Really BBC ? Really ???

TheBigDipper

WiresDreamDisasters said:

TheBigDipper said:

Emp_Fab said:

<snip>
It's got nothing to do with this chap - this is about what the media consider to be important and what they consider to be less important.

It's not just the BBC, though. His death is on the front page of half the papers this morning. Some as the headline, some as a small box. One or two papers prefer to trumpet their own campaigns, or regurgitate promo for the PM and ignore both Kobe and the virus. 

We get the media we deserve. It's not what they think is important that gets on the front page. That would be their continued profitable existence and ability to influence events. They're putting what they believe we want from them in their papers.

And I'd prefer to read about a childhood hero of mine and others than scaremongering about bat-blood-food-flu pandemics.

I know right! What a simple minded retard I am!

Exactly. There will be more people identifying with Kobe and their memories of him than people identifying with sick people in China they don't know anything about. e. 

Sassafras

Celebrity sells.
Look how many pages Megs and Harry got.

Kittyfrisk

It's undoubtedly a tragic accident involving a loss of life.
As for the nature & extent of fame & celebrity  https://www.opencourt-basketball.com/kobe-bryant-i-never-heard-of-jordan/

DefaultM

Watched a few videos of him and he does that one where the ball is flying through the air, the buzzer goes and it drops in the net for them to win by 1 point. Nice.

fretmeister

To quote Kobe Bryant himself

"I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

After being accused of rape.

DefaultM

fretmeister said:

To quote Kobe Bryant himself

"I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

After being accused of rape.

Whats the context to that? That he now understands she didn't want to in hindsight, but at the time it wasn't clear? 

fretmeister

DefaultM said:

fretmeister said:

To quote Kobe Bryant himself

"I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

After being accused of rape.

Whats the context to that? That he now understands she didn't want to in hindsight, but at the time it wasn't clear? 

It was after he paid her off.

Also the law in many parts of the world says - if its not clear then its rape. Carelessness with consent is rape.

But look at the words - he claimed it was an apology. Its not. Its a "Im sorry you feel that way" type thing. Arsehole.

WiresDreamDisasters

fretmeister said:

DefaultM said:

fretmeister said:

To quote Kobe Bryant himself

"I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

After being accused of rape.

Whats the context to that? That he now understands she didn't want to in hindsight, but at the time it wasn't clear? 

It was after he paid her off.

Also the law in many parts of the world says - if its not clear then its rape. Carelessness with consent is rape.

But look at the words - he claimed it was an apology. Its not. Its a "Im sorry you feel that way" type thing. Arsehole.

The case went to trial but it was dropped after she refused to testify. He released a statement at the time:

First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colorado.

I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.

I issue this statement today fully aware that while one part of this case ends today, another remains. I understand that the civil case against me will go forward. That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado.

Following that, she took him to civil court and they settled out of court.

The wiki write up is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_Bryant_sexual_assault_case#Civil_case

fretmeister

Apologised for his behaviour.

Says it all.

underdog

Emp_Fab said:

Yeah, but seriously.... an American athlete ???  How many people here have even heard of Kobe Bryant ?

Considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, his name appears on the back of most Lakers shirts you see worn during the summer, all star, record maker etc

Worst still is the BBC running a video about his death while showing a different black player.

Bluebeard

Whether you like him or not this is news that I would expect to make the headlines on BBCs website. He is a huge worldwide star and one of the best basketball players of all time

WiresDreamDisasters

underdog said:

Worst still is the BBC running a video about his death while showing a different black player.

Worse still is an MSNBC news anchor using the n word (allegedly accidentally) when reporting on his death.

UnclePsychosis

Being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Kobe Bryant is like being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Maradona, Boris Becker, Usain Bolt or Venus Williams.

The man was an absolute superstar of sport whether you like it or not. 

fretmeister

underdog said:

Emp_Fab said:

Yeah, but seriously.... an American athlete ???  How many people here have even heard of Kobe Bryant ?

Considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time, his name appears on the back of most Lakers shirts you see worn during the summer, all star, record maker etc

Worst still is the BBC running a video about his death while showing a different black player.

They do that all the time.

The rugby pages are particularly bad for it. Its really not difficult to check they have the correct athlete.

underdog

Emp_Fab said:

What does "Show some fucking respect" even mean?  Of course it's a tragedy that the guy has died.  It's also a tragedy that the helicopter pilot has died - where's the 'fucking respect' for him ?  He/she doesn't even get a mention!
Imagine losing your partner in an accident that was only in the news because of someone else that died in the same vehicle.  "Respect" - don't make me laugh.

Regardless - it's a lame 'appeal to emotion' response when the subject is why the BBC chose to rate a story about the death of one man as being of greater importance than a critical and worrying discovery about a virus that's spreading now that could potentially wipe out millions.

It's got nothing to do with this chap - this is about what the media consider to be important and what they consider to be less important.

As mentioned, it was just the latest big news story, it's not a ranking of importance or anything 

crunchman

UnclePsychosis said:

Being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Kobe Bryant is like being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Maradona, Boris Becker, Usain Bolt or Venus Williams.

The man was an absolute superstar of sport whether you like it or not. 

Don't know if it's quite the same as the other sports you mentioned.  Tennis and athletics are sports that have always had widespread TV coverage in the UK.  Basketball hasn't ever had that coverage.

I also suspect it's partly a generational thing.  For guys in their 50s, like Emp and a lot of others on here, Basketball was never likely to be a big thing.  For younger generations, they are probably far more aware of it.

fretmeister

OP is missing the point.

Having it be the lead story will show up on more web searches and massively increase clicks from the USA.

underdog

WiresDreamDisasters said:

underdog said:

Worst still is the BBC running a video about his death while showing a different black player.

Worse still is an MSNBC news anchor using the n word (allegedly accidentally) when reporting on his death.

Yes seen that, it was a very odd incident indeed, with no plausible way to explain it.

p90fool

crunchman said:

UnclePsychosis said:

Being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Kobe Bryant is like being bizarrely proud of not having heard of Maradona, Boris Becker, Usain Bolt or Venus Williams.

The man was an absolute superstar of sport whether you like it or not. 

Don't know if it's quite the same as the other sports you mentioned.  Tennis and athletics are sports that have always had widespread TV coverage in the UK.  Basketball hasn't ever had that coverage.

I also suspect it's partly a generational thing.  For guys in their 50s, like Emp and a lot of others on here, Basketball was never likely to be a big thing.  For younger generations, they are probably far more aware of it.

Bollocks, Meadowlark Lemon died fairly recently and he was on TV in the UK most Saturday afternoons on one of only three available channels, but to non-Sky subscribers Bryant is just a rapey kind of OJ Simpson character that you're not 100% sure what he does for a living. 

Maradona, Boris Becker, Usain Bolt and Venus Williams are/were all international superstars, competing on foreign soil against British contemporaries.

Being proud of not knowing who someone is is silly, but affecting a spurious interest in and paying to view domestic-only US sports is even sillier. 

"Every Lakers shirt you see in the summer" my absolute arse. 

Sassafras

She mixed up the words Knicks and Lakers.
She could just as easily have said "Knickers".