www.ozy.com [OZY]() The newsletter to fuel â and thrill â your mind. Read for deep dives into the unmissable ideas and topics shaping our world.
Feb 04, 2022 TODAY Last May, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka rocked the sports world by announcing she was pulling out of the French Open, while suffering from âhuge waves of anxietyâ and âlong bouts of depression.â The decision was bound to net controversy, given that 24-year-old Osaka had become the highest-paid female athlete over the prior year. And it leaves professional sport organizers, athletes, fans and media with a critical question: What do athletes owe the public, and when does that become less important than what they owe themselves? Todayâs Daily Dose explores that complicated dilemma and the potential solutions while keying in on the other industries where mental health is emerging as a critical challenge. A SHARED EXPERIENCE 1 - The Withdrawal The famously introverted tennis star entered the French Open last year saying she would not take questions from reporters. âIâve often felt that people have no regard for athletesâ mental health,â Osaka said. But when she was levied a $15,000 fine for not fulfilling her media responsibilities and warned that she could be removed from the tournament, Osaka decided to withdraw to focus on her health. [Several athletes]( voiced their support, from NBA star Stephen Curry and WNBA hall of famer Lisa Leslie to British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith and fellow tennis star Serena Williams. 2 - Awareness and Acknowledgement Osaka isnât alone. Athletes have increasingly spoken up about their health challenges, from Olympic swimmer [Michael Phelps]( revealing his suicidal thoughts to gymnast [Ali Raisman]( coping with depression after being abused by a USA Gymnastics doctor. Itâs clear the athletes arenât OK. âMore and more athletes are feeling like, âHey, I should be allowed to be a person. Maybe I donât have to be silent,ââ says New York Presbyterian Hospital psychiatrist Dr. Gail Saltz. âIt raises, appropriately so, the expectation that athletes should be a person with feelings, too.â External pressures are also mounted on these elite in [other troubling incidents](, including a fan spitting on Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young and other fans making racist comments to the family of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant. Some experts believe such behavior is a symptom of the rise of digital sports gambling and fantasy sports that have some fans viewing athletes as commodities rather than real human beings. When dollars are at stake, âthat creates a whole different set of dynamics,â Saltz says. 3 - What About the Media? Itâs easy to scapegoat the media here, and a few unforgiving journalists may partially be to blame. As The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis wrote, the decentralization of media and rise of platforms like Substack has [incentivized personal feuds and soap opera-like dramas]( for some in the media. However, Osaka was quick to say that the tennis press âhas always been kind to meâ and that her decision was more related to her mental health than to bad behavior from specific media members. Mental disorders often emerge when a person is in their late teens or early 20s, and social anxiety, in which one often feels harshly and repetitively judged, âcould be greatly exacerbated by reality playing a role, where you are being commented on all the time,â Saltz says.
THE BROADER IMPACT 1 - Unspoken Rules Itâs long been understood, by organizers and media members, that physically injured players arenât required to talk to the press. So why is it not the same for mental health? Part of the challenge is stigma: Athletes who suffer from depression, anxiety and other ailments have often been labeled as âweak,â rather than acknowledged as going through an ailment as real as broken bones. [According to a 2019 study](, stigma was the primary reason pro athletes didnât seek treatment for mental health issues â and itâs not a small problem, given that 1 in 3 pros suffer from mental illness. âWeâre much quicker to grant somebody a pass if they have a physical injury. I think there needs to be more of a recognition that mental injuries are just as serious,â says Bill Eichenberger, executive director of Associated Press Sports Editors, which includes hundreds of journalists among its members. 2 - Lack of Access Some of the conflict between media and athletes is due to the increasing distances between the two. As Eichenberger points out, access to athletes has become increasingly limited as sports have become billion dollar businesses in recent decades. While previously, it wasnât uncommon for reporters to have the cellphone numbers of the athletes they covered, or to frequent some of the same bars or restaurants, the rise of professional PR handlers and increased scrutiny has created a divide. The athletes âdonât really get to know you,â Eichenberger tells OZY. That distant relationship can sometimes lead to distrust on both sides, he says, suggesting that maybe the answer shouldnât be to further reduce interactions. âFrom a journalism standpoint, this is a dangerous precedent to set: access is so limited already.â 3 - Need for Coverage While athletes may be able to speak directly to their fans through social platforms such as Twitter or Instagram, sports leagues intuitively understand that media outlets are critical to their broader popularity â especially as cord-cutting and online entertainment have diminished their prospective audiences. Thatâs partly why the leaders of tennisâ four Grand Slam tournaments initially warned Osaka that she could face suspension before promising to address playersâ concerns about mental health once it became clear that public opinion [was turning against them.]( That argument was typified by the retired tennis star Billie Jean King, who [first tweeted]( that athletes had a responsibility to speak to the press: âThere is no question they helped build and grow our sport to what it is today.