Good Interview in SoS Yesterday RE: Stuart Cosgrove and Media Bias

[Frankie 505]

http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Saturda...pion.6028570.jp

FOR a man who gets mocked every week for being pretentious, Stuart Cosgrove is remarkably down to earth. He is genuinely genial too, which is pretty rare for a senior media executive.

What you hear is what you get with the Off The Ball presenter. His day job as director of nations and regions at Channel 4 involves a lot of travelling around the UK, but at weekends he is back presenting the Radio Scotland show with Tam Cowan – the man who pokes fun at his supposed pretention – and, when he can, watching his beloved St Johnstone.

In recent weeks, he has also been appearing on The Football Years, STV's excellent series which examines key moments in the recent history of the national sport. He has been true to himself there as well, popping up to wax nostalgic about great days such as Wembley 1967, but being conspicuously absent from the odd show which has focused more on the Old Firm.

For if there is one thing that defines Off The Ball and unites Cowan and Cosgrove, it is their status as non-Old-Firm fans. "If you look at Off The Ball, it breaks with certain older-established traditions of Scottish broadcasting," as Cosgrove says.

"I mean, first and foremost, Tam and I are fans of the so-called diddy teams. With him being Motherwell and me being St Johnstone, we've certainly broken with the old broadcasting phenomenon that there has to be an ex-Rangers and an ex-Celtic professional commentating, and that that somehow magically constitutes balance – a not uncommon fallacy in Scotland much loved in the west.

"We've broken quite conclusively with that – conclusively but not entirely, because there remains always in the mind of the lingering moron the idea that you might support one or other of the (Old Firm] teams. So you've to still spend a lot of your time explaining away the perception that once you thought this or once you did that . . .

"In the world of the internet, conspiracy theories are allowed to percolate. You can imagine the sort of stuff: 'I saw Tam Cowan – he was out one night at a Chieftains concert wearing a Celtic top'.

"Rubbish like that finds its way on to the web and it somehow becomes as if it was half-true. Tam and I have got this theory that if we truly were Old Firm fans in disguise we've been deeply, deeply undercover for a very, very long painful era of our lives – in my case near on 45 years of putting myself through some of the most dreary First Division games in history."

Inevitably, given the Old Firm's stranglehold on Scottish football both on the pitch and in terms of media coverage, it is a topic that Cosgrove is used to dealing with on an all-too-regular basis. Given the monomania of some of the followers of the two clubs, it must be hard for critics such as him and Cowan to hold on to their sense of humour, but they rightly maintain that doing so is vital.

Asked if he simply hates the Old Firm, for example, Cosgrove shies away from such a blunt term. "I have said those words, but I try to get over the idea of hating something. Profoundly dislike, have deep doubts about, like to laugh at, yes.

"There's no greater thing in life than when one or other side of the Old Firm come a cropper. Surely anybody who's not a blinkered Old Firm fan can see the delight in that?

"It's Imelda Marcos tripping down a flight of stairs at Asda, isn't it? It's all these delusions of grandeur, the idea that they're at the centre of the world."

Having said that he likes to poke fun at the Glasgow giants, Cosgrove, as a serious analyst of the nation's culture and history, also recognises that there is a less superficial side to the whole question. "I work in the film and television industry, and it's much, much harder to find Rangers fans than it is to find Celtic fans. I don't know why that is, and it runs counter to the old presumption from the 1940s or Fifties that all public life in Scotland is institutionally biased towards Rangers.

"The wider democratisation of Scottish life means that has changed for ever, probably even in the old-fashioned institutions like the army and the police. Certainly in the media the idea that the BBC was run by a bunch of Rangers-supporting men in blazers is a fiction from many decades ago. Therefore when the Rangers Supporters Trust questions the media about bias, they're doing it from a position of realising that their opinion is a minority one within the culture.

"There's probably been more of a closeting of Rangers fans over the years, which is why I think the current generation of them are engaged in a campaign to fight back, as it were. The fans that find a modern way of fighting back have got a lot of right on their side if they feel discriminated against. The ones that actually retreat deeper into discrimination are the ones you could do without."

