazine style articles with news articles - and you think 'how is that possibly news' and then you read it to see that it fits with some broad issue they are seeking to promote. | |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:39 - Jul 28 with 615 views | Guthrum |
| Barney Ronay on sport and pressure is well worth reading today on 10:26 - Jul 28 by lowhouseblue |
what i don't understand, and this isn't critical because i simply don't know the answer, is why leading sports people, who make so many constant sacrifices in order to excel, don't cut themselves off from social media in order to protect themselves. just don't use the platforms other than for friends and family. you don't have to engage with all the evil stuff which is out there. |
It's probably quite difficult to do that. Even if one disregards the phone-hacking scandal, it only takes one slip, a mistake by those family and friends - or even a deliberate leak by one of them - and the whole thing is blown open.
When you're a young person constantly on the road, maybe worldwide, cutting out social media leaves you cut off from any semblance of normal life, interests and hobbies, any escape from the intense bubble of trainng, competition and expectation. |  |
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