THE MEDIAS OBSESSION WITH NRL STARS INVOLVED IN CRIME

The criminal behaviour of professional football players especially rugby league stars in Australia has attracted the media and public scrutiny in recent years. Some (not all)  rugby league players have found there way into the media as a result of their criminal incidents, these incidents have included anything from assault, domestic violence, drink driving, public urination, sexual assault, and offensive behaviour. Some footballers in Australia who have gained a great amount of attention from the media for their scandalous behaviour in are:
*Benji Marshal: for assault-bodily harm
*Joel Monaghan: attention from the media, after it was posted on twitter a photograph of him simulating a sex act with a dog
*Brett Stewart: charges on sexual assault
*Antony Watts: charged with domestic assault of his girlfriend
*Nate Myles: defecated on floor of central coast hotel in the nude
*Todd Carney: after drunken night out with roosters team mate Watts, after stating and announcing her would decrease his drinking

These events have caused outrage within the media; talkback radio, newspapers, television programs, twitter and many more media forms have commented on these incidents involving rugby league stars. The media spokespeople have had strong opinions on these incidents; and it is a extremely common story that is present in the media today. The media have characterized and presented these stars as deviant, over confident, sexed up, violent, spoilt footballers. These footballers although I guess are not doing anything different compared to other people that get caught up in criminal behaviour, but media spokepeople and the public argue that they are getting paid two hundred fifty- forty hundred thousand a year they should be behaving better.

In thinking about why these sex and assault scandals carried out by these players have caused such extensive attention from the media, I am reminded and think about Jewkes (2004) twelve news value, five of these imperatives can be applied to NRL scandals. These stories about these NRL stars getting charged with assault, attacking their girlfriends or drink driving all reveal newsworthiness. For starters, their is major threshold as football players and their behaviour is an ongoing issue many years now they have featured in a variety of media, and the media knows that people (whether they admit it ) are going to be interested in it (not matter how much it is). These stories are usually quite simple which it noted in Jewkes 12 imperatives, there not overly complex but short and get to the point. Sex is a major news worthy topic, and more than half of these scandals have sex issues present, generally speaking from the media portrayal of these offenders have given the perception that football star are sex offenders. The celebrity status of the NRL players adds to the hype over their behaviour in the media and the public interest and the violence that is associated with these incidents has been overly emphasised.