Robbo and his insensitive tweet, or "Poor choice of words"

[Bomberboyokay]

I don't buy it. The exercise angle yes, the club environment not so much. There's going to be a dozen journos at Pies training asking about him.

The journalists are only there long enough to get requisite footage of the players training in the distance and for the 20-minute media conference (which Fasolo definitely doesn't have to do every time; Collingwood don't line up all 40 players). They don't hang out at the club all day.

 

[Bluelegs]

Getting him sacked is constructive.

If a journalist isn't sacked when he can barely structure his articles in a readable way and struggles with the English language in general, then I don't think a dumb tweet is going to change anything.

 

[Apex36]

I've never been a fan of Buckley, in fact I have an irrational dislike for him.

But I would stand and applaud him if he gave Slobbo an epic smackdown next time he is on 360. I reckon Bucks is capable of it too.

He's more than capable of it. He made a point of making Robbo look like an idiot several times last year on 360 after the drugs 'story' focused on Collingwood he did last preseason. Fairly sure he did it fully intending to never appear on the show again once his contract with Fox Footy ended last year.

 

[10571z]

We hold him to a higher standard than we hold ourselves? That's generous.

Yes i hold a person who writes for a large newspaper to higher standard than a random forum poster. SHOCK

 

[Tas]

After writing the article that FeeritsElf linked to on Page 6 of this thread, Robinson has zero excuse of ignorance on this topic.

The Hun won't sack him. He is the reigning Alf Brown Award winner (yes, the joke is on you, dying Journalsm Industry)

But after reading that article, and then this tweet....it only confirms the widely held opinion of this bloke's competance.

If you want freedom of speech you have to support the concept that sometimes people will say insensitive things, that they will offend. That is how we evolve language and society. He says something stupid, he cops backlash for saying it and he gets humiliated for saying what he said, he learns a life lesson and hopefully he becomes a better person out of it.

What do we achieve if we promote a fear of free speech? It wont change attitudes because people will be afraid to speak and whatever you want to change instead goes underground, is spoken of in smaller circles, in private, it goes underground and not in the light of day and attitudes and intolerance are much harder to root out and educate.

What do we get from having him fired? Do we think people in the media will be forthcoming with sharing thoughts on social media?

Where do you draw the line? Our society believes in the concept of rehabilitation for society, otherwise we would never let people who are put in jail out ever again.

Punishment should fit the crime or the offence. We are becoming too sensitive and too eager to outrage to virtue signal and it isn't making our society better for it.

 

[simba_]

Robbo is as dumb as dog s**t and even less tolerable. anyone who defends him is genuinely stupid and/or doesn't understand why he is pure cancer. yes i understand there are hundreds upon thousands of aussies like this, i talk to them daily, they are cancerous like Robbo.

 

[Feerits Elf]

I sense a highly publicised "educational piece" article coming up from The Great Oaf on how he(as the common man) is being educated on mental health and how hopefully something good comes from his "poor choice of words".

Back to back Alf Brown Medals coming up for Robbo.

Noise wins.

I was wrong on Fasolo, Mark Robinson writes

By Mark Robinson

LIKE many Australians, I was stunned by what I saw on Twitter this morning.

I'm not talking about the threat to blow up a plane on the way from Melbourne to Koala Loompah.

I'm not talking about Martina Natradillover's [sp?] call to rename Margaret Court Arena.

I'm not even talking about cavfefe [subs pls note not a typo – this is a real word].

No, I was stunned by some ex-players wanting to knock my head off like a thirsty footy journo knocks the head off a cold frothy of Melbourne Bitter.

I was astonished by the negative feedback I received for a tweet I made about Collingwood player Alex Fasolo, who has taken time off to deal with a mental health issue.

I accept that the tweet made light of mental health issues and I shouldn't have published it. I acknowledge an error of judgment and I was wrong.

Above all, I am deeply sorry to Alex and the Collingwood Football Club.

