The Scandal of Tiger Woods - Research Paper Example

?Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Table of Contents Summary 3 Background 3 Role of the Mass Media 6 Presentation of the Scandal by the Media to the Public 6 Public’s Reaction to the Scandal 8 Aftermath of the Scandal 11 References 13 Summary There is absolutely no doubt that in this 21st century, media has become one of the most powerful tools that plays a unique and extremely crucial role in governing the direction of the society. Opinions of the mass audience can change overnight and the celebrities can become infamous with just one wave of the media. This can be observed from the scandal of Tiger Woods which is better known as the “The Tiger Woods Sex Scandal”. Background Tiger Woods is one of most brilliant, successful and famous golf players. His career comprises of a series of records in the history of sports. The player has a record of winning 14 major titles until the end of 2009. The number of titles suggests him to be just behind Jack Nicklaus in the international golf arena. By that time the player had already accomplished a great hype which was indeed the gift of his achievements accumulated with the strength of media. As highlighted in an article published by BBC, “As the most successful black player in a traditionally white sport, Woods has been credited with boosting interest in the game worldwide, increasing TV audiences, and bringing greater wealth to the sport in prize money and sponsorship”. Source: (BBC, “Tiger Woods Profile”) Tiger Woods is an American and was born on 30th December, 1975. The boy was named ‘Eldrick Woods’ by his parents and later got the nickname ‘Tiger’ after one of his father’s Vietnamese soldier friends. And thereby he received his fame name as ‘Tiger Woods’. Tiger Woods received publicity for the first time on television as a ‘child golf prodigy’ when he was only two years old against Bob Hope. He also earned the fame of making 48 strikes in 9 holes at the age of three. This provided him the fame of the most promising youngster in golf. After this he became a common face in the national and international sports channels on television and a common figure in the sports news (BBC, “Tiger Woods Profile”). With all these on-going phenomena, within a short span of time, Woods achieved the fame which takes years for other players. Hence, media played a significant role to brighten up the career of Tiger Woods. On the contrary, media is often referred to be the reason of his downfall as well. The problem occurred when the focus of the media publications shifted from his career and achievements to his personal life. It was in the month of October in 2004 when Tiger Woods married Elin Nordegren by organizing a lavish marriage ceremony of almost $3 million. Again highlighted by the media this became one of the attractive news headlines during the period (CNN, “Woods Marries His Swedish Fiancee”). In the first few years, the couple was happily married until the end of 2009 when suddenly the extra-marital affairs caught the attention of the majority of the world. It was in December 2009, when a news media highlighted that Tiger Woods had multiple extra-marital affairs after his marriage to Elin Nordegren in 2004. This resulted in the separation of the couple forcing the magnificent golf player to take a personal leave from sports (Nadler, R. S., “Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Hands-On Strategies for Building Confident and Collaborative Star Performers”). The scandal has been rated to be a series of few small and big catastrophes related to the renowned player, within a span of just two week from November 27th to December 11th. To be summarized, it was on November 27th when Woods met with an accident within a short distance from his residence, which attracted a few media conversations. As a result, on November 30th, the player pulled himself from the Chevron World Challenge. He also had to pay $164 as a penalty for careless driving at the Florida Highway Patrol on December 1st (Telegraph, “Tiger Woods Timeline: How His World Went into Meltdown”). The incident was categorized as the beginning of the ‘meltdown’ of Tiger Woods’ career. It was due to the fact that after the publication of his careless driving, media seemed to grow more interested about the personal life of the player revealing many details which affected the sportsman’s career strongly. For instance, on December 2nd a cocktail waitress stated to have an affair with the player for more than two years. As a reaction, Tiger Woods confessed in the media. However, several such issues continued to arise in the period. Consequently, the player decided to take an ‘indefinite break’ from his playing career and his wife Elin Nordegren decided to end up their relationship (Telegraph, “Tiger Woods Timeline: How His World Went into Meltdown”). Role of the Mass Media Presentation of the Scandal by the Media to the Public With reference to the above discussion it can be stated that the media played quite an inescapable role in the life of Tiger Woods. To be specific, highlighting his achievements the media publications placed him to stardom and with a few headlines involving his personal