Does surf Journalism need to change?

[steve shearer]

Sorry Jimmy.....are you telling me a broke, bi-polar, manic depressive, friendless alcoholic on suicide watch who had no visible means of support was going to launch a legal action against Fred?
(after he had already admitted guilt)

That didn't happen and never was.

He was a soft target.

[localbogan]

Here here jimmy.
Steve, I think you will find that Fred Pawle's article in The Australian about Andy Irons did not paint Billabong in a very good light at all, and the article that he referenced from Melekian portrayed Billabong in a very bad way.
I don't subscribe to The Australians political point of view at all, in fact quite the opposite.
Either way I do not think that the fact that Pawle works for them influences a single word he writes.
If he is not the most objective surf writer in this country then who is?
Nick Carroll? He has a conflict of interest the size of Mt Everest.

[gibber]

Nick Carroll? He has a conflict of interest the size of Mt Everest.

No thats his bald pate not a snow capped mountain

[baddy]

Sorry Jimmy.....are you telling me a broke, bi-polar, manic depressive, friendless alcoholic on suicide watch who had no visible means of support was going to launch a legal action against Fred?
(after he had already admitted guilt)

That didn't happen and never was.

He was a soft target.

I would like to point out the soft targets were the young men sarge grommed and manipulated in his 20 odd years of journalistic endeavors . The real shame on the surf industry is it was a well known open secret And nothing was done . It would appear even now that some people are still prepared to overlook it and defend a long term serial predator .
oh poor sarge the soft target .
wake up and smell the flowers.

[jimmy]

Sorry Jimmy.....are you telling me a broke, bi-polar, manic depressive, friendless alcoholic on suicide watch who had no visible means of support was going to launch a legal action against Fred?
(after he had already admitted guilt)

That didn't happen and never was.

He was a soft target.

I would like to point out the soft targets were the young men sarge grommed and manipulated in his 20 odd years of journalistic endeavors . The real shame on the surf industry is it was a well known open secret And nothing was done . It would appear even now that some people are still prepared to overlook it and defend a long term serial predator .
oh poor sarge the soft target .
wake up and smell the flowers.

Baddy. Fair play to you.. I feel a bit guilty discussing this on Xmas eve but..

The facts are that he was plying his "trade" when I was a grommet in the Nulla...And basically fcuked up a few kids in the process.

I know of a few guys who Sarge "mentored" back in the 80's who have not surfed since and have gone down the path of drug/alcohol abuse due to the emotional scars that SARGE inflicted.. That was in the days when you couldnt mention abuse so a lot of things went left unsaid.
Sorry but the fact that he is now debilitated due to Bi Polar, Depression, Alcoholism or whatever would in some ways indicate to me that he is now paying for his sins..
I wish no harm to anyone but also believe that if you make your bed......

What a shame that it was never acted upon back then so that a lot of people including Sarge could be leading better lives..

But once again the Industry wouldn't allow that to happen. The same thing is happening with Andy right now....

[Aqua Turd]

Readings for idiots

[steve shearer]

I would like to point out the soft targets were the young men sarge grommed and manipulated in his 20 odd years of journalistic endeavors . The real shame on the surf industry is it was a well known open secret And nothing was done . It would appear even now that some people are still prepared to overlook it and defend a long term serial predator .
oh poor sarge the soft target .
wake up and smell the flowers.

Merry Xmas Baddy.

Don't get me wrong.
I'm not defending Sarge's behaviour at all.
He shoulda been in front of a magistrate long before the shitt hit the fan in South Africa.

My point was that by the time Fred Pawle trained his sights on him, the damage had been well and truly done and Sarge was just a broken wreck of a man.

It took no courage to expose that.

[localbogan]

Maybe you have a reasonable point Steve but as an avid reader of surf magazines at the time and a general follower of professional surfing, Pawle's article was the first I had heard about Sarge's behaviour so I do not think it was particularly common knowledge.
So third go at it, if Fred Pawle is not the most objective surf writer in this country then who is?

[Kunji]

[Larry]

' does surf journalism need to change?'

no

we should leave it to die a natural death -

[philw]

Steve, why do you think the details of ai's death should be reported? And why do you think billabong are to be held to account? Any more than nike were for tiger's affairs or geffen for kobain blowing his head off? Seriously, i'm interested, i cant find an ethical compass for this.

[steve shearer]

The details are worthy of investigation because a 3 Time World Champion in the prime of life died alone in a Hotel Room in decidedly suspicious circumstances.

If you don't think that is in the public interest I'm not sure what is.
The facts show that it is in the public interest.

Lets extrapolate via analogy: Ricky Ponting pulls out of the Boxing Day Test on Xmas Day citing dengue fever. He then flies home to Sydney, stops en route at Dubbo and dies alone in a Hotel Room. Police find anti-anxiety meds and possibly methadone. The dengue fever timeline doesn't really add up.
Steeden, or Nike (or whoever sponsors him) rushes out a public statement with the cause of death, before any coroners or toxicology report.
Despite strong evidence that a history of substance abuse has been occurring Nike and his family try and suppress the coroners report.

Would that be worthy of investigation?

What about Julia Gillard pulling out of APEC citing ebola virus. She flies home alone and dies in bizarre circumstances.
Would that be worthy?

