Jeter, Roethlisberger, and Sports Media Rhetoric

Despite the fact that the media is solely responsible for reporting the news, bias is more than subtlety interjected into news reports.  Biased news reports are easily identified in sports media.  The ubiquitous reports/updates of teams, players, and rules always seem to have an extraneous connotation vividly jumping out at the reader.  These connotations often sway public thought, and as a result, opinions regarding sports are unconsciously shaped by the media.  Two recent stories, Derek Jeter's new contract dilemma and Ben Roethlisberger's sexual assault allegation, are perfect examples of sports media deliberately persuading public opinion.

At the end of the 2010  MLB (Major League Baseball) season, baseball icon Derek Jeter found himself in a dilemma: his playing contract for the New York Yankees expired.  Normally, this would be an innocuous situation, and the Yankees would resign Jeter before he could even finish blinking.  Instead, negotiations between the two parties stalled, and feathers were ruffled on both sides.  This stall in negotiations was due to both Jeter's advanced age and Jeter's sub-par performance in 2010 (his worst statistical season of his career).  The long and unmoving negotiations between Jeter and the Yankees were well documented by the media.  Instead of reporting the ongoing negotiations from a neutral standpoint, however, the media took sides from the outset.  The media blasted Jeter for allegedly refusing to take a pay cut, and sports articles even labeled the perennial All-Star and baseball cover boy as being "greedy and out of touch with reality".  Jeter, who has been heralded as the classiest man in sports, soon faced public scrutiny.  Anti-Jeter rhetoric reached a pinnacle when reports stated Jeter had begun entering talks with other teams, and sports fans across the nation fully bought into these accusations.  Nobody was more taken aback by these attacks then Derek Jeter himself, who stated publicly how angry he was at how publicized these supposed private negotiations were.  Jeter wasn't particularly thrilled at the media's accusations either.  And so, media propaganda managed to do the unthinkable: sully Derek Jeter's stainless reputation.

Ben Roethlisberger, ever a source of controversy, has been officially labeled as the villain of football.  Roethlisberger, who has been charged with two separate cases of sexual harassment, has become the media's punching bag.  While the accusations of sexual assault are deserving of criticism, Roethlisberger has become a pariah who, despite his many accomplishments, will forever be labeled irredeemable.  Ben Roethlisberger's reputation proves how manufactured an athlete's image really is.  Mark Sanchez, quarterback of the New York Jets, is the perfect antithesis for Roethlisberger: he's a media darling.  In fact, the two quarterbacks are often compared with one another; Mark Sanchez has been called a quarterback "with Roethlisberger's skills who thankfully lacks his stupidity".  What most people fail to realize is that Mark Sanchez has also been accused of sexual harassment.  The media purposely forgets to emphasize this, however, as Sanchez is their golden boy who has eternally earned their praise through his approachability and patience.

Opinions regarding current events are often articulated by the news, and sports media is the perfect exemplification of this statement. 

Jeter angry at negotiations

the end of arguing

While the Greek philosophers saw argument as a cultured process where intellectuals rationally exchanged ideas, modern society has perverted this notion.  Today, people see arguing as an immature and irreverent way of dealing with dispute.  The process of argument has unjustly been given a negative connotation by modernists due to the condescension of opinion and the belittlement of opposition.

Today, opinion is looked upon with disdain.  Unless you are considered an "expert" at a specific topic, you won't receive credit for a rationally explained argument.  How many times have you found yourself stating a perfectly logical position to a certain topic, only to hear the rebuke, "Well, that's just your opinion"?  In a country whose epithet is "the land of the free", opinion (and by extension, free speech) has become ostracized by the public, and America has become a paradox.  The limitation of opinion in America is probably best exemplified through Political Correctness.  While P.C.'s intentions are noble (it tries to limit derogatory speech), it has directly defied the right for people to speak uninhibitedly about crucial situations that the country is currently facing.  People must either not speak at all, or speak through an oppressive filter, lest they incur the wrath of P.C. advocates.  This fear of expressing of opinion has led to the "dumbing-down" of society, where intellectual debate cannot exist, and as a result, new revolutionizing ideas cannot form.

A commonly seen occurrence in modern argument is the belittlement of the opposition.  Have you ever recalled debating with someone, only to see them roll their eyes and jeer you after you've finished making your point?  What about hearing the response, "You're an idiot!"?  It seems that many simply do not want to listen to ideas, and will resort to the quick insult rebuttal and also forgo responding with civility.  In fact, I personally recall a time when a former high school teacher stated his views on a specific topic, then went on to state, "This is the only solution to this problem.  It is right.  It is just.  And it can't be denied.  Anybody who disagrees with this is awful!"  Bear in mind that a 16 year old student did not state this.  Rather, a full-grown man, who is paid to listen to students' opinions,  said this.

People have begun to fear argument.  Do to this, opinions, ideas, and reflections on culture will not spread.