Kevin Van Valkenburg · @KVanValkenburg
28th Aug 2014 from TwitLonger
Arian Foster and the media
A few thoughts about Arian Foster and the media, since I like Arian Foster and I generally like the media:
In case you missed his recent exchanges with the Houston media, you may catch yourself up here.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/14/arian-foster-continue-to-be-good-teammate-bad-interview/
http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/08/arian-foster-media
Now, how we got here is, I think, a function of a lot of things. And it's not entirely Foster's fault, and it's not entirely the media's fault. To be honest, it's a function of the "gotcha!" soundbite culture that we're all neck deep in, especially because of Twitter. If you're reading this and you're not a member of the media, allow me briefly lift the curtain and try to explain how access works for most NFL organizations. For the most part, a player of Foster's caliber is only going to talk once a week. A team will schedule a particular day that he is *willing* to speak with the media, and depending on whether it's training camp or into the season, he'll grant this interview in a group setting either in front of his locker or at a microphone standing (or sitting) in front of various team and commercial logos that have paid handsomely to serve as the wallpaper for athlete sound bites. This is both good and bad from both the athlete's perspective and the media perspective, depending on how you view it. It's good for the athlete because he can knock out his obligation with the media in one swoop, and generally avoid answering the same questions to 20 different reporters from 15 different outlets. It's also good from the media's perspective because, for the most part, if you need to ask an NFL player a specific question for a story, you will likely get the opportunity to do so. You will, of course, be making that player's answer to everyone else in the media (including national media) but at least in terms of fairness, you will have had the opportunity to ask your question. You can't write something about a player he's going to object to and then claim he did not make himself available for comment when in fact he took questions at the podium for 10 minutes.
Now, this also bad for athletes because it creates a frustrating kabuki theater where they know if they get an insightful question (which, because it's in front of 20 other reporters and on camera, they're not likely to get) their answer will immediately be tweeted out to millions of people, and no matter how insightful or nuanced or graceful that answer is, some people will take that answer out of context because their only encounter will be reading a tweet that cannot imply tone or properly convey the five questions that proceeded it. And so what happens is, athletes, even really interesting and smart ones like Arian Foster, resort to mundane cliches. I can't say for sure, but I would bet that Arian Foster occasionally tried to give really interesting answers to questions in the past, and the people asking the question were often very fair about putting those answers into context, but because the answer becomes the property of the public domain, not everyone is going to make an effort to do this. This happens, I think, frequently. And it's frustrating for both athletes who give good answers and for media people who try to ask good questions that rise above "Talk about the Colts ... (holds up digital recorder)."
This is somewhat unique to the NFL, which now controls access to an almost pathological degree. What's been kind of lost, in recent years, are the friendly off-the-record chats that you used to be able to have with NFL players where both parties understand that nothing will be written. It's a way for both sides to see one another's perspective, ask clarifying questions or voice frustrations, but also be able to do so knowing that it won't become a headline that says "Foster uncertain of his future" which then becomes a thing that needs to be debated on various formats (TV, radio, message boards) about whether Arian Foster (or whomever) is truly committed to playing football to the lunatic degree we demand.
So the result is sort of a perfect storm: Boring questions (meant only to fish for quotes), boring answers (unless they slip up and say something *controversial*), and you get frustrated players ("Why am I bothering with this when I feel like I get punished when I'm not boring?") and frustrated media ("Why am I bothering with this when the answers are so boring and I can't ask interesting questions unless I want my competition to get the same quote?").
Good beat reporters (and there are hundreds and hundreds of them) of course develop ways to get around these limitations. If you *really* listen to answers and show an interest in their craft beyond thinking about how quickly you can tweet this or get up a blog post about it, I think NFL football players (at least many of them) will appreciate it, and that's how you develop relationships where you can talk to them away from the media scrum or on their cell phone or wherever. This occasionally drives NFL PR people crazy when an athlete decides he'd rather talk to you without an intern from the media relations staff standing two feet away monitoring what's being discussed in a very Orwelian way, but every great reporter has those relationships and that's not just how scoops happen, but also how better stories emerge on a beat. It's a little different in baseball (which admittedly I've only covered a little of) because there is so much open clubhouse time each day (sometimes as much as three hours) you have to be able to talk to players about everyday things (that you don't immediately turn around and tweet) otherwise you'd be bored to tears.
When I see Foster's comments, I see someone who is exhausted by the dance he's asked to do. ("Be interesting, even if we ask blah questions, because if we ask intelligent questions, they'll be either mocked by people who weren't there or used for their own agendas!") Even if you do get five great questions in a row, the next question can very easily be some version of "How badly do you want to win this game, Arian?" (Um ... so badly?) Or: "Talk about how important it is to run the ball this week." (Wait, is that a command or a question?) It's a delicate juggling act because not every media person is there for the same thing. Some are just seeking soundbites. Some are writing big magazine profiles. Some are filing notes. Some are just tweeting and blogging. Some are writing insightful, colorful daily stories. Some are there for the free pizza and *might* have a radio show.
I also doubt Foster realizes he's contributed to the problem by being one of the guys who (apparently) won't answer a few questions for a few of the Houston beat reporters he *does* trust and respect while standing at his locker a few times a week. Because then it becomes like a pressure cooker that builds up. Few things, as a media person, are more annoying than when an athlete decides *the media* is a giant BORG like enemy, all thinking and working together with one agenda, and that there is no difference between Bossip & The Dirty writing about an athlete's personal life and a beat reporter who shows up every day, to every game, and treats their profession with respect.
There is no easy answer to any of this. There are a lot of NFL Players who realize some of it is mundane and some of it is b.s., but they're being paid handsomely to represent their organization in public (NFL Players are required to speak with the media under the CBA) so why not just play along when someone says "Talk about the Steelers defense" they will go ahead and give reporters a half-way interesting answer that won't annoy the head coach. One of the reasons I like Foster — at least from afar — is that he seems to realize it's kind of a frustrating (an occasionally phony) relationship. He's clearly someone thinks deeply about issues and is sensitive and smart and interesting in all the ways you wish more NFL players were. But at the same time, those qualities also mean that criticism stings a bit more, and probably make it harder for him to be happy in a profession that doesn't exactly embrace independent, non-conforming types.
Anyway, just something that's been percolating in my mind. Here is the TL/DR version:
Q: Talk about Arian Foster's relationship with the media.
A: I see frustrations on both sides.