But you know, I've learnt something from all of this.

I've learnt that you can't judge a book by it's cover.

I've learnt that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

And I've learnt that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Because as insensitive as my tweet seemed, it came from a good place. And by that I don't mean my MacBook Pro. Which is quite good.

I mean from a place of kindness. From a place of concern. From a place of wanting the best for Alex.

I just could of done it in a more respectful manner.

But as Nelson Mandela [might of been Morgan Freeman?? subs pls check] once said: your never too old to stop learning.

And even now, at the ripe old age of 49, I can continue to learn - just as I learnt back in my days at Marist Brothers College Bendigo in the early '80s.

Learning times tables and long division in maths with Brother Geoffrey.

Learning verbs in English with Brother Brian (NB: verbs are "doing words").

Learning Australian capitals with Father Murray on a hazy summer's afternoon, watching the butterflies gaily flitter amongst the plumbago outside the window.

And like those butterflies, I've gaily flittered from topic to topic on social media, zeroing in on controversy flowers and hungrily feasting on the nectar of likes and retweets.

And blocking trolls like the butterfly's camouflaged wings block it's predators like spiders and birds. And wasps and that.

But the time for gay flittering is over. Sadly, like the butterfly, it's time for me to return to my cocoon to hibernate during the long winter ahead [subs this might not be scientifically correct. check pls].

But after the winter of Twitter's discontent, I'll emerge from my silk prison cell to a new dawn. A new light. A new appreciation of what it means to be a few stubbies short of a carton of Crown Lager.

Which is not to say that Alex is a few stubbies short. Far from it. If anything, he's a few stubbies over, and he should let the bloke at the till know so his stock control isn't thrown out of whack.

But just as Alex takes stock from the metaphorical bottleshop, so I too need to take stock. Of myself, and what it means to be a journalist in the digital age.

But hey – that's life. Life is all about learning. And renewal. And emerging from a cocoon.

Just like Jobe Watson emerged a new man from the Bombers supplements saga.

Jobe didn't shy away from dealing with that. And he certainly didn't run away and take time off from football. He could of. But he didn't.

Of course, that was in large part because he was suspended for a year so any time off was enforced anyway. But that's beside the point.

Did Jobe run from his problems? No, he didn't. He went to university, worked hard, got his law degree, went to the US and became a barrister.

And do you know what barristers wear? Silk. Which is exactly what the butterfly makes it's cocoon from. Think about it. Full circle.

And when Jobe had won a few cases he said “Done. Smashed it” and returned to public life wearing a feminism cap.

And that's what I'll do. I'll return to public life wearing a feminism cap of my own.

But mine won’t say feminist. It'll say tolerance. And understanding. And sensitivity, if it fits (depending on font size. I'll have to speak to the embroiderer).

But it won't even be a real cap at all. It will be a metaphorical cap, which I'll wear proudly (in the metaphorical sense) to remind everyone that I value tolerance and understanding.

And so do all of Alex's mates at the footy club. Like Taylor Adams. And James Aish. And Jarryd Blair. And Timothy there that's 750 words invoice enc.

 

[thegerman]

What a load of bullocks

 

[Seedsfan]

If you want freedom of speech you have to support the concept that sometimes people will say insensitive things, that they will offend. That is how we evolve language and society. He says something stupid, he cops backlash for saying it and he gets humiliated for saying what he said, he learns a life lesson and hopefully he becomes a better person out of it.

What do we achieve if we promote a fear of free speech? It wont change attitudes because people will be afraid to speak and whatever you want to change instead goes underground, is spoken of in smaller circles, in private, it goes underground and not in the light of day and attitudes and intolerance are much harder to root out and educate.

What do we get from having him fired? Do we think people in the media will be forthcoming with sharing thoughts on social media?

Where do you draw the line? Our society believes in the concept of rehabilitation for society, otherwise we would never let people who are put in jail out ever again.