Cosgrove believes that having witnessed the altogether more destructive effects of discrimination than anything the Old Firm rivalry tends to throw up helps him keep the issue in perspective. "I kind of live in an entirely separate, parallel life to this, because my wife is a Sri Lankan Tamil, and in lots of ways the recent civil war in Sri Lanka and the genocide of the Tamils in the north has led to this very odd schism in the culture. When you go on websites that are populated by either side of the divide (between Tamils in the north and Singhalese in the south] they bear a remarkable resemblance to websites that we know in Scotland.

"They get into arcane parts of political history, they are deeply prejudiced, they use disparaging nicknames . . . And I look at it going on, and I think 'Actually, do you know what? In one of them there's been a civil war that's killed 70,000 people, and in the other there was a guy called Mo Johnston. It feels like they're doing similar things, but with different degrees of right on their side.

"I sometimes get flamed by them, or get the odd post on websites, and then I go home and you're living in a family where entire villages of your relatives might have been bombed. It's slightly different. And you think, 'You know what? If I think Glenn Loovens is a prick, I think the world can move on'."

Cosgrove himself, of course, has moved on a lot from the childhood days of watching St Johnstone from the terraces of Muirton Park, but he still remembers them with great fondness. "The first game I ever saw was against Partick Thistle.

"Can't tell you the date or the score, but what I can remember is my uncle saying 'Big Danny McAlinden's going to come back to haunt us'. He was a St Johnstone player who had moved to Partick, and that was the first time I'd heard the words 'come back to haunt you'.

"I would love to have been good enough to play for Saints. In the kind of absurd fantasies that sad males still have in later life, I often think of snubbing Barcelona for St Johnstone. But in my more lucid moments I'm glad that I've had a very different and successful career.

"But I do have a real, deep passion for Saints. One of the things that really hacks me off is when people ask 'Who do you really support?'

"You just think 'You couldn't even begin to understand the levels of depression I get into if Saints lose a game they should win, or the levels of elation I feel when they do win'. It's quite different to watching Scotland. I can live with Scotland getting beat much more than I can live with St Johnstone getting beat, and frankly if Celtic and Rangers were both in European finals and if St Johnstone were at Forfar I'd be at the Saints game."

You suspect he would also far rather be in a studio with Cowan than going any distance to watch the Old Firm. The two met for the first time on the show, and no-one then envisaged that the double act would become so long-lasting or popular.

"We were polar opposites: posh and trash," he recalls, referring more to the stereotype than to the reality. "I do pretention and Tam does guttural street-culture stuff. He's a joker and I'm not.

"Most people in Scotland would not believe this, but if you're using the benchmarks for childhood poverty, I'm from a more socially deprived upbringing than Tam. So there's a bit of fakery going on. I mean, come on, this is a man who's the restaurant reviewer for the Daily Record and yet still claims he's the ordinary guy from Motherwell.

"I met him on the first day of the first show we did. It was a zoo show, and there were about six of us to start with, then gradually it became clear that Tam and I were getting on really well, and we were the two for whom football really mattered. Then it became a double act, and the thing that really started was he was Motherwell and I was St Johnstone – and guess who we didnae like.

"I think it took off because of that. When it was a zoo show it was just fans talking about football. When it became Tam and I it was about a Motherwell fan and a St Johnstone fan locked into diddiness, looking on at this monster called the Old Firm."

The monster is still there, but so is the show, and Cosgrove has not yet felt the need to set a limit on his involvement with it. "Sometimes I feel 'That show felt tired'," he admits.

"The biggest single challenge we face is finding ways of re-energising ourselves. I prefer moments when we're forced to do something different."

FWIW, I know a lot of bears distrust Cosgrove because of the content of some of his work but have spoken with him a few times over the years I know he's sympathetic to our opinions on the media and has also helped me personally with charitable donations for Moni Malawi.

Good to read his comments here suggesting Rangers fans are quite correct to question the influence of the media in Scotland.

[covenanter 158]

A balanced view expressed in a balanced article.

[boss 1,941]

Interesting article. Two things jump out:

"I work in the film and television industry, and it's much, much harder to find Rangers fans than it is to find Celtic fans."

We know, Stuart, we know!

and

"my wife"

Who'd have thunk it!

[tayside 295]

Still one of the biggest roasters on radio and would never trust a word he says ?

