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As with all media, messaging from sports stars like LeBron James must be consumed with discretion

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Last week, LeBron James, the NBA star and production company president, ended a post-game news conference by tossing a question back at reporters.

“I got one question for you guys before you guys leave. I was thinking when I was on my way over here, I was wondering why I haven’t gotten a question from you guys about the Jerry Jones photo,” James said. “But when the Kyrie thing was going on, you guys were quick to ask us questions about that.”

The photo in question was published in the Washington Post, and shows a teenage Jones, now the owner of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, among an all-white mob opposing the integration of North Little Rock High School in 1957.

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Isn’t this masterful stuff from James, a former high-school prodigy who has essentially grown up in front of reporters’ microphones? Don’t you admire James’s black-belt level verbal jiu-jitsu, putting writers on defence while highlighting a glaring double standard? This is important work, forcing the media to focus on an important story instead of gossip-column sideshows.

Right?

Not really, but hold on.

This past weekend here came Deion Sanders, the two-sport superstar turned college football coach, leaving his previous job at Jackson State University for a higher-paying post at the University of Colorado Boulder. Video clips from his provisional farewell to Jackson State players (he’ll coach them in the Celebration Bowl next weekend), and his introduction to staff and players in Colorado, hit the internet immediately.

One video was titled, “The Part of Deion Sanders ‘Exit Meeting With His Team’ THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO SEE.” The implication here is that the media curated the Sanders footage to make “Coach Prime,” appear more opportunistic and less empathetic than he really is.

Two sports superstars, and two examples of the media missing the point.

Except that James used that same rant to highlight his “platform” — he has 52.5 million Twitter followers. And last Saturday’s glut of Sanders content? Much of it came from Well Off Media, the outlet Sanders himself controls.

James and Sanders are, of course, free to complain about the media, but when you boast about your social media reach, and run a production company, you are the media. Celebrities understand that reality, even if the audience doesn’t always recognize it. Inside that knowledge gap, everything famous folks and civilians alike resent about the traditional press can flourish — bias, spin, self-serving half-truths and more.

Whose truth?

We’re living in the #MoreThanAnAthlete era, where sports stars are encouraged to join important conversations. James has more social media followers than the Washington Post and NPR combined, and he knows that one comment or tweet could drive an entire 24-hour news cycle.

But when superstars use their voices, the rest of us still have to use our brains, and figure out whether we’re consuming the truth, or just their truth.

In James’s case, the alleged double standard is just your everyday false equivalence. Writers asked about Irving because he and James are peers and former teammates, both members of the NBA Players’ Association. It makes sense to wonder how the Nets’ outside-the-CBA sanctions on Irving resonated with fellow union members.

And Jones?

He owns an NFL team, and has no direct, obvious connection to James. If a reporter didn’t already know James was invested in the Jerry Jones photos, they wouldn’t have much impetus to ask. They could ask anyway, hoping to luck into a juicy answer… but why?

The Washington Post published a picture of a teenaged Jones, above, among an all-white mob opposing the integration of North Little Rock High School in 1957. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

When you’re one-on-one with an athlete, and know something about their interests, wide-ranging, outside-the-lines questions can yield insightful responses. When I worked the baseball beat, I could draw players into conversations about the overlap between sports and politics in Cuba, or Venezuela, or whether merengue makes better walk-up music than salsa or reggaeton.

But to do it at a press conference, full of reporters on tight deadlines and players eager to fulfil their press obligation as quickly as possible, is reckless on several levels. If the athlete gives a thoughtful answer, it belongs to every reporter in the room, and not just to you. But if the athlete isn’t interested in your nuanced topic — and most times they’re not — you’ll get a quizzical look and a non-answer. Every dud question wastes everyone’s time.

Unless James is suggesting that reporters routinely solicit his opinion on current events during post-game press briefings, maybe using the beat writer’s favourite rhetorical device — the “talk about” non-question.

“LeBron, talk about the FTX collapse.”

“Talk about quantitative easing.”

“Since we’re in Toronto, talk about the Ontario Line transit stop at Osgoode Hall.”

Do you want that? Every night? Even if you think you do, you don’t.

PR misstep

And if James wants reporters to discuss issues that are important to him, he can mention them on social media, or put it on a t-shirt, like he did after Eric Garner’s death at the hands of a New York City police officer.

In short, because he has the platform, he can say it himself.

If he needs an example, there was Sanders, with his videographer trailing him, strutting into a Colorado meeting room full of nervous young men. Face to face for the first time, Sanders urged them to jump ship, so he could replace them with his own recruits.

“I’m coming. And when I get here, it’s gonna be change,” Sanders said. “So I want y’all to get ready to go ahead and jump in the [transfer] portal and do whatever you’re gonna get because more of you [transfer] the more room you make.”

Sanders’s one PR misstep: asking the players for a call-and-response after revealing he planned to cut most of them. Better to get them to chant with you while they’re still star-struck, then pivot to the grim business of trimming the roster.

By then, Sanders, who went 27-5 in three seasons at Jackson State, had already won the news conference. Go back and watch it. Short on football specifics; long on smiles and swagger and shout-outs to God.

Later, in the team meeting, a player asked Sanders about off-season training. Sanders acknowledged that he intended to “make some of you quit.”

Talk like that foreshadows brutal winter workouts that aren’t designed to prepare players for football. Those sessions sometimes make headlines for sending athletes to the hospital with rhabdomyolysis, where your muscles essentially disintegrate from overwork. Seems to happen somewhere every winter. Is 2023 Colorado’s year?

