Written by Yeshiyah Amariel

Since the car accident involving Tiger Woods that landed him briefly in the hospital the media has done a 180 on their view of the golf-superstar. CBS’s Tonight Show with David Letterman referred to this as a media firestorm. Yet I take a closer look to reveal the motive behind the intensions of the media. Is it just a slow media cycle or is there a real aspiration to take down the Tiger?

Tiger Woods is estimated to gross about a billion dollars in income from his successful golfing career and combined endorsements. Since Woods’ rise to fame he has always kept his private life closed-off from the media spotlight. He has handled the media so successfully over the years that he brought new life to the world of golf, increased revenue to the industry and gained major endorsements from top companies.. all while winning international golfing championships. Thus, it’s fair to refer to his image as a vital life-line for the golf industry and because of his billion dollar check book he is properly vital to the U.S economy.

On the other hand, the media doesn’t like to be given the cold shoulder when concerning a star’s life. After Tiger’s accident they expected him to quickly come out with a press conference to help stir the pot in the slowdown of the media cycle. However, instead he kept to himself the details behind the incident and locked out the press. Later when the police withdrew their involvement in the case, the media needed to speculate (or make up) what happened that night between him and his wife Elin in order to teach the Tiger a lesson in the power of the media. They decided to do it by revealing the rumour about Woods alleged extra marital affairs while putting pressure on his endorsers about whether they still support him. All of them responded with statements saying that they were supporting the golf-superstar as he and his family go though this private matter.

Woods may have retaliated on the media by releasing his confession on his own website rather than through any media outlet which I believe is an interesting tactic to help bring the attention to his site rather than any news organization. Fans of the golfer have supported his online apology and statement that this is matter that doesn’t require a press conference and agree that he and his family should work on this subject in private. Interviews done with many Hollywood stars have supported Tiger’s stance that this personal issue should remain private and be handled between him and his family.

Insiders report that the Woods family have been in daily counselling sessions from their home in California. Thus, the media has taken their current aim at dividing up the Woods family and their fortune. Many reports were released on Tiger and Elin’s prenuptial agreement to see if there were ways around it. Also ‘The Insider’ recently asked its viewers to vote online if Elin Woods is foolish to stay with Tiger after the reported allegations of affairs with the 10 women that have come forward. It’s obvious that if there is a plan then it is to press the severity of the issue so much while posting similar polls to move the general public again Tiger to the point that just one of his endorsers or fans withdrawn financial support from the golf-superstar.

If the media considers itself an X-ray to reveal the truth behind issues it should also remember that x-rays are deadly to those who are over exposed to them. In my opinion they are very aware of their effect and in this case are using it to destroy Tiger Woods’ support and bankroll through family divisions and controversy.

Recently consulting-firm Accenture and Kellogg severed their ties with him for behavior not consistent with their image.  What keeps this story in the spot light are the fame seeking women that are currently making statements about Tiger and the deep pockets of the media machine. In the end regardless if any of these women’s statements are truth or not… any fame seeker that ever met Tiger could come out of the woods at this moment and claim to have had an affair with him. These people would get their 15 minutes and go down in history as a mistress of the Tiger.

I should make one thing clear about my position on this subject. I don’t condone extra marital affairs. Neither do I care about golf, Tiger Woods or his personal life. What my concern is the media’s constant belief that it can interfere in the private life of a husband and wife plus, manipulate public opinion in order to destroy the credibility of a golfer on a non-golf related subject to undercut his income. So the media needs to get over its ego and allow some people to have a respectable level of privacy.