In a new low for tall poppy syndrome, I noted with dismay yesterday the headlines splashed across most media websites, that a 'sports star and his wife' were isolating at home, after 'complaining about their MIQ facility'.
By the afternoon, thank goodness, the sportsman involved had spoken out and the media backed off a little bit - but not before they'd tried to rark it up all day with clickbait headlines such as 'luxe life' and 'multi million dollar lifestyle.'
“Isolating in their $3m dollar home” .. as if that’s some kind of alarming outrageous newsworthy scandal. I mean come on. What’s wrong with their house being 3 million dollars? Why is that necessary news? Why include that? It’s a family home in Auckland for goodness sake, it’s bound to be at least a million or more. Is the price designed to infuriate us? Is it an attempt to demean the family? They also mentioned they lived in an “exclusive” suburb. What crime is this? A 3 million dollar home in an exclusive suburb?! OMG, I’m outraged.
Why are we pushing tall poppy syndrome?
Embarrassingly, after using this family as clickbait all day, the media, having played judge and jury, then backed down by last night and reported it as 'causing backlash from some'. No kidding. Right after you rarked it up all day? What a surprise.
I don’t know kiwi basketballer Tom Abercrombie or his wife from a bar of soap. I don’t know anyone who knows them, I have no vested interest in them at all, but I felt sick for them yesterday. Abercrombie himself said that being framed by the media this way had been 'brutal' for his family. And that's because they'd done everything right - they'd gone through all the appropriate channels - applied for an exemption on medical grounds based on the fact two of their children are autistic with high medical and behavioural needs.
That's it. They applied through a system just like anyone else can, and got an exemption.
The media tried to make it sound like they'd complained about their MIQ hotel because they'd prefer their "$3 million home."
Of the other exemptions made for people to isolate at home, and there have been at least 6 in the last 7 months, where were all the headlines on how much their homes cost and what suburbs they lived in?
This was such an overblown and baseless attempt to demean a family who did what? Put their autistic children's needs first? Are any of the clickbait writers here even mothers? Why would we seek to belittle them for that? Why would we inflame an already very difficult situation and time for them? Why are we means testing them? Was the NZ media annoyed that he was a basketballer? Or that he had a 3 million dollar home? What bothered them most?
It's beyond petty, it's tabloid BS at its best.. and tall poppy syndrome at its worst.
Whatever happened to 'be kind'?
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