life almost ruined his professional and his personal life. The mass media publications covered the scandal and all the issues related to it. Tiger Woods was not the only one to be alleged of having sexual relationships hidden from his wife. There were also many other sportsmen who were alleged on the similar basis. This caught the prime attention of several sociologists making brief comments on the scandal and its affect on the society. In other words, media mirrored the scandal as a social parody providing it a much bigger shape. To be noted, one of the then news articles published by ABC news media highlighted the sub-headline below, “…….they've ensnared presidents, religious leaders and premiere athletes who are supposed to epitomize American values and work ethic” Source: (Chang & Netter, “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal: Why Powerful Men Can't Resist Temptation”). On the similar context, most of the news articles published in the daily newspapers and even telecasted on the international mass media, tended to reveal almost every secret of the scandal. With this purpose the media published several attractive headlines and connoted the statements of various significant personalities related directly or indirectly to the infamous incidents. Moreover, multiple videos, recordings and statements from multiple audiences who had powerful existence in the society were published in the internet (AP, “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Takes over the Web”). It is noteworthy that the aspect of internet by the end of 2009 had already achieved a powerful domination over the social phenomenon. Therefore, the publications of these evidences were able to magnetize a huge population irrespective of their geographical boundaries and thus increasing the sternness of the consequences. For instance, an article published quite recently about the happening of the scandal stated that the Tiger Woods scandal might be referred to as extremely unfortunate for the golfer and his mistresses, but it proved to be a boon to the internet broadcasts (AP, “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Takes over the Web”). The editorial review of AP quoted that, “Time Inc. says its Golf.com website, which averages 2.4 million unique viewers a month, has seen traffic spike 600 per cent since the story about Tiger broke after the Thanksgiving holiday.” Source: (AP, “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Takes over the Web”) Public’s Reaction to the Scandal Public’s reactions generated as an influence of media publications is also significant in marking the effect of those publications. Notably, the continuous publications of the scandal and its unleashed secrets generated several reactions from the public’s end. It was due to the reason that the then publications not only focused on the personal traits of the golfer but also elaborated on the emotional aspects of his family and the society at large. With this purpose, the media tended to highlight almost every small details of the event. As was described in Times Live in the recent days of the happening, “Three more affairs revealed as golfer's busy secret love life is exposed” Source: (Times Live, “Cheating Tiger Woods in More Trouble”) According to the fact mentioned previously, the news publications tended to link the scandal with the social phenomenon which again received varied reactions from the public. For instance, in one of his editorial reviews the editor of ‘The Times Newspaper’ commented, “For one thing it teaches the public to approach the image of public figures with skepticism. For another, it teaches public figures the lesson that the truth will eventually triumph.” (The Times Newspaper, “'Your Sins Will Find You Out' - All Can Learn From Tiger”). Referring to the above stated comment it is quite apparent that the scandal was cohesively linked with the social interferences. And it was due to the fact that Tiger Woods happened to be one of the most famous public figures and icons for most of the golf enthusiasts. Furthermore, the scandal was also related to its impact on Woods’ children, (i.e. his daughter who was 2 years old then and his infant son) and other youngsters. In this regard another journal was published by Michael Daly in New York Daily News, one of the most popular newspapers of the nation, “Children of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren are hit hardest by sex scandal; our kids will be hurt too” (Daly, “Children of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren are hit hardest by sex scandal; our kids will be hurt too”). Based on the infamous event, another report, published by The Week, quoted multiple statements commented by famous personalities. For instance, in the published article John Paul Newport commented “Mr. Woods has never yearned to be loved by the public the way some golfers (like Arnold Palmer) and many politicians (like Bill Clinton) have...............He just wants to be respected as a man and left in peace to play golf at the supernatural level he is capable of” (Newport, “The Tiger Woods Crash: Why People Even Care”). On the contrary, not all the public opinions generated via media was against Tiger Woods. For