â Once Osaka revealed her depression, King [tweeted again](, praising it as âincredibly brave.â Still, league officialsâ tone deaf response suggests that many are âstill treating mental health like the stepchild of health,â Saltz says. âItâs just this complete lack of understanding.â Watch Producer Maejor On the Healing Benefits of Music Support Systems 1 - Excused Absences Athletes who can provide a doctorâs note acknowledging their mental health issues could be allowed to forgo media responsibilities â as they would with a doctor-recognized physical injury. Even Eichenberger, a proponent for greater access to athletes, believes sports persons should be trusted when they say they are facing mental health difficulties: âWeâre expecting them to be fully formed human beings,â he says. But trust can always be misused. âCan we go with the presumption that our star athletes are not sociopathic liars who are making things up to help them cheat?â Saltz asks. 2 - Building Connections Reporters donât want to seem too chummy with the athletes they cover ⦠but with trust between both parties at a low, would it be so bad to throw an industry retreat? Giving athletes and journalists a chance to get to know each other with an off-record weekend might help ease some of the conflicts that have become all too common. Besides, who wouldnât want to see Adrian Wojnarowski going river tubing with Russell Westbrook? While that may seem unlikely, the pandemic has led to reporters getting [more creative than ever]( to find stories ⦠although they could face even more challenges if access remains limited. 3 - Eliminate Required Availability For every athlete who doesnât want to speak, a number of others do. Perhaps getting rid of the requirement to speak to the press would spark more earnest conversations between athletes and the public. Most of these required press conferences are already of low value, Eichenberger says: âA lot of the questions are kind of softball questions.â Maybe giving up the ruse that rigorous journalism is possible in the scrum of a presser would allow athletes who do want the opportunity to embrace it, as Mike Florio [argues for NBC Sports](. However, Florio says coaches should still be required to speak, and locker rooms should remain open to the press to capture âraw, real-time reactionsâ from those who do speak.
No Place to Hide 1 - Comedy Call it a tale of two comedians. Consider the different ways that Colin Jost, the baby-faced host of âWeekend Update,â and his Saturday Night Live co-star Pete Davidson, have been treated in the press. Jost is routinely adulated for his (literally) star-crossed relationship with his wife Scarlett Johansson, while Davidson is treated like a bad boy pariah while dealing [with legitimate mental health concerns](. Both are victims of [intense]( and [intrusive]( attention from the entertainment paparazzi. Countless comedians, famous or not, struggle [with depression](, but the silent struggles behind their loud laughs have drawn more scrutiny since the shocking suicide of Robin Williams in 2014. 2 - Music Just 17 when she broke through in 2019 with her debut album, Billie Eilish has been subject to intense sexism throughout her career, as press outlets fixated on her atypical wardrobe choices â first, her propensity for wearing baggy clothing, and then, in May 2021, her choice to wear lingerie for a British Vogue cover. The âamazingâ but âscaryâ reaction to the latter shoot âjust makes me never want to post again,â Eilish, who has spoken about dealing [with Tourette syndrome and body dysmorphia](, told Stephen Colbert on The Late Show. Last February, The New York Times documentary Framing Britney Spears led to [a reckoning]( among (some) media and entertainment professionals about their treatment â sometimes horrendously cruel â of Spears as she dealt with mental illness. Will this generation avoid those mistakes with the next rising stars, such as recently ascendant [teen rocker Olivia Rodrigo](? 3 - Influencers Sure, some find it hard to sympathize with âinfluencersâ who profit from posting Instagram pics or TikTok videos. But with that wealth, they often come under an intensifying spotlight, as recent events have shown. Tess Holliday, who earned millions of followers while celebrating her plus-sized figure, was savaged online after [she revealed she suffered from anorexia]( despite reportedly weighing over 330 pounds (her fans felt betrayed, believing she was faking the disorder for clout). VanLife influencer Lee MacMillan [died from suicide]( last March, with her family posting a statement afterward asking that followers not fixate on the seemingly perfect lives often presented on social media: âDonât believe what you see online.â And a number of influencers [are choosing to log off](, saying the intense online praise and criticism has become dangerous to their mental health. 4 - Media Journalists arenât the enemy of athletes like Osaka who are struggling with their health. In fact, many of them are also facing major anxiety in a shrinking profession that nonetheless requires more hours due to the internet ageâs introduction of the 24-hour newsroom. A number of reporters have admitted to dealing with [intense trauma]( while covering the COVID-19 pandemic. Perhaps vulnerable media members and athletes can work together to create a healthier environment for all. COMMUNITY CORNER Do you think the standards for public figures are fair? Share your thoughts with us at OzyCommunity@Ozy.com ABOUT OZY OZY is a diverse, global and forward-looking media and entertainment company focused on âthe New and the Next.â OZY creates space for fresh perspectives and offers new takes on everything from news and culture to technology, business, learning and entertainment. [www.ozy.com]( / #OZY Welcome to the New + the Next! [OZY]()
[TV]( | [PODCASTS]( | [NEWS]( | [FESTIVALS]( A Modern Media Company OZY Media, 800 West El Camino Mountain View, California 94040 This email was sent to {EMAIL} [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Read Online](