Mitch Coleborn: Time For The Naked Truth
As most surfers would know by now Mitch Coleborn of the Sunshine Coast was arrested in Canada last Friday. The charge was indecent exposure and he has had his passport confiscated and conditions imposed. His trial is set for November 1.
The story was picked up by AAP and reported across most mainstream media outlets earlier this week. Whilst the charges are serious the impression was given that it was a piece of ill-timed larrikinism followed by an unfortunate overreaction.
Swellnet was initially granted the opportunity to conduct an email interview via Mitch's manager and public relations firm. However, the interview was rejected before the questions - all of which were generic in nature - were answered. His PR firm now say they are offering no comment until after the trial.
On Tuesday, when the story first broke most Australian surfing sites also reported it, posting direct AAP feeds, none of which included opinions or facts that couldn't be gleaned by reading a newspaper. Yet by close of business a handful of surf sites had pulled the story down without any mention of why. If it was due to a directive from Volcom or jitters from the surf sites themselves isn't known.
Whether the dissappearing news stories were the result of self-censorship or the orders of an advertiser is irrelevant because, either way, the situation is indicative of the current relationship between the surf media and the surf industry. There is a widely held belief amongst surfers that advertisers rule the media and events like this - where surfers are denied news that concerns them - only reinforces that view.
The truth is that surfers - like the general public - will talk about this event. Indeed they are, just log onto the surf forums and read the comments. Therefore the best thing the companies involved, and the sites offering surf news, can do is report the truth. The silence is more damning than the initial news story, and the media vacuum is being filled with speculation and innuendo.
This is not the first time a young surfer has got in trouble overseas and will certainly not be the last. My belief is that most surfers would be sympathetic to Mitch's plight so I believe it's time for a bit of transparency from all involved. Surfers aren't stupid and sunlight, as they say, is the best disinfectant.
Comments
Well said stu. I noticed the stories had been taken down as well. What a joke. The people working at the magazines concerned should be ashamed to call themselves "journalists".
You have to feel for Mitch Coleburn as many would be asking whats he got to hide, because of this so much innuendo is attached. Its more the do gooder corporates that have tried to take over surfing in the last 15 years or so. Sometimes I think the sport was in better hands when the general public thought all surfers were drug addict scumbags.
Mr Coleborn will now think twice before getting out his tackle for a breather in public. If he did that in the Arab Emirates he'd be facing far harsher & serious consequences for his actions than perhaps a short time in a Canadian court and a small fine. Whatever the outcome (quite insignificant i'd imagine) MC is going to come out of this with a tarnished image, i'd say a far greater sentence than any fine a court a will throw at him.
Wonder if Paul Fisher is smart enough to learn from Coleborn's mistake? Doubt it, ten bricks thick is 'the Fish' but p'raps Reef might tell him to pull his head in from now in.
These guys travel all over the world, they probably know more about cultural sensitivity than many. As for Mitch, you don't just do that sort of thing at the risk of loosing your sponsors, these surfers live off their sponsors.... Also, um, they're probably not going to have a competition in the Arab Emirates any time soon so i don't think its a relevant example ^.
"they're probably not going to have a competition in the Arab Emirates any time soon"
China's on the ASP calendar for 2011, and several Southeast Asian countries also have notable ISC events (Malaysia, Thailand) - I wonder how these kinds of antics would be seen there?
So no one who is commenting here has ever done a nudie run or been a little loose away from home?
Doubt it...
Remember what is was like in your early twenties you old farts?
Give the kid a break, I can't believe it even made the news. Shows how sensationalist all the mainstream media is!
What are you banging on about timmeh? The guy has been arrested. Hes had bail conditions imposed. For indecent exposure.
You and I? Wouldn't rate a mention, but given he has a-however big- profile as a 'surf star,' of course the story is going to have some legs in the 'sensationalist mainstream media.'
Breaking news - Mitch pleaded not guilty. The trial has been set for March 8. That'll be a long four months of nervousness for Mitch, as he's at risk of 6 months in jail if he's convicted.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/8241134/aust-surfer-denies-inde...