Kobe: A Legendary Loss and a Media Miss

Like many people on Sunday afternoon, while watching a college basketball game, I checked my Twitter feed.  I read that Kobe Bryant, a Laker Legend and the 4^th all-time leading scorer in NBA History had died in a helicopter crash in the hills of Calabasas, CA. As I scrolled through the initial reactions to reports, I immediately turned the television to CNN to get what had happened.  It made me think back to when Princess Diana died in a car accident being followed by paparrazi.  How media has changed since then, but still causing problems.  Now, stories do not break on the television news.  They break on twitter by TMZ.

As I listened to the interviews and even the very slim facts about the crash,  Twitter and the news outlets reported that 5 people had died in the crash.  Like many, I wondered if Kobe’s wife, Vanessa, and his 4 daughters were among the victims. As I continued to listen and follow my timeline, which is made up of many reputable sports reporters and personalities, the conflicting reports that all of his 4 daughters had died with Kobe flowed down like rain drops on a window.  Of course, I was deeply saddened by the news.  However, there were other reports saying that none of the daughters were aboard.

In the end, Kobe and his daughter, Gianna, were the ones from his family killed along with 7 other people.  The tragedy of loss at such a young age, 41 for Kobe and just 13 for Gianna is something that anyone would be saddened by.  To me, none of Kobe’s accomplishments on the court or even in business matter right now, the respect for his surviving family members is more important than any tribute video, moment of silence or even condolence tweet.  I think my reaction to the entire situation is what is the matter with our media and our culture.  

I understand that TMZ who broke the story (and seemingly every story these days) did not contact Vanessa prior to releasing the information.  The various outlets and reports who said all 4 daughters were killed spread that information without basis.  I mean what ever happened to getting confirmation on a story before releasing information.  In the old newspaper days, I believe you needed 2 confirmed sources before releasing such information or maybe even checking with the surviving spouse before posting it all over the internet.  

In the social media world we live in, being first is more important than being right.  It is more important to get clicks and retweets then actually finding out what the hell you are writing about.  I suppose the reason is us, the consumers, are all over every story.  I mean every single one of my main follows on Twitter commented on the story, almost immediately.  In some ways, I understand it.  I’ve lost people in my life this past year, and we all want to support from afar.  Condolences do feel good in a way, but instead of controlling the information, as the general public can via a social media post or obituary.  Kobe’s wife and other children may have been in the public eye, but now have to deal with all of America commenting on social media about their husband/father.  The Bryant family deserves the support, of course, but the media and Twitter pundits, really didn’t even give them one minute to sob, breathe or even post it themselves.

I’m obviously posting something on a social media outlet as we speak.  However, I implore all that are in the social space to use this medium as a way to support those that matter in a story before being “ahead” of the others.  No one is going to remember you were the first to tweet the damn story.  Sure, the TMZ team should be ashamed of how they handled themselves in this situation, but I would like everyone who immediately turned to social media without any facts to just wait a few minutes or an hour before posting.  There are families and lives here that are impacted by what we post.  

I’ll conclude this by saying – Vanessa, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri and the rest of those closest to Kobe and Gianna – I am sorry for your loss, and I hope that the people that matter most to you are able to celebrate their lives in the way you choose to.  You deserve that in the wake of such a tragic event.

Wegs