Looking beyond celebrities in sports coverage

The media’s reportage of the drama involving the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and some prominent tennis players iterates two things – We are keen on reporting the doings of sports personalities with little analysis into the merit of carrying such news; and we don’t give much importance to reporting on sporting bodies and regulatory authorities.

When was the last time you read a news report on a sporting association or regulatory body in mainstream media? I can remember three instances in the last five years – The commonwealth games 2010 (pertaining to the various frauds that came to light), the IPL scam leading to Lalit Modi’s sacking and the fracas between actor Shah Rukh Khan and the Wankhede Stadium officials. 

(Image courtesy: http://sidhantapatnaik.blogspot.in/2011/07/websites-of-sports-bodies-indias.html)
After NDTV reported suspicions of fraud in procurement for the Commonwealth Games 2010, the media chased this and other similar issues such as poor quality housing right up to the submission of the VK. Shunglu Committee report on the alleged frauds. What was sorely missed was timely information on how the CWG committee was formed, its functioning, progress of the projects (not just those which lagged in delivery), bidding process and other decision making by the executive committee. Such reporting could have spotted irregularities in various aspects early on and enabled course correction minus the hype.

Compare this with the coverage of the London Olympics, My previous post indicates why the Indian media needs to look at holistically covering sports.

The IPL scam was focused largely on the then proposed Kochi team due to the indirect involvement of personalities such as Shashi Tharoor. It was brushed off as a blot on the otherwise blemishless IPL. No details other than the amounts of money recovered by the Income Tax department or the fact that NRI money was used to fund the teams were disclosed. As for the Shah Rukh Khan episode at Wankhede, after much noise was made by both parties, no action was taken against the actor. The media promptly presented both sides of the story and washed its hand off. Has MCA never banned anyone else in their history? Why is there no CCTV footage of this incident? How often are MCA rules/ privileges abused (considering the numerous celebrities who camp in the stadium during the IPL)?

In a country where sports is seen as entertainment perhaps many would justify that it is fair to cover only sports celebrities, as one does of TV/film celebrities. But in a country where sports is increasingly seen as the only option for success for many talented youngsters from under developed states/ underprivileged families, it is imperative to cover developments around sporting bodies. For a country that is now serious (supposedly) about grooming its sporting talent beyond cricket, it is necessary that sporting bodies face such scrutiny from the media to improve their functioning, boost sources of funding, bring more knowledgeable persons on the board and have meaningful outcomes.

A case in point is the kind of people who are heading most sporting bodies in India. A majority of them have never played or refereed a sport or had any prior specialized experience of working with a professional sporting organization. Many are politicians who claim to “follow the sport”. I am sure the media can at the very least question some of the decisions they make and thrust them upon players.

I can think of three simple ways in which reporters can improve their coverage of sporting bodies

1. Write about less popular sports and their governing bodies – Aside from BCCI, most other sporting bodies are pretty open to meeting reporters and explaining how they function.

2. Speak to the non-celebrities who form the ecosystem of the sport – Ball boys, pitch makers, umpires/ referees, cleaning staff and committee members who are not prominent – all of them can give nuggets of information that can help you understand how these bodies function.

3. Read about sporting body operations in developed countries – The Western media does a better job of reporting on developments around sporting bodies. These include reporting on committee elections. This sporting body for instance has its annual report, strategy plan and operational plan on its website.

Can you think of how else sports reporters can cover sports bodies better?

The Insider Reports: IPL-Gate – How not to do follow up reporting

This piece was my response to the coverage swimming around me in the last 1 month. I buy 3 newspapers and read at least 5 more online. I was aghast at how most of them were covering the IPL scam, giving little consideration to the ethics of journalism.

 

I am grateful to the Hoot for finding this worthy of publishing. The link to the piece is as follows:

 

http://www.thehoot.org/web/home/story.php?storyid=4500&mod=1&pg=1&sectionId=15&valid=true

 

For those who cannot open it for whatever reason, please find the piece below:

IPL-Gate --how not to do follow up reporting

 

Questions are not asked, news angles ignored. There has been a media witch hunt rather than responsible follow up reporting, says ARCHANA VENKAT

 

Posted Tuesday, Apr 27 22:38:16, 2010

 

The last few weeks have seen a witch hunt by the media to dissect any and every aspect of the Indian Premier League (IPL). So much so that even after the core issue of the IPL has been unearthed and is under investigation ' source of funding for the proposed Kochi IPL team and subsequently all other teams—journalists continue the trial by media by reporting bits and pieces of information that have no real relevance to the core issue.

