Oscar Pistorius plans to write a book about what happened the night he shot dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp and the murder trial that followed, his manager says.
IT is one of the least desirable clubs in sport and when his jail sentence is handed down next week Oscar Pistorius will become its latest, and some would say, greatest, member.
O.J Simpson, Lance Armstrong, Hansie Cronje, Marion Jones, Mike Tyson … the list of sporting celebrities who have fallen from grace with a spectacular thud includes some of the biggest names to ever strap on a boot, wield a bat or win a race, but thanks to social media none has attracted the worldwide focus of Pistorius.
So obsessed has the Twitterverse been with the case of the Blade Runner and the tragic shooting death of his girlfriend of four months Reeva Steenkamp, that it has been credited with permanently altering the media landscape both in South Africa and internationally.
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In happier times ... South Africa's Olympic sprint star Oscar Pistorius and his former model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Picture: AFP Source: AFP
Editor-in-chief of South Africa's Mail and Guardian news organisation Chris Roper said the Pistorius case had forced South African newspapers to embrace the immediacy of online journalism while at the same time reinforcing its importance worldwide.
"Competition for Pistorius mindshare is what finally broke journalism here in South Africa," he said. "It forced local media outlets to come to terms with how the consumption patterns of readers, viewers and listeners have been changing over the past few years. Thanks to the immediacy fostered by the internet, media organisations can only own a breaking news story for a few seconds.
"News organisations are going to have to change, if they haven't already, the way they think about the life cycle of stories, so we'll see more, and more diverse, news sources in the future."
But while the ability of journalists to deliver instantaneous updates on proceedings to millions of followers on social media for the first time in history gave the Pistorius case viral interest, there is a school of thought that it also served to over-inflate its importance.
Jacques Rousseau, lecturer on critical thinking and ethics at the University of Cape Town, believes the case did not fully engage the majority of South Africans. In fact, he rates the downfall of the nation's former cricket captain Hansie Cronje on match-fixing charges in 2000 as more impactful.
"I think the interest in Pistorius is mainly with rich whites and they make up less than eight per cent of the population," he said.
"In terms of how his fall from grace resonated on a national level I think Hansie's was greater. He had led South African cricket through a period of almost constant success. He was a cult hero across the nation.
Career gone ... former athlete Marion Jones' world fell apart when it was revealed she was given steroids. Source: Supplied
Match-fixer ... former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje was banned for life from cricket. Picture: AP Source: News Corp Australia
"People want their sporting heroes to be virtuous and noble. That is how South Africans saw Hansie; they felt he exemplified the virtues they aspired to, so when he was unmasked as a cheat they felt let down.
"It was the same with Lance Armstrong, who inspired sympathy as a cancer survivor.
"I'm not sure that Pistorius was looked at that way. He fought against discrimination, but it was personal discrimination. When he went to the courts to be allowed to run at the Olympics he wasn't being a social justice warrior on behalf of the disabled, he was being an opportunist, fighting for himself."
Disgraced cyclist ... Lance Armstrong came clean about his involvement in doping. Picture: Getty Source: Supplied
Pistorius was feted at the London Olympics when he became the first double amputee runner to compete at that level. South Africa's best known international athlete, he lived a playboy lifestyle financed by a portfolio of highly paid endorsements but public opinion turned against him quickly when he shot and killed Steenkamp on Valentine's Day 2013.
"Pistorius was always a complicated figure," said Rousseau. "He could be selfish and petulant when things didn't go his way. He complained about another disabled runner when he was beaten. That all clouded his image. I don't think South Africans made the emotional investment in him that they did in other sporting stars."
Fallen star ... South Africa's Oscar Pistorius has lost his status as a role model in the world of athletics. Picture: AP Source: AP
"In his heyday he was the genuine crossover hero, loved in equal measure by black and white," Makhanya wrote in an opinion piece for a British website. "He crossed that divide in which football stars are worshipped by blacks and rugby and cricket stars are worshipped by whites. He was one of the few unifying figures in a nation still trying to achieve cohesion.
"With his fall from grace, South Africa lost a common hero. In a way, then, Pistorius's demise has removed a small but significant brick in the country's nation-building project."
But while Rousseau rejects the theory that South Africans saw the flawed but defiant Pistorius as the personification of their nation, he does admit that the case has made them take a hard look at themselves.
Faced his demons ... former boxer Mike Tyson. Source: AP
Caught out ... O.J. Simpson went to jail for murdering his wife. Source: AP
"The Pistorius case has made us focus on the violence of our society and on the aggressive male who has to be master of his universe. We are a nation of men who are prone to fly off the handle. This was a case that involved a gun in a high class neighbourhood, but the same thing happens in the townships.
"By his account Pistorius felt he was rightfully defending his homestead and his possessions and I do think that narrative stretches across South African society."
Defending his name ... Oscar Pistorius was found guilty of culpable homicide after shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He is pictured here with his sister Aimee Pistorius. Source: AAP
So will the attention garnered by the case have a long-term beneficial effect?
"I doubt it," he said. "South Africa has bigger issues that it should be talking about; true national tragedies. That there has been so much importance placed on this case shows how skewed our priorities have become.
"We tend to judge matters by how loud they are on social media. Social media doesn't allow conversation or debate. It is all about shouting and screaming and speed.
"The Pistorius case was very loud, very sensational, and because of that it gained a lot of interest around the world. As far as South Africa is concerned, it was just a blip on the national consciousness.
"We are a nation that has been numbed by crisis and betrayal.
"There will be another one next week."
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