The count is now up to 20, according to lawyer Tony Buzbee. With the addition of four new women filing civil lawsuits against Deshaun Watson for sexual harassment/assault, the quarterback is under an immense pressure unlike the typical blitzes he faces. While the scrutiny of the quarterback is at an all-time high, so should be the scrutiny for the media and the league who have both so often mishandled opportunities to make examples out of men who are abusing their status. This routine occurrence of poor reporting that gives the benefit of the doubt to men is attributed by Alex Reimer to the dearth of gender equality in sports media:
The appalling lack of diversity in sports reporting, and especially punditry, always exposes itself during stories like these. Of the 75 outlets belonging to the Associated Press Sports Editors, 90 percent of sports editors and 88.5 percent of sports reporters are men. While digital outlets are thankfully closing some of that gap, the disparity is still stark on the TV and radio airwaves. Opinion shows run night and day, but there’s seldom a woman at the table — unless her role is to play traffic cop. (Reimer)
This speaks volumes to the uncomfortable situations that I feel are all too frequently occurring in sports. The first time I can remember the league and the reporting of an incident go horribly wrong was in 2014 when Ray Rice and his now-wife Janay Palmer were arrested in an Atlantic City casino for an altercation. The video would later be released by TMZ showing Rice strike Palmer in the elevator and drag her unconscious body out of it. The league would go on to suspend Rice for a mere two games and later extend it to an indefinite suspension once backlash ensued. The media early on focused on the specific incident and the impact it had in sports (e.g. the effect it had on Fantasy Football teams) rather than the societal issue of domestic abuse. After the slow start, the media berated the league’s policy for being far too lax which led to the reformation of league policy by the NFL. However, the story would be muddied down by sports experts trying to discuss serious issues that they were not qualified to speak on. This is not to say sports talk shows should not discuss these topics. They are important to society and when elite athletes are succumbing to violence, especially against women, it is an opportunity to make an example out of them, something that rarely happens the way it should.
When looking at Watson’s case, there is a far greater misunderstanding and poor portrayal by the media and once again a slow and ineffective response from the league. Watson is undoubtedly a bigger star than Rice was and is a rising face of the league in the wake of a jettison of the last generation of quarterbacks (except for the immortal Tom Brady who won’t just retire already). There is already an innate response by the league and sports media to “Defend the Shield” and believe Watson. The difference between Watson and Rice, besides the clear-cut evidence in the latter’s case, is that Rice’s actions were indefensible and reprehensible. That is not to say by any means that Watson’s aren’t as well. But there is a huge difference for men who have been molded by the toxic masculinity of sports their whole lives between hearing of allegations of sexual assault in a civil, not criminal, lawsuit, and watching a woman get beat unconscious and dragged around. It is just sad that they need to see it to believe it.
Sports media wants to believe that this isn’t true, that it is all a ploy to extort a quarterback who just cashed in on a new contract. It is important to trust women when they come forward with allegations, but even in a post-#MeToo world, it seems like predominantly male writers and analysts are still trying to believe the defendant and distrust the victim. At one allegation, if you want to look into a story and make sure it is not extortion, while still believing the victim but checking your bases, that is one thing. When it becomes 20, there are no conspiracy theories, it is something that cannot be denied. Yet once again, the league drags its feet and the media supports its stars.
Sports icons have been in similar situations and escaped. Kobe Bryant and even another NFL quarterback Ben Roethlisberger were both accused of rape and you rarely hear about it today. In both cases, the media is partly to blame for not holding the athletes accountable. Diversity in a newsroom is key to reflecting your audience and telling stories the way they are meant to be told. There is an inexcusable lack of gender diversity in sports media that leads to horrible reporting on crimes against women. If there was a woman equivalent to Stephen A. Smith with hundreds of thousands if not millions of viewers listening to her every word and she held Watson accountable, the story would be so different. But there isn’t. Instead, the analysts who choose not to engage in conspiracies are shying away from the situation rather than taking the other side of supporting the women. Someone needs to take a stand against athletes abusing their status and it needs to start with the media.
Interesting Article! It's disappointing to see that despite the strides made in recent times. Looking at the data, and the high correlation between athletes and domestic abuse, there is clearly work to be done by both the media, leagues and teams to address the issue both as a workplace, and also as role models to a wider society. In this case, the victim blaming and sidestepping was ghastly, and totally not okay.
I found out about this story when watching March Madness and flipping through sports channels. When I first heard it, they reported it as only one female accusing Deshawn Watson, and many members of ESPN dismissed the claims as fraudulent because the lawyer of the case Tony Buzbee was painted as a lawyer who was known for cash grabbing civil suits. However, it was not 12 hours later that more and more women began to speak out. I completely agree with your point that when there are 20 accusers there is no conspiracy, just abuse, and it should never have been reported in the above way in the first place. The percentage of false harassment, assault, and rape cases vanish…
It's really pathetic how the league's continue to try to salvage these individual's careers, even after they commit such offensive actions. Any other person would face immediate termination for doing the things that Rice did, but because these athletes are central figures to the brand, they are given unfair exceptions. The majority of the audience would not support the player anymore, what value do they still pose to the league? It's the same with politicians and celebrities. Too often they are given exceptions for their behavior because of their influence. Americans needs to start holding these people accountable.