It must be correct, first and foremost
Nathan Brown | May 24, 2009
THE media, unfortunately, plays a much bigger part than just about any by-product of the AFL industry and this was no more evident than this week when dealing with the coaching tenure of Terry Wallace. Elements of the media had him sacked, they had him saving his job, they had scapegoats, they had lynch mobs, but above all else, they smelt blood and went in for the kill for the rest of the week.
Was one incorrect story in the digital media saying that Terry had been sacked the smoke that started the fire? Did it create enough of a stir that when proven incorrect, every media outlet thought there must be more to this story and went to work digging, researching, or, for a better word, hunting, whatever they could find, putting together all the pieces — some factual and some fictional — and trying to draw a conclusion that made for the best read? I think with the digital media, it has become more important to be first with a story than to be 100 per cent right with a story.
It was pleasing to see there was an admission of a mistake and an apology with this case and the journalist held himself accountable, something that doesn't often happen and for which people will respect him.
When we are talking and writing about people's reputations, careers and livelihoods, we need to make sure everything in a story is factual.Reputations take years to build, yet can be destroyed in minutes.
At the end of the day or at the end of your career, you have a few things that aren't material that you hold dearly. You have the memories of what you have achieved, the respect of your peers and your reputation.
I believe a few of my teammates have had their reputations called into question on the basis of half-truths and hearsay. I just hope all these people are man enough to admit an error.
There was no a player revolt, there was no player meeting prior to the trouble to discuss Terry and, like everyone else, the media was filling me in on Tuesday. If I had turned off my phone on Monday night, I wouldn't have known we had a meeting on Tuesday morning; I wouldn't have known about the pending storm that was about to hit us.
Kane Johnson has been named as some sort of ringleader, but he found out about Tuesday's meeting at the same time I did. If you believed what you had read, you would think he was some sort of bounty hunter. He is a well-respected two-time premiership player and a former captain.
The facts are that we had a meeting to discuss how we were going to improve, how we were going to arrest a slump that was ruining our season. You need open and honest communication and captain Chris Newman's meeting with the coach was all about that.
Better that than whispers in the changerooms that could tear relationships apart. That's what we got in this meeting — an open, honest forum.
We didn't get to training on time as the meeting went much longer than expected, but the progress we made could be immeasurable — only time will tell. We walked away from that meeting with full confidence in Terry. Stories to the contrary are incorrect.
Chris is a better bloke than just about anyone I've met. I've never heard a bad word spoken of him and that's why he is the captain. He stands head and shoulders above most and to have people suggest he step down as captain is ridiculous and ill-informed.
When a captain gets a feel for something from the playing group, he is required to act upon it. He therefore went to the coach with his thoughts. The playing group wasn't trying to out Terry Wallace, we were all working together, players and coaches, to get our season on track.
Coaches and captains have conversations on a daily basis about where they see the team and how they can improve. They bounce ideas off each other and, at times, they will have differing opinions — whether the team is 1-7, as we are, or 7-1.
Coaches sometimes deliver sprays after games, whether you win, lose or draw — it's part of the caper and to be expected when we lost in the manner that we did last weekend against Port Adelaide.
Pressure builds and people can lose their cool, but a coach needs to be able to spray a player if something has gone wrong.
The spray I heard (given to Mitch Morton, who kicked out on the full while attempting what could have been a match-winning goal on the run in the final minutes) wouldn't even make my top-five sprays aimed at me. Mitch is a great kid, who is extremely talented and when speaking to the media during the week showed that he is also very mature.
We have a board that has been consistent in its message and a trusted football operation manager in Craig Cameron who provides a link between board and playing group. Everyone is working hard together to get things right at Richmond.
Mine is an opinion from inside the club, but I guess everyone will draw their own conclusion about events, rightly or wrongly. But when reputations are on the line, be careful about what speech you are preaching and make sure being first doesn't override being factual.
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/rfnews/journos-should-get-it-right/2009/05/23/1242498972815.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
