By Kabelo Mollo
The one constant we must all accept is change. Those who adapt best to change are those who will best enjoy longevity. There’s a new adage that challenges us to “adapt or die”.
Scary, but true. Who would’ve thought that at some stage Blackberry, BBM and RIM the holding company would be moments in time. A hark back to an awesome time. Who would ever have thought that Nokia wouldn’t dominate the market for ever and a day in terms of hand held devices? Who would’ve known that disruptive entities like Uber and Air BnB would change the face of commerce so much, so rapidly? The future really is now.
Traditional media continues to jostle for position in a market place with entirely unfavourable conditions for it. All the areas they specialised in are being snatched away from them unceremoniously. In depth analysis, profiles of personalities all the way down to the banalities of press conferences being wrestled away from members of the press. The advent of social media and everything that goes with it is making it harder and harder for traditional media to keep the lights on.
Naomi Osaka has made headlines recently for daring to challenge the status quo. She has decided to put herself first. Decided that her mental health is more important than the tournament sanctioned post match press conferences so many of the players tolerate but really have little patience for. The tournament rules all stipulate that players must make time for those appearances. I can imagine being a player, having just been dumped out of a tournament I worked really hard to prepare for, being asked triggering questions like “what happened out there today?” What?! “Did you not see, I lost a dim wit!”
I suppose I haven’t done a media training course so it’s easier for me to be more abrasive, but I reckon I would be a nightmare to deal with. Even when an athlete’s won the competition, do you think they’d rather spend their time celebrating with their team who’ve made it possible or with a bunch of strangers for thirty minutes going over mundanities like “did you feel like this was your time?” and “how does it feel to be a champion?”
The media have always figured themselves to be integral to building the profile and celebrity of sports and other stars. In their view, traditional media especially, it’s a symbiotic relationship. They need the sports stars’ musings for their by-lines, and the sports stars need their catchy headlines to build recognisable brands. Without major publications seal of approval, talented sports men and women aren’t entitled to call themselves superstars.
However, the world’s axis is shifting. The sports stars are using digital platforms to control their own narrative. They telling Joe Public what they want them to know, and withholding what they don’t want them to. That access reporters almost demanded is no longer being afforded to them, and now Miss Osaka the world number two in her sport has gone even further. She has cut off the one area deemed untouchable. An area sanctioned by the tournament it’s self.
Scribes and traditional media players will be bristling with contempt and many have penned ferocious salvos aimed at the person and integrity of the grand slam winner. The French open where Osaka launched this revolution has in turn meted a hefty fine and threatened to ban her. Her response has been to pull out of the competition and go to proverbial ground. She has well and truly chosen her own peace over the melee.
The patently unlikeable and discredited “journo” Piers Morgan has weighed in with his own misogynoir narrative, and as ever has landed far off the mark. Opting to see the matter from only the point of view that suits him. I only mention him because all the pieces I’ve seen attacking Naomi Osaka have the same characteristics. Their all self flagellating nonsense intent on making the media and their profession more important than what it really is. Strange to read this in a news paper column undoubtedly, but true.
As media practitioners we have a duty to ensure we adapt accordingly or risk being obsolete. My suggestion is that those who feel bent outta shape by Osaka’s survival plan, better bend themselves in to a new shape. This revolution will quite literally not be televised.
