Collingwood's Nathan Buckley has lamented the breaking down of unwritten rules about how the media covers high-profile AFL figures.
He said he was far from the first senior coach to come under intense media scrutiny, but the Magpies great feels the landscape has changed.
Buckley also reiterated points he made on Twitter last month, the day after former coaching colleague James Hird was admitted to hospital, that high-profile figures are not bullet proof.
He noted that premiership coaches such as Tom Hafey, Ron Barassi and Mick Malthouse all would have felt the media heat at times.
"There were probably ... more unwritten rules and respect from media to key figures in football departments than there is now," Buckley told SEN.
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"There was probably less focus on actually churning out the dollars and money-making by the media industry and more focus on the integrity around the story telling and actually trying to get in as close as they could.
"It's pretty intense now, but I don't really think it's going to change - it has a fairly strong momentum."
Buckley has never been afraid to call out the media and he posted on Twitter last month during the frenzy over Hird's health crisis.
"It was cryptically about James, but he's probably borne the brunt of a fairly consolidated campaign to be either on the front page or back page," Buckley said.
"Clearly it was something of his doing or involvement at the starting point (of the Essendon supplements saga).
"But I'm pretty sure if everyone thought 'geez, this bloke could break down at some point' or 'how are his wife and kids feeling about it?' - if we actually thought about the humanitarian aspect of it, we might not have gone as hard for as long."
Buckley was also pragmatic, noting the media is a business and there is public interest.
"It's just that some stories are created and are of more interest, you can milk them for more ... for plenty more than other stories," he said.
"That's why they stay prevalent - I guess Collingwood is one of those."
At the heart of Buckley's observations has been the human element.
"We forget that we're actually commenting on people," he said.
"Yes, we're professionals ... but we just forget the people behind the facade."
