Dec
3
Tiger Woods is an international superstar. His face is one of the most recognisable across the globe. He’s a figure that transcends his discipline – golf – and has become an icon to millions. Moreover despite being the most successful golfer of his generation and probably, before long, of all time, he has earned more money outside the sport than from his golfing exploits. All of these are good reasons for Tiger Woods’ private life to be a matter of considerable public interest.
But there’s an even better reason why Tiger Woods’ personal affairs are not a matter of public interest: he has never courted publicity. Yes, his wife was a matter of public record and she occasionally attended tournaments. But he did not frequently sell pictures to the media. He went to extraordinary lengths to avoid ‘the circuit’ which comes with the game. He didn’t ‘do Oprah’, Letterman or any of the other celebrity programmes where you might see a David Beckham or Tom Cruise. Nor would he be photographed in bars like a Phelps.
Tiger has never even tried to be an icon or purported to be a role model. His advertising endorsements are not based on anything other than his greatness as a golfer. Despite being the most high profile black sportsman in the game (and possibly across all sports) he kept his views on Barack Obama completely private – and never sort to provide leadership on race or integration issues. And he was playing in an sport beset with racial tensions. I looked less favourably on him for that lack of leadership – but can’t doubt his right to privacy.
Tiger Woods’ studious observance of his private life has now been destroyed. His reputation will only be repaired if he decides to further compromise his privacy by giving a ‘personal account‘ of his side of the story. And by compromising his privacy he will legitimise future breaches of his privacy.
This is not a criticism of the British press or the PCC. The UK at least has an agreed code on privacy – even some photos taken in public places are considered private. But the code does allow British papers to report stories which are already available elsewhere. The absence of a similar code in the USA – and importantly the absence of an industry consensus – means the only privacy code is the pact between PR experts and the press.
Ultimately it’s down to us as consumers to reject stories simply because they titillate. But until that point, great yet recluse sports stars will have to balance the pressure of excelling on and off the pitch. For some, that pressure will be too great.
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Tiger Woods is great and golf and i guess she is also great in picking up women,“