Naomi Osaka cries during press conference

SCREEN CAPTURE

Naomi Osaka struggles with her emotions during a press conference.

OPINION

I get it: Sometimes journalists have to be aggressive to get an answer, a revealing quote, or to get a subject to respond; but, you don't have to be an ass.

Almost three months after she left the French Open to avoid taking part in post-match press conferences and needed a "mental health" break, the 23-year old Japanese American began meeting the media during the Olympics. 

Apparently, the tennis star is still struggling with her emotions and her mental health as evidenced by her press conference Monday before the Western & Southern Open, when Osaka broke into tears after persistent questioning from a reporter.

“You're not crazy about dealing with us, especially in this format,” Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer began, before wondering how the defending US Open champion balances outside interests that are “served by a media platform.”

“When you say I’m not crazy about dealing with you guys, what does that refer to?” Osaka replied, according to the New York Times.

The reporter, The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Daugherty, repeated his question: “Well, you’ve said you don’t especially like the news conference format, yet that seems to be obviously the most widely used means of communicating to the media and through the media to the public.”

“I would say the occasion, when to do the press conferences is what I feel is the most difficult,” said the No. 2-ranked Osaka, before pausing. “I’m actually very interested in that point of view.

“For me I feel this is something I can’t really speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself. But ever since I was younger, I’ve had a lot of media interest on me, and I think it’s because of my background as well as how I play.

“Because in the first place I’m a tennis player, which is why a lot of people are interested in me. So I would say in that regard I’m quite different to a lot of people, and I can’t really help that there are some things I tweet or say that create a lot of news articles or things like that.

“But I would also say, I’m not really sure how to balance it too, I’m figuring it out at the same time as you are, I would say.”

After giving that response, Osaka then began struggling for composure before breaking down as the next question by another reporter was being asked. The moderator called a break and Osaka left the to compose herself, before returning and answering one further question in English and several in Japanese.

Osaka’s agent Stuart Duguid condemned Daugherty’s line of questioning in a prepared statement.

“The bully at the Cincinnati Enquirer is the epitome of why player/media relations are so fraught right now,” said Duguid. “Everyone on that Zoom will agree that his tone was all wrong and his sole purpose was to intimidate. Really appalling behaviour,” he said.

“And this insinuation that Naomi owes her off-court success to the media is a myth – don’t be so self-indulgent.”

Reading the words on a page is one thing, but when you listen to the exchange, there was a tone in the reporter's questioning that New York Times tennis writer Ben Rothenberg, the press conference was gong smoothly until Daugherty's offered “a fairly aggressively toned question about how she benefits from a high-media profile but doesn’t like talking to media.”

To her credit, after five minutes, Osaka returned to finish answering questions in English and Japanese.

As a newspaper editor, I've seen some reporters revel in what they say is being aggressive. Some of them were not very nice people and they were proud that their subjects feared them., hoping that they would get the subject to stumble or reveal something new. There's a fine line between being persistent and being an ass. Unfortunately, management often favored and rewarded what ordinary people would call rude behavior.

Considering Osaka's the fragile nature of Osaka's mental health, the questioner could have couched his question in a less accusatory tone. Journalists should consider the context of tennis in the context of world events. She's only a tennis player, not a politician with power and influence over so many lives or a CEO spending billions of dollars. Save the hard questioning for those people who deserve to be put on the spot.

“We appreciate the respectful dialogue with Ms. Osaka at the press conference,” the executive editor of The Cincinnati Enquirer, Beryl Love, said in a statement. “It was a straightforward question that we feel led to a meaningful exchange. That said, we sincerely regret that our questioning upset her in any way.”

Aggressive reporting? or just being an ass? 

A word of caution: This is news laced with my opinion. Readers are encouraged to read multiple sources to form their own opinions.