Punishment should fit the crime or the offence. We are becoming too sensitive and too eager to outrage to virtue signal and it isn't making our society better for it.

Don't bring up that freedom of speech crap what Robbo said was not only insensitive but defamatory. I am sure if he tried to put that in the paper the Hun lawyers would have canned it

 

[TerryWallet]

If you want freedom of speech you have to support the concept that sometimes people will say insensitive things, that they will offend. That is how we evolve language and society. He says something stupid, he cops backlash for saying it and he gets humiliated for saying what he said, he learns a life lesson and hopefully he becomes a better person out of it.

What do we achieve if we promote a fear of free speech? It wont change attitudes because people will be afraid to speak and whatever you want to change instead goes underground, is spoken of in smaller circles, in private, it goes underground and not in the light of day and attitudes and intolerance are much harder to root out and educate.

What do we get from having him fired? Do we think people in the media will be forthcoming with sharing thoughts on social media?

Where do you draw the line? Our society believes in the concept of rehabilitation for society, otherwise we would never let people who are put in jail out ever again.

Punishment should fit the crime or the offence. We are becoming too sensitive and too eager to outrage to virtue signal and it isn't making our society better for it.

Ah, the old freedom of speech argument. No-one(at least me) is arguing against freedom of speech. But with freedom of speech comes accountability for said speech.

Robinson is incompetant. This is but the latest example.

 

[mxett]

Maybe Robbo could just use depression as an excuse for writing that tweet, it seems to be the go to "get out of jail free" card for anyone that stuffs up now.

comments like this dont help either. The last thing we need is people suffering mental illness to feel self conscious or fearful about admitting to depression because others will judge them as being dishonest

 

[TheSmokingGun]

I was wrong on Fasolo, Mark Robinson writes

By Mark Robinson

LIKE many Australians, I was stunned by what I saw on Twitter this morning.

I'm not talking about the threat to blow up a plane on the way from from Melbourne to Koala Loompah.

I'm not talking about Martina Natradillover's (sp?) call to rename Margaret Court Arena.

I’m not even talking about cavfefe [subs pls note not a typo – this is a real word].

No, I was stunned by some ex-players wanting to knock my head off like a thirsty footy journo knocks the head off a cold frothy of Melbourne Bitter.

I was astonished by the negative feedback I received for a tweet I made about Collingwood player Alex Fasolo, who has taken time off to deal with a mental health issue.

I accept that the tweet made light of mental health issues and I shouldn't have published it. I acknowledge an error of judgment and I was wrong.

Above all, I am deeply sorry to Alex and the Collingwood Football Club.

But you know, I've learnt something from all of this.

I've learnt that you can’t judge a book by it's cover.

I've learnt that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

And I've learnt that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Because as insensitive as my tweet seemed, it came from a good place. And by that I don't mean my MacBook Pro. Which is quite good.

I mean from a place of kindness. From a place of concern. From a place of wanting the best for Alex.

I just could of done it in a more respectful matter.

But as Nelson Mandela [might have been Morgan Freeman?? subs pls check] once said: you're never too old to stop learning.

And even now, at the ripe old age of 50, I can continue to learn - just as I learnt back in my days at Marist Brothers College Bendigo in the early '80s.

Learning times tables and long division in maths with Brother Geoffrey.

Learning verbs in English with Brother Brian (NB: verbs are "doing words").

Learning Australian capitals with Father Murray on a hazy summer's afternoon, watching the butterflies gaily flitter amongst the plumbago outside the window.

And like those butterflies, I've gaily flittered from topic to topic on social media, zeroing in on controversy flowers and hungrily feasting on the nectar of likes and retweets.

And blocking trolls like the butterfly's camouflaged wings block it's predators like spiders and birds. And wasps and that.

But the time for gay flittering is over. Sadly, like the butterfly, it’s time for me to return to my cocoon to hibernate during the long winter ahead [subs this might not be scientifically correct. Check pls].

