‘Stomaching Falsehoods’ and Overcoming Them

"Stomaching falsehoods" is a cold, harsh reality that some people have to endure and suffer: perceptions, biases and inaccurate, yet hardened conclusions. Sometimes, accusations have a thread of truth, sometimes they don’t. Regardless, it is a trouble that requires addressing and overcoming.

Here’s one recent example of what this experience can be like for someone:

Sports media professional Malika Andrews (pictured) is denying accusations that she targets Black men with biased and unwarranted criticism.

“… the hardest thing for me sometimes is stomaching the falsehoods, particularly this (belief and accusation), ‘you hate Black men,’ that couldn’t be further from the truth and using my family or the way that my family looks, as some sort of evidence of that,” Andrews says.

“And that, it’s just untrue, and it’s just unkind. We all have jobs to do, and I try to do my best to show up every day that (NBA athletes) know what I’m about.”

Critics have a hard — no, impossible — time trusting her.

“Controversy has followed Andrews through her coverage of nearly every major off-court scandal in the NBA,” wrote Brendon Kleen at Awful Announcing.

This has led to a highly-problematic reputation for her because of what people have seen and heard. There is an established, strong and growing “perception that Andrews is biased in her coverage of Black players and their off-court issues,” Kleen wrote.

She isn’t unwilling to talk about her work history.

“That doesn’t mean that I’ve covered every story perfectly; it doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes,” Andrews told NBA star DemMar DeRozan on his show, Dinners with DeMar.

“But I think I’m pretty good at saying to you guys, ‘I could have been better there.’”

Important Points

Andrews feels her bad reputation is unfounded. Her critics think it’s well deserved.

Where do the facts, evidence and truth settle? Clearly, Andrews has contributed, maybe unknowingly, to her reputation. Maybe she has been biased and unfair in some of her reporting. That would not be unheard of as media professionals are human first and humans are flawed.

Andrews admits that she has made mistakes and isn’t “perfect” (I’ve repeatedly reminded people to never use that word or phrase as an explanation, deflection or excuse).

It sounds like Andrews knows she has erred. She has participated in constructing the perception and reputation that she doesn’t like and which causes her pain. In the process, Andrews is allowing people to connect the dots, so to speak, in their judgments about her because she’s providing those “dots.”

At the same time, when this takes place, critics can go off the deep end and imagine and “see” that which is not there, like in Andrews’ case, where they use her family as case points.

I had a football coach as a child who loved to address our lack of discipline by bellowing for time for an opportunity to improve (OTI), which was hard work we were administered as individuals, to convey to us the importance of attention to detail and taking ownership of mistakes, the little things and dumber behavior, on the field, in the locker room or classroom.

Andrews, respectfully stated, has before her an opportunity to improve so that she can reshape the painful narrative attached to her name.

Not only will positive, strategic, responsible responses turn down the temperature on that sharp narrative and eventually rid herself of it, she additionally will be able to put an end to the wrongful assumptions about her due to her family racial composition.

Regained reputation and peace of mind: possible. With poise, courage, attention to details strategy and persistence improvement is almost always, with rare exception, there for us.

End

This newsletter — Reputation Intelligence — is written by Michael Toebe, and is a product of Reputation Intelligence - Reputation Quality, a firm which helps individuals and organizations assure a greater peace of mind, provide stress relief through reliable decision analysis, consulting, advisory and communications.

Professional analysis and opinion — Consulting — Advisory

Reputation Communications — Defamation Response — Speaking Engagements

Crisis Communications — Crisis Management

Contact me if you are seeking assistance and would like to talk about the details