[come on the gers 0]

http://sport.scotsman.com/football/Saturda...pion.6028570.jp

FWIW, I know a lot of bears distrust Cosgrove because of the content of some of his work but have spoken with him a few times over the years I know he's sympathetic to our opinions on the media and has also helped me personally with charitable donations for Moni Malawi.

Good to read his comments here suggesting Rangers fans are quite correct to question the influence of the media in Scotland.

I have always liked Stuart & Tam and that is a very good interview, but many will not agree with us Frankie.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

This jumped out at me....

"There's probably been more of a closeting of Rangers fans over the years, which is why I think the current generation of them are engaged in a campaign to fight back, as it were. The fans that find a modern way of fighting back have got a lot of right on their side if they feel discriminated against. The ones that actually retreat deeper into discrimination are the ones you could do without."

[Frankie 505]

This jumped out at me....

"There's probably been more of a closeting of Rangers fans over the years, which is why I think the current generation of them are engaged in a campaign to fight back, as it were. The fans that find a modern way of fighting back have got a lot of right on their side if they feel discriminated against. The ones that actually retreat deeper into discrimination are the ones you could do without."

I think that is a fair enough comment.

Much better for those frustrated by media/authority imbalance to be sensible and measured in their criticisms, as opposed to resorting to the otherwise unfair stereotype we do read about.

[Frankie 505]

Still one of the biggest roasters on radio and would never trust a word he says ?

More a case of not looking a gift horse in the mouth I'd say...

Cosgrove's talents are of course a subjective personal opinion but there's no doubt his professional qualifications make his opinion on formal issues extremely credible and worth taking on board.

[smitzer007 198]

Decent article and I, for one, have never doubted his hatred (or profound dislike) of all things "Old Firm".

[stuartmccallsfall 4]

so one guy in the mhedia says it like it is. No skin off his nose is it? Him and bawbag cowan laughing at the size of david murray's cock on an afternoon football show switches me off altogether from tuning back in.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

This jumped out at me....

"There's probably been more of a closeting of Rangers fans over the years, which is why I think the current generation of them are engaged in a campaign to fight back, as it were. The fans that find a modern way of fighting back have got a lot of right on their side if they feel discriminated against. The ones that actually retreat deeper into discrimination are the ones you could do without."

I think that is a fair enough comment.

Much better for those frustrated by media/authority imbalance to be sensible and measured in their criticisms, as opposed to resorting to the otherwise unfair stereotype we do read about.

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

[Frankie 505]

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

No doubt about it. Those apparently embarrassed closet fans should be prouder of who they are and help the Rangers support overcome the challenges we face instead of hiding away.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

No doubt about it. Those apparently embarrassed closet fans should be prouder of who they are and help the Rangers support overcome the challenges we face instead of hiding away.

Agree 100%

We need to turn the mhedia supertanker which prejudices Rangers fans around and challenge EVERY single

article which stereotypes us.

Vanguard Bears seem to be leading by example - good luck to them.

[*Manticore* 1,893]

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

No doubt about it. Those apparently embarrassed closet fans should be prouder of who they are and help the Rangers support overcome the challenges we face instead of hiding away.

It could be embarassment, but surely in many cases it will be concern for their career prospects?

We know how vicious the dark side can be.

Anyway good article, thanks for posting it Frankie, I missed SoS yesterday. Well I didn't read it, 'miss' might imply something more )

[Frankie 505]

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

No doubt about it. Those apparently embarrassed closet fans should be prouder of who they are and help the Rangers support overcome the challenges we face instead of hiding away.

It could be embarassment, but surely in many cases it will be concern for their career prospects?

We know how vicious the dark side can be.

Depending on where they work it may well affect their chances of success I guess.

[MrSifter 181]

Agree 100%

We need to turn the mhedia supertanker which prejudices Rangers fans around and challenge EVERY single

article which stereotypes us.

Vanguard Bears seem to be leading by example - good luck to them.

VB and others do a great job but the problem is the mainstream media brand any supporter groups as loonies. Ultimately they've lost the argument as they've resorted to name calling rather than address the points. They instead quote some of the more simple minded stuff you see on messageboards.

The only way the mainstream media can be beaten into impartiality (and that's all we should ask for) is for the club to have a highly organised PR team and a Chairman that will contact newspaper editors to wield his influence. If this happened we wouldn't see the total hatred and outright abuse we do in the press.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

Establishment FC indeed

[covenanter 158]

Which might be why those Rangers fans in the media/TV industry keep their heads down.