But after the winter of Twitter's discontent, I'll emerge from my silk prison cell to a new dawn. A new light. A new appreciation of what it means to be a few stubbies short of a carton of Crown Lager.

Which is not to say that Alex is a few stubbies short. Far from it. If anything, he's a few stubbies over, and he should let the bloke at the till know so his stock control isn't thrown out of whack.

But just like Alex takes stock from the metaphorical bottleshop, so I too need to take stock. Of myself, and what it means to be a journalist in the digital age.

But hey – that's life. Life is all about learning. And renewal. And emerging from a cocoon.

Just like Jobe Watson emerged a new man from the Bombers supplements saga.

Jobe didn't shy away from dealing with that. And he certainly didn't run away and take time off from football. He could of. But he didn't.

Of course, that was in large part because he was suspended for a year so any time off was enforced anyway. But that's beside the point.

Did Jobe run from his problems? No, he didn't. He worked hard, went to university, got his law degree and became a barrister.

And do you know what barristers wear? Silk. Which is exactly what the butterfly makes it's cocoon from. Think about it. Full circle.

And when Jobe had won a few cases he said “Done. Smashed it” and returned to public life wearing a feminism cap.

And that's what I’ll do. I'll return to public life wearing a feminism cap of my own.

But mine won’t say feminism. It'll say tolerance. And understanding. And sensitivity, if it fits (depending on font size. I’ll have to speak to the embroiderer).

But it won't even be a real cap at all. It will be a metaphorical cap, which I’ll wear proudly (in the metaphorical sense) to remind everyone that I value tolerance and understanding.

And so do all of Alex's mates at the footy club. Like Taylor Adams. And James Aish. And Jarryd Blair. And Timothy there that’s 750 words invoice enc.

We've found Robbo's BF account.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

Buckley has no time for Robbo. You can tell he doesn't humor idiots and Robbo happens to be the king of them.

 

[Judd2Sewell]

LOL, did that clown really bring the story back to Watson and the Essendon cheating scandal?

Edit: Satire, surely

 

[mxett]

Stop being a bunch of whining nancy boys. If Fasolo is back training it suggests the treatment must be working. Already.

every day millions of people get up and live their lives despite their treatment not or barely working. The alternative of sitting at home and stewing is just worse

 

[Bomberboyokay]

If you want freedom of speech you have to support the concept that sometimes people will say insensitive things, that they will offend. That is how we evolve language and society. He says something stupid, he cops backlash for saying it and he gets humiliated for saying what he said, he learns a life lesson and hopefully he becomes a better person out of it.

What do we achieve if we promote a fear of free speech? It wont change attitudes because people will be afraid to speak and whatever you want to change instead goes underground, is spoken of in smaller circles, in private, it goes underground and not in the light of day and attitudes and intolerance are much harder to root out and educate.

What do we get from having him fired? Do we think people in the media will be forthcoming with sharing thoughts on social media?

Where do you draw the line? Our society believes in the concept of rehabilitation for society, otherwise we would never let people who are put in jail out ever again.

Punishment should fit the crime or the offence. We are becoming too sensitive and too eager to outrage to virtue signal and it isn't making our society better for it.

Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences.

 

[Tas]

Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences.

I didn't say there should be a freedom of consequences. Consequences should fit the "crime". Destroying someone's professional career because he made a stupid comment on social media should be seen as completely ridiculous by anyone reasonable.

 

[Damon_3388]

Fired? He's no more cynical that 99% of the posters here.

Given the positive, respectful way nearly everyone who posted in the Fasolo thread responded to the news, there's far less cynics here than you imagine.

Even if he's "just being honest" and telling us what he really thinks, the lack of tact here from someone in Robbo's position is astounding. He's either being deliberately provocative, or he's bloody stupid. It's just an unnecessary thing to say in a public forum.

