(9awu of 11)
Because of the new Ages, all suboptimal behaviors must change. The media has been a megaphone for the suboptimal status quo thought processes.An interview is supposed to enhance understanding. Most media interviews of athletes do not.
Short List Of Suggestions & Practices
1. Asking people about their next opponent. What do we expect the person to say that's so revealing that we've not heard over and over?2. Requiring losers to give an interview.
3. Requiring winners to say something.4. Interviewing popular players too much.
5. In tennis, requiring the runner-up to speak and be in the same ceremony as the winner.6. In playoffs and tournaments, requiring winners to say something after each victory.
7. In basketball, requiring coaches to say something before the game is over.8. Asking players about their injuries. What do you think they are going to say?
9. Before a game or match, reminding players of past losses, failures, mistakes or the difficulty of winning. [this is one of the things Naomi was alluding to]10. Insisting a question be answered or pointing out that the question wasn't answered, as if the interview is taking place in a courtroom setting.
11. Pre-game, post-game and halftime shows should be cut in half. Offer instead live or pre-recorded entertainment.12. Require interviewer name, face and company to be known for each question asked.
13. Require interviewer's to also have to answer questions, if the interviewee so chooses.14. Quit defending the media because you are part of the media. Just change suboptimal behaviors to optimal behaviors.
15. It often feels like the person being interviewed is being “put on the spot” and has to answer the question, as if in an interrogation. Interviews also seem like parent-child interactions where it's, “you better answer me.”16. Be humanly sensitive to what the person might be going through. Listen closely, show respect, adjust questions on the fly. Stop hiding behind “I had to ask the question,” or “it's my job”. Put yourself in the other person's shoes and quit acting like you're in charge.
17. Remember, asking a question doesn't make it an appropriate question.18. Non-conversational interview approaches are one-sided and consist of questions not tied to each other and not built on previous responses. Do your homework on the person being interviewed and take differences into account.
19. We are interested in the experiences of others because we relate them to self, consciously or subconsciously. No one enjoys or benefits from being asked the same questions, just because it's a different day.20. Because the masses are mentally ill, so also are the majority of people, thus most of rhe media is also mentally ill. Understand via optimal theory, what mental illness is.
21. Quit being insatiable for information and claiming the public and fans want or need to know. Wanting to know is not the same as the right to know or should know.22. Quit claiming “player obligation” as your right to access to force someone to talk to you so you can justify your job.
23. Quit coercing players in backrooms by getting leagues to require player participation.24. There are thousands of media outlets who need content everyday of the year and they are competing with each other to differentiate themselves, thus get viewers/listeners, thus get adverting dollars, thus fund their payrolls.
25. Admit media is mainly about money, power and control.26. Media covers who they want to cover and asks what they want to. They don't often allows players to set the context, control the narrative or say what they want to say. Media doesn't like it when they need the person being covered more than the person being covered needs them. The media creates this imbalance by only wanting to cover famous people, stars. So then, by giving these people preferential attention and coverage, the media automatically must also defer to the wishes of those famous popular people when they don't want to answer questions.