If ye throw enough mud and all that.

No doubt about it. Those apparently embarrassed closet fans should be prouder of who they are and help the Rangers support overcome the challenges we face instead of hiding away.

Exactly.

Let me provide an example.

Seventeen years past, I was living in the west end of Glasgow and a Locations Assistant from the TV show, Taggart chapped my door and asked if they film an episode in my house. I agreed, well compensated for three-four days filming. A young aspiring actor, Robert Carlise pitched up a few days before, wanted to recce the lay out. He noticed a number of bookshelves groaning with books on Rangers and lit up like a fair. During the filming, he read his way a dozen or more of the tomes, enthused about the memories stimulated, got most nostalgic about a lot of games he attended with his old man. He knew the game and he knew the club. An uninhibitted Rangers supporter.

A few years later, his career has gone from strength to strength and suddenly he is a self confessed Partick Thistle supporter. A carrer decision?

[bluepeter 5,627]

Very good read, cheers for posting

[MrSifter 181]

Exactly.

Let me provide an example.

Seventeen years past, I was living in the west end of Glasgow and a Locations Assistant from the TV show, Taggart chapped my door and asked if they film an episode in my house. I agreed, well compensated for three-four days filming. A young aspiring actor, Robert Carlise pitched up a few days before, wanted to recce the lay out. He noticed a number of bookshelves groaning with books on Rangers and lit up like a fair. During the filming, he read his way a dozen or more of the tomes, enthused about the memories stimulated, got most nostalgic about a lot of games he attended with his old man. He knew the game and he knew the club. An uninhibitted Rangers supporter.

A few years later, his career has gone from strength to strength and suddenly he is a self confessed Partick Thistle supporter. A carrer decision?

I've seen him on TV and in print say he is a Rangers supporter. He was also more than happy to say he was a Rangers fan in the late 80s and early 90s when doing acting workshops at various schools throughout the west of Scotland.

[Carsons Dog 9,878]

Exactly.

Let me provide an example.

Seventeen years past, I was living in the west end of Glasgow and a Locations Assistant from the TV show, Taggart chapped my door and asked if they film an episode in my house. I agreed, well compensated for three-four days filming. A young aspiring actor, Robert Carlise pitched up a few days before, wanted to recce the lay out. He noticed a number of bookshelves groaning with books on Rangers and lit up like a fair. During the filming, he read his way a dozen or more of the tomes, enthused about the memories stimulated, got most nostalgic about a lot of games he attended with his old man. He knew the game and he knew the club. An uninhibitted Rangers supporter.

A few years later, his career has gone from strength to strength and suddenly he is a self confessed Partick Thistle supporter. A carrer decision?

I've seen him on TV and in print say he is a Rangers supporter. He was also more than happy to say he was a Rangers fan in the late 80s and early 90s when doing acting workshops at various schools throughout the west of Scotland.

Aye bit Thisle were shite then - maybe he's a glory hunter

[*Manticore* 1,893]

A few years later, his career has gone from strength to strength and suddenly he is a self confessed Partick Thistle supporter. A carrer decision?

In a similar vein, 'self confessed Partick Thistle supporter' Billy Connolly, turns out to be a rabid earl.....

[Thermopylae 15,286]

Exactly.

Let me provide an example.

Seventeen years past, I was living in the west end of Glasgow and a Locations Assistant from the TV show, Taggart chapped my door and asked if they film an episode in my house. I agreed, well compensated for three-four days filming. A young aspiring actor, Robert Carlise pitched up a few days before, wanted to recce the lay out. He noticed a number of bookshelves groaning with books on Rangers and lit up like a fair. During the filming, he read his way a dozen or more of the tomes, enthused about the memories stimulated, got most nostalgic about a lot of games he attended with his old man. He knew the game and he knew the club. An uninhibitted Rangers supporter.

A few years later, his career has gone from strength to strength and suddenly he is a self confessed Partick Thistle supporter. A carrer decision?

I've seen him on TV and in print say he is a Rangers supporter. He was also more than happy to say he was a Rangers fan in the late 80s and early 90s when doing acting workshops at various schools throughout the west of Scotland.

The luvvies don't like us ... which is their loss