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What Mitchell Pearce did on Australia Day was not the first time he has fuelled himself up with alcohol and publicly tarnished his image. After a while, this creates an untenable PR problem for the Roosters, and I wouldn’t blame them if they decide to take serious action.
Having said this, we need some perspective.
If we have all decided to take the moral high ground on this one, then we need to take a long hard look at the mainstream media who decided it was okay to deliberately distort facts to manufacture blatant click-bait.
Splashed everywhere were sensational headlines media groups knew would garner the most traction.
Yahoo led with ‘Mitchell Pearce’s obscene sex act with dog’, while The Daily Telegraph opted for “Disgraced Origin star’s dog act’. The list goes on.
The issue with the dog was a sidelight in this story. In a drunken state Pearce thought his actions of simulating sex for a few seconds was funny. Clearly they weren’t, but he did not harm the animal in any way. Yet the media ran with this angle because they knew it would whip up an online storm of controversy.
The real issue here was a man, who clearly has a problem with his behaviour when he drinks, being caught on cameras acting like a dick in someone else’s home.
But acting like a dick and engaging in something overtly criminal should be treated differently. Lamentably though, this is not the case with most media outlets – quite the opposite actually.
More Mitchell Pearce:
» The new and improved NRL Code of Conduct
» Mitchell Pearce speaks for first time following Australia Day scandal
» Whatever Pearce’s punishment, make sure he learns from it
» Pearce faces anxious wait on NRL career
» Roosters stand down disgraced captain Mitchell Pearce
» Footage emerges of Pearce simulating sex act with a dog
I’m hearing talk of tearing up Pearce’s contract and never letting him play in the NRL again. Do these same people think it’s okay that NRL players who have beaten up women are still playing our game?
As I said, let’s get some perspective.
If we are serious with our outrage about footy players meeting community standards, let’s take a stand and encourage the NRL to give out life bans to anyone who thinks it’s okay to bash their wife or girlfriend.
Where is the media driving this story? Oh that’s right, they’re still talking about the unharmed dog aren’t they.
At least Mitchell Pearce was drunk, what’s their excuse?
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