Golfweek Goofs on Network Scoop

Whether or not you watch the Golf Channel or subscribe to Golfweek Magazine, chances are that you're familiar with the name Tiger Woods. After all he is arguably the greatest golfer alive today; the Michael Jordan of golf if you will. In contrast, it seemed that until recently no one was familiar with the Golf Channel's now infamous correspondent Kelly Tilghman. That is, until she committed a highly controversial on-air faux pas on January 4th. The incident which led to Tilghman's media notoriety and a two-week suspension from broadcasting involved her attempt to offer what she viewed as a comical suggestion as to how up and coming professional golfers could beat Woods. Without any sign of noticeable consideration, she chuckled while saying, "lynch him in a back alley" just before making what seemed like an awkward pause. Nevertheless, Tiger who is of multi-racial Asian, Caucasian and African American descent made a statement that the comment made by Tilghman was unfortunate, but that he had spoken with her and that there was no ill intent on her part.

After Tiger spoke on the matter the story seemingly should have come to an end, however, Golfweek Magazine had other plans. When the January 19th issue of Golfweek hit newsstands many readers were shocked to find the stark image of a noose plastered across the cover of the publication. Can you say PR disaster? I cannot even begin to understand how anyone could think that this would be a good idea for the cover of any magazine of which Don Imus is not the editor. I mean, surely no editor who wished to keep their job would approve such a thing, right? The "higher ups" at Turnstile Publishing Company which owns Golfweek were not too pleased with former editor and vice president Dave Seanor's poor decision to approve the distasteful cover either as they released him on January 22.

Following Seanor's termination, Turnstile Publishing Co. president William J. Kupper released a statement citing, "We apologize for creating this graphic cover that received extreme negative reaction from consumers, subscribers and advertisers across the country." Kelly Tilghman returned to the Golf Channel today and began her initial post-suspension telecast by issuing what appeared to be sincere apology. "For the last two weeks I've taken the time to reflect and truly understand the impact of what I said. While I need not intend to offend anyone, I understand why those words were hurtful. I am terribly sorry for any hurt that I have caused. I would like to express my deepest apologies." Nice recovery Kelly! It is nice to see that in the wake of Don Imus' notorious comments about the Rutgers Women's basketball team that some media outlets took notes. Despite the fact that this three-week long ordeal resulted in both a job suspension and termination, I believe that all parties involved handled the situation in a timely and effective manner.

The discussion of the importance of an organization's key publics from the class lecture on January 10th should make more sense if you follow the progression of this story. Although, technically, one party was to blame for the whole incident it snowballed into a much bigger problem. Once this snowballing effect occurred, one person's mistake became the responsibility of multiple parties within each organization in order for them to maintain good standings with their respective internal and external publics. This scandal was about much more than losing potential viewers or readers as both the Golf Channel and Golfweek Magazine stood to lose money from advertisers had they failed to resolve this PR nightmare.