Naomi Osaka has this all wrong
Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open today, following widespread criticism of her decision to not talk to the media.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Naomi Osaka is wrong.
© Image: Getty Images Naomi Osaka not speaking to the press at the French Open is wrong.
Her boycott of the media at the French Open is misguided. Worse, it's downright unprofessional.
If the tennis superstar is seriously dealing with a mental health issue — as she announced on social media before the tournament — she should have bowed out gracefully from the event and taken time for herself.
Fans would have been disappointed, but understood.
But to claim she can do everything else, but just can't talk to the media is bogus.
Bravo to the four Grand Slam tournaments who issued Osaka both a fine and a stern warning for her behavior.
The Grand Slam tournaments also said that if she continues to not talk to the media she could be subject to escalating punishment, including disqualification.
Here's a part from the joint statement.
"Naomi Osaka today chose not to honour her contractual media obligations," the statement read. "The Roland-Garros referee has therefore issued her a $15,000 fine, in keeping with article III H. Of the Code of Conduct."
The statement also said this: "As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament (Code of Conduct article III T.) and the trigger of substantial fines and future Grand Slam suspensions (Code of Conduct article IV A.3."
For sure, tennis' powers-that-be mean business and aren't taking this situation lightly.
Many fans will side with Osaka — who issued a warning before the event on social media that she wouldn't talk to the press — and say that she shouldn't be forced to talk to the media if she doesn't feel like it. But like Osaka, they just don't get it.
Osaka delivered a lame tweet in her defense on Sunday after her match. It read: "anger is a lack of understanding. Change makes people uncomfortable."
Osaka simply has this all twisted. Talking to the media and selling the game to fans is part of her job. It's what players sign up for before cashing all those million-dollar checks from playing professional tennis.
The attack on the media is so wrong and dumb. The media is there for the fans. Most media members are just trying to do a job. It's not about us. It's never been. When you blow off the media, you're telling fans they don't matter and don't count. Media members get paid whether they talk to the star players or not.
What can change, and the people who run the events understand, is that media outlets will stop covering events if they can't get access to the stars involved.
It wouldn't be good for the sport.
Osaka's act isn't new and has been tried by many athletes over the years, including stars as big, and bigger, than her.
They have tried to push the envelope with this and all eventually get a dose of reality that this aspect of their obligations is non-negotiable.
The great Michael Jordan once blew off media day at the All-Star Game. He was fined and reprimanded. It never happened again. This season, Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving tried pulling the same stunt, by refusing to speak to reporters who cover his team. The league jumped in and imposed fines. That nonsense stopped.
Here's the other part where athletes just don't get it. Working with the media is a two-way street. These same athletes who dislike the media will invite them to trumpet their good deeds in the community.
Some also want the media to listen and deliver their message, if it's about them fighting for social justice or against police brutality.
Osaka was front and center last year when people took to the streets in protest. The media wrote about her support for Black Lives Matter last June. Google it. But now she has no use for those same people. Fundamentally, it's wrong.
Dealing with the media is real simple. Answer a few questions. If there are questions you don't care to answer, you say "no comment."
After five or 10 minutes, you can bow out and go on about your business.
Sorry Osaka, not allowing sports journalists to simply do their job is unprofessional. And it's wrong.
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I dont follow tennis, but I guess this girl is the heir apparent to Serena Williams.
She thinks , as the biggest star in women's tennis, she can get away with not speaking to the media?
Thats not gonna happen.
She is ranked number two in the world. So what if she does not want to speak to the media. They ask the same questions over and over. She should be able to control her own career and if it means no interviews, so be it.
I agree 100%.
if she was an amateur that would be ok. Professional athletes have an obligation to promote their sport.
Real life can suck. You have to learn to take the good with the bad. Sometimes you just have to be a grown-up.
"have to"?
But...but....that's no fun. And if you can act like a doofus it is easier to be forgiven. (hee hee)
Professional athletes cannot say they will not talk to the media.
She might have got away with it once or twice by claiming she had a headache or something like that. But the athlete cannot have it as a policy. She makes money off the publicity that comes to her matches as then the prize money and her endorsement fees rise, and if she wants to keep making that money she will cooperate with the press.
I think a lot of times, young athletes don’t fully appreciate the fact that it’s public enthusiasm that pays their contracts, and that part of their job is to cultivate that enthusiasm. You can be an elite athlete and not talk to the media, but you’ll be doing it for free.
I wonder what language is in their contracts as far as speaking with the press is concerned. Do tennis players even have contracts when it comes to these events?
The main stream media still trying to pretend it is all powerful and important.
Didn't they learn anything when Trump beat Clinton? They have been replaced by social media. They are as dead as the dinosaurs; they are just too stupid to figure it out yet.
As to the article's asinine premise:
Tell that to Tim Tebow, Adrian Peterson, Michael Jordan, Lebron James, or anyone other player the media has decided to blacklist. The media is there to present their warped, slanted, and most of the time inane view on things.
BS. Most fans love having more direct contact with the players through social media. Most fans could give a rats ass about the media; except to rail against them and their biases.
More BS. If stars refuse to talk to a reporter; that reporter loses their damn job. I don't care what they are covering politics, sports, acting, etc. Their job is talking to the stars and staying on good terms with them. The author's statement shows how delusion the media has become.