A recent Herald Sun front page. (Credit: Herald Sun)
Australian rules football player Alex Fasolo publicly announced he suffers from depression and would miss a game for mental health reasons. Australian rules football “is a form of football with roots traceable from early forms of Rugby and Gaelic football,” played on cricket ovals with a ball similar to the American football.
After Fasolo showed up at a training for his team Collingwood Football, the Australian Herald Sun‘s Mark Robinson tweeted “good drugs – clinical depression on Tuesday, training Thursday.”
The tweet in question (Via TheWest.com.au)
Robinson, the paper’s chief football writer, quickly apologized for his tweet, which the Herald Sun‘s own story on the incident called “highly inappropriate.”
Robinson is quoted as saying, “I am deeply sorry to Alex and the Collingwood Football Club. I acknowledge an error of judgement and I was wrong. I accept the tweet made light of mental health issues and I should not have published it.”
On Twitter, Robinson apologized for his “insensitive tweet” and “wrong choice of words.”
Insenstive tweet about alex Fasolo. Apologies to Alex and the fans. Wrong choice of words
— Mark Robinson (@Robbo_heraldsun) June 1, 2017
The Herald Sun‘s editor, Damon Johnston, apologized directly to Collingwood’s president and called the tweet “out of line, wrong” and unrepresentative of “the Herald Sun‘s view on how issues of mental health should be handled in the media,” according to the Herald Sun‘s story.
iMediaEthics has written to Collingwood Football Club to ask if it has heard directly from the Herald Sun or Robinson regarding the matter. We’ve also contacted the newspaper’s publisher News Corp Australia and tweeted Robinson for further comment.
Seriously @Robbo_heraldsun just stand down. No excuse for your behaviour. Your ignorance on footy is one thing but this….#sackrobbo
— Damian Paul Gibson (@ElectricBoosh) June 1, 2017
@Robbo_heraldsun you made a mistake we all do. Your apology is inadequate seemed insincere. You need to do more to show true remorse
— Matt Tognini (@khtcycling) June 1, 2017
Disappointing Robbo. You take players to task for 'cheap shots' to the midriff. This was an ill-considered, cheap shot to the midriff too.
— Adrian Brown (@grinner62) June 2, 2017
i dont feel good though. i just am very dissappointed in your tweet. players/people really value ur opinion.
— Rex (@RexhatesFB) June 3, 2017
CORRECTION - June 6, 2017 8:48 AM EST
The sport in question is Australian rules football, not soccer. We regret the error. Thanks to @ben_blowers for catching the error.
