Tiger Woods remains a wounded superstar
– Charles S. Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, “No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle.” The views expressed are his own. –
Before watching the Tiger Woods statement, because much had been made of the fact that he would be reading from a script and that the few pool reporters present in the room in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida would not be allowed to ask questions, I was prepared to open this review with a pithy remark such as: “It was the farce heard round the world!” or something like that.
I even found initial support for my pre-Woods statement attitude by looking at a map CNN briefly displayed showing the distance between where Woods was going to be speaking before what was often referred to as a mostly “hand-picked” group, and the hotel where most of the press corp would be watching the “event,” unable to perform their customary function of probing and challenging any of the remarks Woods would make.
However, as a long time journalist and media consultant, I must also admit that I was impressed by what Woods had to say and, writing this from my perch in West Hollywood, California, a quick Bentley’s drive from Beverly Hills, I wish many of this town’s often self-wounded “elite” would be brave enough to say only some of the things Woods had to say.
He certainly hit all the right notes: He profusely apologized to his fans, his business associates and, most important, to his wife and family. He took full responsibility for his actions and was open and candid about his need for help and his desire for others to help him. He spoke of his religious beliefs and his own fall from grace. He called his affairs with various women “unacceptable.”
“For all that I have done, I am sorry. I have a lot to atone for,” he said.
But then he said something that I thought truly extraordinary and refreshing.
What Tiger Woods can learn from John Gotti
– Charles S. Feldman is a journalist, media consultant and co-author of the book, “No Time To Think-The Menace of Media Speed and the 24-hour News Cycle.” The views expressed are his own. –
Tiger Woods is taking a beating.
No, I’m not referring to the tabloid suggestions that the golf superstar’s facial injuries were the result of spousal retribution rather than bad driving technique; I’m talking about the pummeling he is getting from the media following the tortuously slow revelations about his reportedly supercharged libido. By some media counts, Tiger may have had as many as ten—count them, ten—mistresses. More of a harem, if you ask me.
Which brings me to John Gotti. Yes, that John Gotti, the now dead former godfather of what is almost cozily referred to as the Gambino organized crime family in New York City.
It occurs to me there is much Woods can learn about how to win back the hearts, if not the minds, of the media from the deceased don.
Gotti, of course, was a cold-blooded killer who died in a federal prison. But before he was finally convicted, the “Teflon Don” — Gotti earned the nickname by repeatedly walking away from criminal trials a free man — enjoyed almost fawning press coverage. In large measure this was because Gotti, or his “advisers”, knew how to play the media — some might argue for fools, but play them he most certainly did.
As a young reporter covering one of Gotti’s several trials, a particular incident stands out. The Queens-based mafia chieftain, clad in camel-colored cashmere, walked past several half-awakened homeless people camped outside the courthouse on a frigid Manhattan morning. With a multitude of television camera crews in tow, he flipped them crisp one hundred dollar bills. Now that is a great publicity stunt.
What you’re saying is, he was too defensive. With this, on the face of it, I would tend to agree.
But not when you compare his “sins” to those of gangsters like John Gotti and definitely not if the whole flim-flam surrounding Tiger Woods is intended, as it may have been, to bury some even deeper-seated, possibly sexual scandal.
Think about that.
Is this guy serious? The tiger woods/MLK connection is spurious. Are you raising this issue as a straw man argument against MLK day?