The raging controversy over media coverage and crowd toxicity has driven women’s basketball into a corner. Sports personalities Elle Duncan and Sophie Cunningham have boldly issued top-down media hits against the distracting culture wars threatening to derail the WNBA.
In recent interviews, the two women explained in no uncertain terms that the incessant online “mob mentality,” clickbait headlines, and the loss of honest objectivity in the mainstream media have obscured and undermined the game.
The discussion is about how the proliferation of social media algorithms and horse-stable bad-faith commentary are hijacking the essence of sports journalism.
Instead of conversations around phenomenal scoring streaks, playoff titles, and record-breaking increases in attendance and television ratings, we often find ourselves having to deal with some the most manufactured of controversies.
Elle Duncan rips modern digital media climate The bias towards “rage-bait” reporting was a theme throughout the discussion, and Duncan decried how “bonafide baboons” like Clark and other prominent athletes ultimately end up being bait for a toxic, negative internet atmosphere.
She contended that the media should be the ones to diffuse some of the toxicity instead of exploiting a hostile online atmosphere that is perpetuated in the search for profit.
In the midst of all this, Sophie Cunningham spoke about the emotional impact and fury of her own words being captured out of context in social-media firestorms.
A Phoenix Mercury player has little to gain by taking a stand, but Cunningham, a veteran of the league, said we don’t need the zero-to-100 political culture war.
We should get back to the baseline of mutual respect from sports fans, journalists and athletes, and the ball.
The WNBA’s sudden dominance has caught the league’s players, owners and fans at a crossroads. Industry analysts say keeping the game grounded amid skyrocketing public attention and big-market coverage will be essential to sustaining growth.
When figures such as Duncan and Cunningham stand up to the algorithms and hosts who thrive on controversy, they are moving the broader sports world back in the direction of something more fundamental: the thrill of elite athletics.