This is a piece that will perhaps go against my own fraternity — and that’s fine. It is essential that one writes about what one feels strongly about. The Smriti Mandhana wedding is one such issue. She is a global icon, and understandably there was and is massive interest in the wedding. But there has to be a line drawn. While we all know that gossip sells, we should also know where to draw the line, and when something stops being a story. The wedding was indeed a story. The aftermath isn’t. To speculate on social media and put out tweets shows a lack of class, harms the profession, and loses us respect.
As sports journalists, let’s do sport — in good times and bad. A Test match is going on and India are playing poor cricket. By all means, criticise. Make your point, for that’s our calling. But to take the narrative to something that is nothing but sensationalism and gossip impacts the profession and raises questions about why we do sport in the first place.
I know such things sell on social media. In my own case, I have seen how gossip and slander sell — how they translate into likes, retweets, and the like. But should everything boil down to that? Do we really need to stoop to this level? Why can’t privacy be respected and things be left to rest?
We, too, run a media organisation, and we are conscious of what can get numbers. But some things have to go beyond numbers. I will praise Smriti for her acts on the field and criticise her for her performances if need be. But her privacy has to be respected and her personal life left alone. Not everything can be reduced to gossip and sensationalism.
The truth is, each one of us has gone through hard times, and each one of us has felt, “Why don’t people leave us alone?” Why is it that people are so volatile and unfair? Why can’t there be more reason and logic? And yet, when it comes to others, all of this rationality is shed and thrown out of the window. This is certainly one of the reasons why relationships between players and journalists are no longer the same.
All I want to tell every sports journalist out there is this: it is no longer a sports story. There is enough sport out there for you to report on. Report on India’s batting failures and ask why. Probe why it is happening time and again on home soil. Report on the Syed Modi badminton tournament or the forthcoming Junior Hockey World Cup. Yes, by doing that, you will not get as many likes or retweets — but that’s what sport is all about. Real sport. The reason you came into this profession was to cover sport. Twitter can’t force you away from it.
And yes, I know many in my own fraternity will be irked by this piece. But who cares? I didn’t bother during my ban. I didn’t bother when lies were peddled. So, why bother now?
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