 

[Tas]

Ah, the old freedom of speech argument. No-one(at least me) is arguing against freedom of speech. But with freedom of speech comes accountability for said speech.

Robinson is incompetant. This is but the latest example.

You think destroying someone career is a worthy punishment for the comment he made? It will not result in a better society, it will result in a society afraid to speak where what constitutes outrage is blurred and those who get a high out of kicking people higher above them on the social ladder virtue signal about increasingly petty grievances. It is how freedom of speech becomes eroded.

 

[mxett]

I didn't say there should be a freedom of consequences. Consequences should fit the "crime". Destroying someone's professional career because he made a stupid comment on social media should be seen as completely ridiculous by anyone reasonable.

Ironic isnt it. Social media certainly plays a role in the increase in mental illness IMO. Now Robbo makes an insensitive comment on social media about a professional athlete who's mental health may well have been effected by the public spotlight through avenues like social media, and Robbo is crucified by social media. What a strange time we live in.

While I am in no way defending Robbo, his brain fart doesnt deserve death by 10 million tweets

 

[stax on the mull]

Robbo is so thick that he didn't even read the Collingwood FC press release on Tuesday.

"Fasolo, 24, will not play against Fremantle this weekend, but take time out in the interests of his health
He will continue to train and prepare for football with the expectation of a swift return to playing."

I don't know what an appropriate punishment would be. Maybe take him to a public school and put him on lunchtime scab duty for a week.

 

[Nave]

I was wrong on Fasolo, Mark Robinson writes

By Mark Robinson

Post of the year.

 

[danielnajdek]

Exercise really helped me with depression and anxiety.

Yes it does. Takes your mind of things and good to get out and get some fresh air.

 

[TerryWallet]

You think destroying someone career is a worthy punishment for the comment he made? It will not result in a better society, it will result in a society afraid to speak where what constitutes outrage is blurred and those who get a high out of kicking people higher above them on the social ladder virtue signal about increasingly petty grievances. It is how freedom of speech becomes eroded.

Settle.

I think Robinson should have been sacked for a career filled with incompetance. Before this tweet...and after this tweet.

The fact that he could put it out after the article that he wrote linked to on P6 of this thread speaks volumes for his incompetance.

But as i have previously stated, he is in zero danger of losing his job because whatever the criteria is for being a journalist these days, he is winning at it. He is the Alf Brown Award winner.

Robinson is a minor joke on us, the viewership....and a major joke on the Journalism Industry itself.

 

[Tas]

Ironic isnt it. Social media certainly plays a role in the increase in mental illness IMO. Now Robbo makes an insensitive comment on social media about a professional athlete who's mental health may well have been effected by the public spotlight through avenues like social media, and Robbo is crucified by social media. What a strange time we live in.

While I am in no way defending Robbo, his brain fart doesnt deserve death by 10 million tweets

I've had to deal with depression for a large part of my adult life and I know the gravity of the condition, wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I do agree with Schwass that there is still a stigma associated with it and it isn't positive to make fun of someone who is struggling with it, irrespective what someone feels has triggered it or contributed towards it.

That being said, when someone says something silly, which Robbo is often prone to on any given subject, it isn't really appropriate in my opinion to destroy his life for it. People make mistakes and rather than see an opportunity to stick the boot into him people should look to make him an example of identifying what he said was wrong, address it and turn it into an educational positive not just for him but for everyone who witnesses it.

I think there are positive ways to approach things, even negatives like racism issues and other issues in society like gambling, drugs, mental illness, etc. I don't really want Robbo to stop being Robbo, that is part of his personality that I like, that he is just a regular buffoon that has found his way to be talking, a lot, about football.

I would like to see him do some introspection, talk to someone about the really dark elements of the condition and what can be done to help people and he should come out of it with a better understanding, better educated and hopefully a spokesperson for increased education and understanding.

The way we wish to tear down people is vile.