The news broke at 2:38 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday.
Golfer Tiger Woods, one of the most popular and well-known athletes in the world, was involved in a single-car accident near Los Angeles. Emergency personnel on the scene had to use equipment to remove Woods from his SUV. Woods was then transported to the hospital with injuries.
That all came from an official statement released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Soon, social media posted photos and videos of the badly damaged car, and then there was a statement from Woods agent, who said, “Tiger Woods was in a single-car accident this morning in California where he suffered multiple leg injuries. He is currently in surgery and we thank you for your privacy and support.”
And for the longest time, that was it. That’s all that we knew.
Yet, cable news stations, online news sites and journalists had to begin telling this huge story. And, make no mistake, this was a huge story.
As longtime sports commentator Bob Costas told CNN, Woods is bigger than the sport of golf. Woods, Costas explained, has a charisma and magnetism that go beyond sports. Michael Jordan had it. Tom Brady has it.
And Tiger most certainly has it.
“People who don’t know the difference between a birdie and a bogey know Tiger Woods,” Costas said. “That’s why this is the story in America right now.”
Costas is right. It’s why major networks broke into regular programming. It’s why cable news networks turned over their programming completely to the Woods story.
But that also led to potential problems.
As cable news stations and online sites and journalists tried to fill time and space with this huge story, they had to do so, initially, with very little information. Social media users then started wagging a finger, warning journalists and news outlets to be responsible, to not get carried away with misinformation, to not speculate about things that were not known, to stick to the facts even though facts were scarce.
However, if you watched the news across cable news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC and, especially, ESPN, you would’ve found responsible coverage.
About an hour after the accident, there were official reports that Woods’ injuries were not life-threatening, but that he suffered multiple leg injuries.
And at that point, coverage remained responsible, but that doesn’t mean topics were or should have been avoided.
Was it fair to wonder if Woods’ golf career — perhaps the greatest of all time — was in jeopardy? Yes. Was it fair to talk about his multiple past injuries and obstacles? Yes. Was it fair to talk about Woods’ 2009 Thanksgiving Day accident that blew the lid off the scandal that revealed multiple extramarital affairs, which ended his marriage? Yes.
This is all a part of Woods’ life, his career, his story. So are all his victories and professional comebacks. Those are the chapters of his life. Tuesday was another chapter in that story.
And it was also completely fair to mention his arrest in 2017 when police in Florida found him asleep in his car at 3 a.m. with the engine running. Woods blamed the incident on prescription medicines. He pleaded guilty to reckless driving and entered a diversion program for first-time DUI offenders.
Again, this is a part of Woods’ recent past and it is fair to mention, especially because Woods is coming off his fifth back surgery just last month.
There’s nothing wrong with mentioning all of these things as long as it was framed correctly and put in context. That is the key: context. That is, you constantly remind your audience of the facts — what is known, what is not known and what official authorities and spokespeople are saying. And, from what I saw Tuesday, media coverage did exactly that.
The Los Angeles Times was especially strong with its coverage, writing about what it knew, as well as the area where Woods crashed and reaction to the accident.
CNN, using official sources, reported what it knew for certain.
ESPN’s Bob Harig reported sources saying “that Woods has crush injuries of both lower legs, including a compound fracture and a shattered ankle.”
Harig also reported, “Authorities said there was no immediate evidence that Woods was impaired. They checked for odor of alcohol or other signs he was under the influence of a substance, but did not find any.”
Again, this is responsible reporting — quoting authorities, and not making blind assessments or assumptions.
In the coming days, we’ll learn more details about the accident, specifically how it happened.
Here’s hoping the media continues to do the responsible job it has done so far. But let me know what you’re seeing, and whether or not it fits the definition of good, responsible coverage.
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