Media Crusade Against WWE

Since the tragic double-murder/suicide that occurred back in late June, the media has been on a frenzy and seemingly a witch hunt against the WWE & professional wrestling. A sport and entertainment industry which was rarely covered by the media has been the center of attention. That usually happens with controversy. The crime was horrific and I definitely believe it deserves attention, but when that attention is turned against a company rather than the individual, you know the media is putting a spin on it.

Controversy is what drives news stories daily. Without it, there would never be much "news". Top headlines always tend to be those of tragedy versus those of triumph. Take a look at the top stories in sports at the moment:

Major League Baseball - Bonds about to break all-time homerun record after possibly using steroids to do so.

NFL - Michael Vick alleged to have been operating a vicious dog fighting ring out of his home, which resulted in the abuse, torture and murder of dogs.

NBA - Referee was betting on games and made calls to influence the point spreads of games.

All 3 professional sports have top stories associated with crime, tragedy or negative actions. The good stories of triumph or positivity come rarely; when an athlete marries a top celebrity, or when a team wins a championship. It's the credo for the media to focus on these negative stories to try to "expose sports and athletes" for what they really are. Rather then dig up facts on the good accomplishments, its easier to examine controversy in every possible way and serve it up on TV. The media has been no different in their recent treatment of the Benoit situation with WWE. You see guys who haven't wrestled for decades, guys who barely wrestled in WWE, various expert doctors and psychologists all being paraded on TV To discuss how bad steroids are and the lifestyle of a wrestler. It's easy to make a negative case against professional wrestling if you have enough former wrestlers and doctors to make their points.

Take notice that you don't see good news about pro wrestling reported much. For example, the WWE's work with Make-a-Wish foundation, or going overseas to lift the spirits of the military in the annual Tribute to the Troops that WWE has. It's because news is built upon the negative stories, the tragedies, and hysteria. Controversy drives the news. The Chris Benoit story only gives fuel to the fire that drives a media crusade against the WWE as a bunch of barbaric, circus-performers who live a "rock-star" lifestyle and abuse drugs, alcohol and their spouses. It's simply a cop-out on the part of the media to use this one incident to try to paint a public picture of what wrestling is really about; entertaining fans and top-level performers putting their bodies on the line to entertain.