Dennistoun Rangers 426 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 As Rangers look to be on a genuine road to recovery after a number of tumultuous years, there is a swarm of hatred winging its way towards Ibrox.Of course, seasoned Rangers fans have seen it all before, but it is most certainly on the rise again, with the club taking steps to challenge the anti-Rangers culture in Scotlands press, by banning two of the most active agitators against the club.In banning Graham Spiers and Chris McLaughlin, the new board are issuing a message to the assorted media in Scotland that they will no longer accept journalists actively seeking to damage the clubs brand and reputation. With Graham Spiers, the former prominent sports columnist now working as a freelancer filing substandard match reports, Scotlands journalistic output will barely notice him being absent from Ibrox. The only surprise will be if he doesnt file a match report after watching Sportscene.With the BBCs McLaughlin, the broadcaster has reacted in a typical BBC fashion with absolutely no self-awareness or realisation that any of their employees could ever be less than impartial. Their reaction has been to pull all their employees from commitments at Ibrox and Murray Park until the ban against McLaughlin is lifted.It may well be a very long time before that relationship is addressed, as Rangers have a number of media outlets and a support insatiable for information, who will have no qualms about sourcing information wherever they get it.Rangers are in a no-lose position, and have absolutely no discernible reason why they should go cap in hand to McLaughlin in particular, or to BBC Scotland. It should be absolutely clear to observers that Rangers acted against two individuals, not two media outlets, and picked the two most persistent offenders responsible for misrepresenting information about the club.The board have acted on the basis that neither journalist is fair about the Rangers, or apply any sort of consistency in how they cover Rangers against how they cover other Scottish football teams. It is well documented that McLaughlins role in discussing a match observers report prior to it being submitted by the delegate to the SPFL is being challenged by various Rangers Supporters groups, including the RST, and the SPFLs response to the RST communication indicates a lack of transparency from the organisation, and a lack of clarity over the expectations from the SPFL over the conduct of delegates, nor the rules of engagement with journalists.Its certainly worth noting that McLaughlin has only reported this type of "scoop" about Rangers, despite sectarian singing and throwing of flares being common place by the other football supports on their travels across Scotland.While many Rangers fans could provide pages of Spiers unbalanced scribbles on Rangers over the years, the fact he is still propagating the lie to anyone who will listen that Rangers are a new club means he does not deserve to take up a seat inside Ibrox.Despite many journalists despising each other, the industry is bizarrely full of individuals who spend an inordinate amount of time defending the indefensible, if the indefensible has an NUJ card.Several Rangers haters in the media have therefor been joined by seasoned hacks in criticism of Rangers with no idea of the context of these bans, nor the agendas of those banned.Either that, or journalism as an industry is populated by many who believe carrying out an agenda against a football club is both normal and ethical.One such example is Channel 4 reporter Michael Crick, who tweeted an attack on the clubs decision in the Press Gazette written by a William Turvill , where Spiers has lied about the circumstances of his ban, lied about his conduct and made some offensive and untrue remarks about the club.Crick has also annotated his tweet with the comment that the ban makes Rangers look weak, adding that confident institutions welcome scrutiny.Indeed they do, however, neither journalist has applied any level of scrutiny when they should have done, or acted in a professional manner towards Rangers.To be clear, while Rangers were being grossly mismanaged by the previous board, McLaughlin was acting as their place man in the press for propaganda instead of scrutinising their conduct.If he had been scrutinising his contacts rather than copying and pasting press releases, perhaps he would be worth defending.In the same period, Spiers main contribution to the Rangers conversation has been to consistently call Rangers a new club, which is hardly scrutiny. Again, his criticism of the club and the support has been unbalanced, and Crick should beware his own credibility by defending him.I have no doubt that as Rangers continue this leg of our journey to the top, that others will try and join the martyrs by trying to make a name for themselves, but they will see that the Rangers board can make a distinction between criticism, and agenda-led long term activism to damage the club.The media would do well to look at the statistics of how much attention Rangers generate for their employers.The viewing figures for the SPFL indicate that Rangers in League 1 are still the largest draw in the land by a distance.https://docs.google....dit?usp=sharingYesterday, 4 of the top 5 read stories in the Daily Record Sports section were about Rangers. Its a pattern that is repeated almost every day.It seems that some dont like this state of affairs, and also fear the return of Rangers to the top of Scottish Football. Well, guess what, its happening, and youd better get used to it. If you dont want a ringside seat, someone else will have it.1972 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loyalist_RFC 222 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Also on their front pagehere : http://www.vanguardbears.co.uk/article.php?i=67&a=they-are-not-taking-it-too-well Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bombaybadboy08 15,660 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Brilliant, lads, as usual. