
and off the field can be -- and often are -- monitored by old and new media alike to say nothing of people with picture phones and Facebook pages. If there is one thing the media likes to talk about, it is the media.
It is with that in mind that one of the key elements of the instant analysis of Tiger Wood's much hyped apology news conference Friday morning that was overlooked was his attack on the media.
Woods' well-crafted statement did all the right things about his personal mea culpa; his focus on his foundation and how his relationship with his wife is private and should remain so. But the guess is -- based on our working with athletes and teams for 20 years in this area -- that he insisted to those who prepped him that he wanted to aggressively attack what he perceived as media inaccuracies throughout this melodrama.
We have always cautioned against going after the media. The reason is two fold: one, they always get the last word and two, more often than not that becomes the focus of an interview or statement. Lumping tabloids and the paparazzi into the mainstream media may sound good at first. It plays well with focus groups and a skeptical public who may love tabloid TV but dislikes their methods.
But, it is also fodder for reporters to go back on the attack on a superstar who has never sought or enjoyed a close relationship with the media. Woods always has thought he didn't need the media -- his spectacular achievements on the golf course coupled with millions of dollars of endorsements made him immune from press criticism. But it was those favorable articles about Woods early in his career that helped translate him from a great golfer who wins big on the tour to a cultural icon who reaped significantly more financial rewards through his commercials and endorsements.
Attacking the media, refusing to allow them to ask even screened or pre-written questions will not endear him to the reporters he will eventually have to face once he returns to the PGA tour. Kobe Bryant, always a source we use in our sessions as a good example of dealing with the media, was able to tap into that reservoir during his problems several years ago. Today it is generally forgotten by reporters. It is that source of good will Woods could have begun to cultivate beginning with Friday's news conference.