In what can perhaps be termed as the worst possible example of "follow up" reporting, the media now runs the risk of being called irresponsible.

The primary aim of a follow up news report is to explore and answer questions raised in the first report. New information that broadens the perspective of the first report is secondary, unless it is of greater importance than the findings in the first report.  While following up on a story gives a journalist credibility and helps her/him and the reader/viewer get a holistic picture of the issue, it is important to pick, pursue and publish leads that may strengthen or weaken the case.

Unfortunately, with the IPL probe reportage, these principles seem to have been forgotten in the quest to break news.

A chartered flight between Delhi and Coimbatore, used by an IPL team, was in the news, allegedly because Poorna Patel, Aviation Minister Praful Patel's daughter and hospitality manager for the IPL, had used her father's clout to do so, leaving other passengers inconvenienced.  Air India CMD Arvind Jhadhav disagreed stating that the flight in question had taken all necessary permits, informed passengers much ahead of time and made arrangements for them with other flights. The aim of should have been to unearth if the IPL had flouted any norms. While that in itself may not have lent much support to the ongoing probe,

it certainly might have proved fodder to investigate who else's palms were greased by the IPL machinery. The journalist could have checked any previous instances of IPL teams having diverted flights for their use and unearthed a pattern for further investigation. A well investigated story with facts and figures could have had more impact than the current report that seemed like a cut-paste job of two opinions.

Another attempt to catch the IPL flouting norms was made by asking how and why the Maharashtra State government could permit the IPL go on post the 10 p.m Supreme Court ruling. The report quotes the IPL CEO Sundar Rajan stating he had written to the "ministers concerned," however, a slew of ministers quoted later do not seem to have any such recollection. Ideally, the journalist could have gone back to Rajan asking for a copy of the letter or at least the Ministers to whom it was addressed. With this information, one can check with the appropriate government department on the status of such a permit. Had such information been added in the story, readers would have derived greater value.

While Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar have been hounded as outcasts, no efforts were made by any media to seek opinion from either parties. Only Tehelka took the efforts to speak to Sunanda Pushkar and published an interview that might prove almost all reports about her as amounting to libel. Whatever happened to the Barkha Dutts and Karan Thapars of the newsroom?

A most amusing discussion on the future of the IPL was aired by a leading news channel with socialite-author Shobhaa De and populist fiction writer Chetan Bhagat as panelists. True to their professions, both suggested rather colorful scenarios to the IPL's future. Pray, was it so difficult for the channel to find a credible panel, considering the abundant supply of

"sports analysts" who share their opinion after every IPL match?

The most interesting of all reports was the one on how Lalit Modi grabbed government land in Rajasthan in 2007 (courtesy his closeness to then CM Vasundhara Raje) at "throwaway prices". While this may indicate that Modi was an astute business man, it fails to establish any meaningful relationship with his current predicament? A possible investigative angles to this story could have been whether any of the IPL teams stayed at these properties (a couple of heritage havelis converted into resorts) and if so, why? Were these properties the hospitality partners for IPL? Was there a fair process to decide that?

On several occasions one does not get suitable angles to a story. In such a case it is best to go online and read the kind of comments readers leave to similar news reports. Not only does it give a journalist an indication of public opinion, it also reveals what kind of stories the readers feel would be enriching.

The fact that Shashi Tharoor's Twitter following has not diminished or that most youth still think of Modi as an icon must indicate something to a journalist. It is worrying that all reports on the IPL have so far been prejudiced against both these people. The aim of any reporting is to attempt to present both sides of an issue as objectively as possible.

The IPL management is being accused of betting and match fixing ' a malpractice that sports journalists are familiar with, thanks to the match fixing scandal that ended careers of popular sportsmen barely a decade ago.  Few have aimed at revisiting past coverage and attempting to draw similarities with the current scenario.  Lastly, no one has attempted to ask any of the franchise owners on details of the IPL clauses and whether there are any clauses specific to corporate

governance and anti-money laundering. Such information would directly add value to the reporting on the probe itself.

Either we have short memories or we simply do not want to kick up sweat in producing meaningful follow up reports.