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ritchieshearercaldow 22,446 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Good PieceNo surprise C4 have jumped on the bandwagon, Cosgrove has them well drilled Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taipan 583 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Crick looking from a macro position isn't wrong, to permit the attention seeking CM & GS the audacity of a perception that they're setting any agenda is totally laughable and the Club should indeed rise above and beyond it and it is not necessary for us to engage. However these are two "Journalists" who's entire raison d'être over the last 4 years has been about creating tabloid news about us. Instead of reporting the positives and offering solutions the emphasis has been on what has been going wrong, wrong, wrong and time and time again.So positive is good, it has a massive impact on success. We should not be surprised if our custodians dispense with those who might pedal negativity. It's what I might expect of a custodian.Cheerio gossip pursuers! Hello fair (and investigative) reporting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RM Monitor And Standards Officer 112,978 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluefarm 1,055 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I see Thomson from Channel 4 news has commented. Bheasts hate facts and well written articles like this one. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pure_Quality 3,296 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Excellent read There's been some good statements from a number of fans organisations of late, and this is right up there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeJim 92 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 ................Rangers are in a no-lose position, and have absolutely no discernible reason why they should go cap in hand to McLaughlin in particular, or to BBC Scotland.................Good read, absolutely bang on.The line I've quoted is, I think, the one we need people to understand and is the one I hope the club fully realise. The BBC is not what it once was, times have changed and standards have plummeted, they are just one media outlet among a great many others. We don't need them any more than we do any other so if they refuse to conduct themselves in a manner befitting the proper ethics of their industry then they won't be missed. There are plenty others.End of the day as a publicly funded body they are the ones who, above all, should have the highest journalistic standards as they don't need to create sensation to pay their wages. They should be above that, but they're not, and everyone knows it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eskbankloyal 19,446 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I see Thomson from Channel 4 news has commented. Bheasts hate facts and well written articles like this one.4/5 journos all tweeted about Rangers (& Newcastle) banning journalists in a 10 minute period earlier - almost like it was coordinated, possibly out of Donegal.Edit: Also a good read Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluefarm 1,055 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 4/5 journos all tweeted about Rangers (& Newcastle) banning journalists in a 10 minute period earlier - almost like it was coordinated, possibly out of Donegal.Edit: Also a good read I noticed the Newcastle link today. Seems like a Rangers revival really hurts the haters.Bheasts hate facts. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STEPPS BOY 77,767 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eejay the dj 31,964 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Just calling these two unbalanced isn't enough for me . Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orange&Blue 131 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Another first class article from VB's Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Robot 21,513 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 The mail have also written a story on it but they do produce a list of banned journalists.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3186022/BBC-boycotts-Rangers-matches-football-club-bans-reporter-Times-columnist-negative-stories.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Hurlock Loyal 12,134 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 The mail have also written a story on it but they do produce a list of banned journalists.http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3186022/BBC-boycotts-Rangers-matches-football-club-bans-reporter-Times-columnist-negative-stories.htmlSome of the comments on that article are hilarious, so bitter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Robot 21,513 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Some of the comments on that article are hilarious, so bitter.sad bheasts Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoldierBlue1 499 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Great post VBs keep up the good work. WATP Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
magic8ball 27,904 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 Heard the other night that keech Jackson has been banned from ted Heath towers since October , first I've heard of it and no media frenzy or daily rebel withdrawing coverage of all things scumville,does anybody know why he got banned would like to know coz i grew up in same street as him and yes he was a prick then too even though he was one of us at the time Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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