I hope not.

Either way, it sounds like a new boss threatening to endanger a vulnerable workforce. But Sanders has a resumé and charm, and a media outlet on his side, and so can make an objectively sleazy situation sound normal, harmless and justified.

When you have a platform and a delivery system, that kind of spin is possible. Most athletes — and certainly all superstars — have access to both.

So they can complain about the media missing the point, and we can listen. But none of us has to buy it. They’re media too, and I encourage you to consume their content the same way you consume anybody else’s. Mine included.

With discretion.

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Blue Jays’ Votto shares emotional letter on social media – Sportsnet.ca

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Blue Jays’ Votto shares emotional letter on social media  Sportsnet.ca

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Struggling Sports Illustrated inks deal to stay afloat following partnership – NBC News

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The owner of Sports Illustrated came to an agreement with digital media company Minute Media, officials said Monday, to operate the iconic magazine, two months after mass layoffs appeared to signal the publication’s demise.

Authentic Brands, which also owns a host of clothing and lifestyle brands, purchased the sports magazine in 2019; it had been operated in recent years by publishers at The Arena Group.

Then in late January, Authentic Brands said it had terminated The Arena Group’s publishing license, leading to widespread staffing cuts.

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Minute Media, best known for The Players’ Tribune and FanSided, said it’s reached a deal with Authentic to keep Sports Illustrated going.

“Minute Media will oversee all digital and print editorial operations across the SI portfoliowhich has been the industry leader in dedicated sports journalism for decades,” Minute Media said in a statement.

“Minute Media plans to leverage its premium sports content expertise as well as its technology platform that powers the creation, global distribution and monetization of hundreds of digital content brands, to continue to grow the Sports Illustrated media business.”

The magazine suffered a reputation blow late last year when it was disclosed that stories written by an artificial intelligence tool had been published.

“In Minute Media we have found a partner that will honor SI’s lauded legacy and exceed fan expectations for the future,” Authentic Executive Vice Chairman Daniel W. Dienst said in a statement.

“As Minute Media shepherds the SI brand across a rapidly evolving media landscape, our priority at Authentic is — and has always been — to protect its journalistic integrity and longevity.”

The agreement also included Authentic buying an undisclosed amount of equity in Minute Media.

Asaf Peled, the CEO and founder of Minute Media, called Sports Illustrated the “gold standard for sports journalism and has been for nearly 70 years.”

“The weight and power of that distinction cannot be understated,” Peled added. “At Minute Media, our focus will be to take that legacy into new, emerging channels enhancing visibility, commercial viability and sustainable impact, all while ensuring that the SI team is inspired to flourish in this new era of media.”

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Minute Media will publish Sports Illustrated – The Washington Post – The Washington Post

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Sports Illustrated has found a new publisher, the company’s owner announced Monday, ending months of uncertainty over who would operate the storied sports publication. The new publisher is Minute Media, a London-based digital media company that publishes a number of websites including the Players’ Tribune.

Minute Media takes over publishing Sports Illustrated from the Arena Group, which held those rights for five years and lurched from controversy to controversy, including several rounds of layoffs, publishing product reviews written by artificial intelligence and, earlier this year, laying off the entire unionized workforce of SI.

Minute Media is not acquiring SI but rather licensing the publishing rights from SI’s owner, Authentic Brands Group, a brand ownership firm that owns the intellectual property of celebrities like Elvis and Shaquille O’Neal. Minute Media will now decide the fates of around 80 staffers as it charts a path forward for SI. A spokesperson for Minute Media said the company would meet with SI leadership in the coming weeks to determine which staffers will be offered employment with Minute Media.

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Dan Dienst, Authentic’s Executive Vice Chairman, Tactical Ops, said in a statement: “In Minute Media we have found a partner that will honor SI’s lauded legacy and exceed fan expectations for the future. As Minute Media shepherds the SI brand across a rapidly evolving media landscape, our priority at Authentic is – and has always been – to protect its journalistic integrity and longevity.”

A new publisher could help stabilize SI after several tumultuous months, multiple staffers told the Post. In January, the Arena Group missed a scheduled payment to Authentic, part of the licensing fee it paid to publish SI. Authentic responded by revoking the publishing license and Arena issued layoff notices to all of the unionized staff. Their last days were scheduled to be at the end of April.

While staffers have awaited their fates, Authentic has spent the last several months negotiating a new publishing license. The company’s CEO, Jamie Salter, told the Post last month he was considering four proposals, including continuing its partnership with Arena. But that became increasingly untenable because of the deterioration of the relationship between Authentic and Arena’s largest shareholder, Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-Hour Energy. An Arena executive killed a print story about transgender boxing policy, and threatened recently to end print publication of the magazine only to immediately reverse course on that threat.

“We have said from the start that our top priorities are to keep Sports Illustrated alive, uphold the legacy of the institution and protect our union jobs. We look forward to discussing a future with Minute Media that does that,” said Emma Baccellieri, staff writer for SI and vice chair for the SI Union, in a statement released by the NewsGuild.

Sports Illustrated Editor-in-Chief Steve Cannella emailed staffers Monday morning. “I know we all have a lot of questions — I wish I had more to share with you right now,” he wrote, adding, “I’m sure we will get a chance to meet with the Minute Media team as soon as possible.”

The licensing deal is for 10 years, with an option for an additional 20. It includes the rights to publish Sports Illustrated in print and online, as well as Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, and Sports Illustrated Kids. As part of the deal, Authentic will also acquire an equity stake in Minute Media.

The New York Times first reported the agreement.

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