“Captain, I canna change the laws of physics!”
All devotees of the original Star Trek series are familiar with that line from U.S.S. Enterprise’s chief engineer, Montgomery Scott, as he was facing a matter/antimatter crisis in the episode “Naked Time” (of course, he somehow DID find a way to change the laws of physics and save the ship).
Combining matter and antimatter. In the natural world, that causes an explosion.
Sounds like Alex Rodriguez and the media.
The latest media blowup for baseball’s highest-paid player comes from Miami, where a local paper tied him again to performance enhancing drugs. The Yankees’ third-baseman has denied any involvement, continuing to claim as he did in 2009 that he only used PEDs in the early years of 2000 and stopped long ago.
No matter (pun intended) the damage is done. For years A-Rod has had a tough time in the media, which have excoriated him for everything from his lack of post-season production to his dating habits. He just hasn’t made himself into a likeable star. This latest revelation, true or not, adds even more negative headlines and raises new questions about his credibility. Matter and antimatter.
Meantime, A-Rod’s lesser-paid but more popular teammate, Derek Jeter, is in the news as well. But he’s getting nothing but positive coverage as he recovers from a broken ankle he suffered in the playoffs last year. It seems Jeter ALWAYS gets positive coverage.
Why? Because when it comes to the media, Jeter never lets matter and antimatter meet. He understands the importance of perception and makes a conscious effort to be portrayed in the best possible light.
You need to, too.
Whatever you hope to accomplish in your dealings with the media, how you are perceived carries as much or more weight than what you are saying. Make sure to always be honest, sincere and believable. If you are credible, people will believe your message is credible, too. That’s exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. And you won’t ever have to worry about that matter/antimatter thing.
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