It's not the nitty gritty details of his death that are the newsworthy thing here. It's the attempt to suppress them and create St Andy for the sake of commercial imperatives that rings alarm bells.

Why does that matter?
Personally, I despise the false premise, the stench of lies. Especially when they are wielded so arrogantly by those in power for their own blatant self serving purposes.
I don't know why I do.
Might be the way I was bought up, might be the education I received, might be the books I read , the people I've met.
Maybe there is something inherent in the human conditions that abhors falsehood and reveres truth.
I just don't know.

Al I know is that if someone waves a rotting fish in front of my face and trys to tell me it's a rose I see red.

You bought up Tiger and Cobain.
Good analogies. Nike made a squillion off the squeaky clean image of Tiger.
Tiger was forced by the overwhelming evidence of his falsehoods and deceptions to come clean.
Nike had to wear it.
Now, a much diminished but human, all too human, Tiger has come back to the game and the public can make an informed decision about the marketing machine Nike employs to sell product via Woods.

Cobain's struggles have been well documented. Does knowing this diminish his musical achievements?
On the contrary.

Why then does surfing and the corporations who so carefully and with martial ruthlessness control it's image feels compelled to keep this culture in a state of perpetual adolesecent denial?

In the final analysis lies and denial diminish humanity. They create cardboard cut-outs good for nothing but selling product.

Isn't it time we grew up and accepted the truth?

[Beanpole]

I thought Tiges came clean after his wife found out, belted him around the head with a five iron and he crashed his car trying to escape

Its the same old story of media manipultion vs feral online content. The more they try to manipulate image and information the greater risk of being exposed.

[Davros]

The St. Andy gig hasnt really worked for BBG - they reported a profit down grade 15th Dec due to weak sales.

[philw]

Thanks for the passionate response steve. I agree that billabong trying to cover up the truth is in the public interest. However, apart from as a caution to others on ai's path, i'm not sure who benefits from full disclosure of the doubtless tawdry details. Perhaps humanity also requires empathy and discretion? Is the truth worth hurting a grieving family for?

[jimmy]

Thanks for the passionate response steve. I agree that billabong trying to cover up the truth is in the public interest. However, apart from as a caution to others on ai's path, i'm not sure who benefits from full disclosure of the doubtless tawdry details. Perhaps humanity also requires empathy and discretion? Is the truth worth hurting a grieving family for?

Phil. The thing is that they are already aware of the truth. I think the point is that had Andy been "allowed" to come clean about his struggles it would have benefited many people including AI...
And maybe, just maybe he might still be with us.. Which would be in everyone's best interests.
The fact that the Bong made every attempt to sweep this under the carpet indicates some sort of liability.
The whole industry needs a shake up and I believe it will happen due to people like Steve demanding answers.

[localbogan]

The Billabong statement was a bit vague but said something along the lines of "been battling Dengue fever". Didn't actually say he died of complications from it but to include it early in the official press releases is a bit misleading.
There are so many holes in the story it is not funny. What about the hospital in Miami? It seemed like at every step Andy was defying medical advice. A big hospital anywhere on mainland USA would be more than capable of treating Dengue so if he really was seriously unwell with it, why or how did he leave the hospital?
As far as Billabong goes I think it reflects the general hush hush nature of the surf industry to the party scene and the fact that they also did not want to jeopardise Andy's marketability.
Basically, a pro surfer (or any sportsman or entertainer) who is winning or some how is marketable can get away with whatever they want (ie Wayne Carey, Andrew Johns, Amy Winehouse etc).
Provided the sponsor/employer gets more out of it than what they put in there are no problems.
A substance abusing surfer who redeems himself and makes good is great.
A substance abusing surfer who continually transgresses, shows no personal responsibility and stops winning, not so great.
It seems like Billabong kept the whole thing going in just the right direction to ensure that overall they were still making a profit out of Andy Irons.
Obviously whatever was done was not enough and hence the finger must be pointed at those around him who funded the party lifestyle and who did not engage strict enough behavioural criteria, ie Billabong
If carefully managed it might have been better overall to publicly shame him and force change upon him.
Which brings me back to the original point of this thread: who in the surf media knew all about Andy's erratic and persistently self destructive behaviour and chose not to report it?
Probably every single journalist who follows the tour.

Either way, it is unbelievably sad and I am sure there a lot of people in the surf industry asking themselves if perhaps they could have done more

[localbogan]

I do not think the toxicology report is going to be negative.

From surfersvilage.com:


Irons' widow seeks to delay report on the surfer's death

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 24 December, 2010 : - - The widow of surfing champion Andy Irons has asked a Texas court to delay for six months the release of a coroner's report on her husband's death, according to Courthouse News Service.

Lyndie Irons said the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office is about to release its report despite the fact that additional inquiries about Irons' death have been made to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Family members had said he was suffering from dengue fever and was on his way home to Kauai when he died.

The legal complaint states that because of Irons' celebrity status, "his death has been reported by various news media outlets with the suggestions and innuendo of drug use."

Lyndie Irons said the branding of her husband's company will be "immediately, irreparably and severely tarnished if the official autopsy report is released at this time, when the coverage of this event by the press is at a frenzy." She and their newborn son, Andy Axel Irons, are financially dependent on Irons' company.

Any Irons, 32, three-time world champion, was discovered dead Nov. 2 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel near Grapevine, Texas.