instance, as stated by Michael Rosenberg in the Detroit Free Press, “You can say that Tiger Woods owes the public an explanation and an apology, since he has sold himself as a family man. But has he, really?” (Rosenberg, “If It's Not About Golf, Tiger Woods Owes Us No Explanation”). Similar to this article, there were many other publications which seemed to raise the similar questions regarding the fault of Tiger Woods and what he owed to the society. However, the publications can be stated to cause certain severe troubles to Woods. It is worth mentioning that the scandal had forced the richest and evidently the most famous golfer, Woods to compare it with the death of his father. According to the statement of Woods published in the Daily Record article in the mid of the next year i.e. 2010, this mishap made it mandatory for him to re-evaluate his life which was similar to the emotional situation he felt when his father passed away in 2006 (Daily Record, “Tiger Woods: Sex Scandal Had Same Impact on My Life as Dad's Death”). He said that “There are times in one's life when things get put in perspective - one being when my father passed and obviously what I've been going through lately.” Source: (Daily Record, “Tiger Woods: Sex Scandal Had Same Impact on My Life as Dad's Death”). Aftermath of the Scandal The consequences were indeed miserable for the player, his family and children at large. For instance, the player had to pay a huge amount in order to settle the allegations which were brought against him based on the sex scandal. Previous to the happening of the mishap the golfer was not only known for his brilliant strikes but also as one of the top brand ambassadors in the then market. Brands such as AT&T, Gillette, Accenture, PepsiCo, Tag Heuer and many others had been working with Tiger Woods for several years. But recently after the scandal caught the limelight, brands started to cancel their marketing contracts with the world renowned celebrity. As a consequence, advertisements done by Tiger Woods were not further televised in the media channels (Reuters, “FACTBOX-Corporate Sponsors' Reaction to Tiger Sex Scandal”). These consequences were inherently related with the publications of the mass media based on the scandal which attracted a major proportion of the world’s total population and hampered the marketing reputation of the companies as well. Although it seemed that most of the top marketing brands were breaking their contracts with Tiger Woods, a few still announced to support the golfer. However, the companies were somewhat unwilling to televise their ad campaigns with Tiger Woods. As stated by Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike, “When his career is over, you'll look back on these indiscretions as a minor blip, but the media is making a big deal out of it right now” (Reuters, “FACTBOX-Corporate Sponsors' Reaction to Tiger Sex Scandal”). It is quite apparent from the above discussion and illustration of the brands’ decisions, that the scandal affected the social well-being of the companies to a large extent other than the career of Tiger Woods. To be specific, the aftermath of the scandal indirectly created a strong impact on the international social environment besides hampering the professional and the personal life of Woods directly. Conclusively, it can be firmly stated that the influence of the publications in the case of Tiger Wood’s sex scandal was extremely strong rewarding another evidence to showcase the power enjoyed by the mass media in the present era. However, several ethical issues could be raised against the role of media in revealing the secrets of the scandal almost neglecting their truthfulness. References AP. “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal Takes over the Web”. February 23, 2011. Independent, 2009. BBC. “Tiger Woods Profile”. February 23, 2011. Golf, 2009. Chang, Juju. & Netter, Sarah. “Tiger Woods Sex Scandal: Why Powerful Men Can't Resist Temptation”. February 23, 2011. ABC News, 2009. CNN. “Woods Marries his Swedish Fiancee”. February 23, 2011. World Sport, 2004. Daily Record. “Tiger Woods: Sex Scandal Had Same Impact on My Life as Dad's Death”. February 23, 2011. Golf News, 2010. Daly, Michael. “Children Of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren Are Hit Hardest By Sex Scandal; Our Kids Will Be Hurt Too”. February 23, 2011. NY Daily News, 2009. Newport, John Paul. “The Tiger Woods Crash: Why People Even Care”. February 23, 2011. The Wall Street Journal, 2009. Nadler, Reldan, S. Leading with Emotional Intelligence: Hands-On Strategies for Building Confident and Collaborative Star Performers McGraw-Hill Professional, 2010. Reuters. “FACTBOX-Corporate Sponsors' Reaction to Tiger Sex Scandal”. February 23, 2011. Article, 2009. Rosenberg, Michael. “If It's Not About Golf, Tiger Woods Owes Us No Explanation”. February 23, 2011. Detroit Free Press, 2009. Telegraph. “Tiger Woods Timeline: How His World Went into Meltdown”. February 23, 2011. Tiger Woods, 2009. Times Live. “Cheating Tiger Woods in More Trouble”. February 23, 2011. Article, 2009. The Times Newspaper. “Your Sins Will Find You Out' - All Can Learn From Tiger”. February 23, 2011. The Editor, 2009. Read More