[Archived] Press Coverage

[thenodrog]

Rum do this but we appear to be being ignored more and more by the press and media. Years ago the papers carried much more comprehensive reports from the lower leagues now they are hardly mentioned. Unless I am mistaken this is now happening to smaller clubs in the Prem too. I could not find a report on lasts nights match in either the Mirror or the Guardian. I guess the cost of staffing every match is too much for em but the depths that they spin stories about the big four is pathetic, next up we'll prob be told what colour the wallpaper in Fergies / Wengers etc office is.

So imagine my suprise though when I found this.........

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/...blackburns.html

[den]

Not like you to be so slow, Theno!

[thenodrog]

Not like you to be so slow, Theno!

oops! I must have missed it whilst drying my somewhat misty eyes Den. Close it if you want but

I still stand by my original observation re: reduced press coverage. Thin end of the wedge imo. The Prem should do as they do with TV companies and insist that all clubs get a minimum amount of coverage or they get no co-operation at all. A conspiracy theorist would suggest this is paving the way for the next greed motivated change in our football.... G14 / European league / reduced Prem or whatever.

[roversmum]

I thought ITV's coverage of Carling Cup 'Highlights' was a disgrace. Most of the programme was spent talking about Chelsea, followed by 10 mins or so about Man U losing to Hull, followed by goals of the rest with 15 seconds of Rovers buried in there somewhere However, at least they showed Rovers. The Sky coverage of 'highlights' turned out to be a re-run of the Chelsea match! Tuesday evening, most of the 'Carling Cup' talk on Sky consisted of talking about Chelsea and they weren't even playing that evening! Not good enough .

[AndyH16]

I stayed up last night to watch the highlights - knowing too well that we'd be (pretty much) last on the list. To have so much coverage on the Spurs and Chelsea games was pathetic. I almost had to watch our highlights, as well as the 3 other games, on super slow-mo they went by so quick!

[Threepenny Bit Foot]

Rum do this but we appear to be being ignored more and more by the press and media. Years ago the papers carried much more comprehensive reports from the lower leagues now they are hardly mentioned. Unless I am mistaken this is now happening to smaller clubs in the Prem too. I could not find a report on lasts nights match in either the Mirror or the Guardian. I guess the cost of staffing every match is too much for em but the depths that they spin stories about the big four is pathetic, next up we'll prob be told what colour the wallpaper in Fergies / Wengers etc office is.

So imagine my suprise though when I found this.........

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/09/...blackburns.html

It might have taken 12 years but the truth will out - this article is spot on, particularly the report on two United games.

[Alan75]

I thought ITV's coverage of Carling Cup 'Highlights' was a disgrace. Most of the programme was spent talking about Chelsea, followed by 10 mins or so about Man U losing to Hull, followed by goals of the rest with 15 seconds of Rovers buried in there somewhere However, at least they showed Rovers. The Sky coverage of 'highlights' turned out to be a re-run of the Chelsea match! Tuesday evening, most of the 'Carling Cup' talk on Sky consisted of talking about Chelsea and they weren't even playing that evening! Not good enough .

Two defeats in one night cant be bad.

Serves them right for entering 2 teams in the same competition.

[Paul]

Rum do this but we appear to be being ignored more and more by the press and media. Years ago the papers carried much more comprehensive reports from the lower leagues now they are hardly mentioned. Unless I am mistaken this is now happening to smaller clubs in the Prem too.

It's true, The Independent usually carries a report on Rovers, but hardly surprising. The bulk of our media is driven purely by sales, we live in an age of non-stop, 24 hour "news" and the real facts are simply there isn't enough "news" to fill 24 hours. Consequently the media re-hash old stories of all types day after day, typically chosing in the football world to focus on the top four, though I notice Liverpool don't get the coverage given to the other three.

What we have is a stream of second-rate hacks, scrabbling around for yet another twist on the same story, to provide yet another ridiculous red top headline. When was the last time you read a truely original bit of reporting? Personally I'd rather read a decent piece on a League 2 match than yet more garbage about Chelsea or David Dein / Russians / Americans and Arsenal.

[philipl]

There are also two vicious spirals at work in the media.

The role of the journalist as the explainer is dying as people who don't like the explanation get sharper in their ripostes so journalists are increasingly going for simplification believing the general public is simple for the most part and cannot be bothered with nuance. So Rovers are dirty gets repeated ad infinitum.

The second is they look at Rovers' crowds and conclude that nobody is interested in the club and they will get a free ride rubbishing/ignoring us which is what they do making it much more difficult to pick up new support. The days of the media backing the plucky underdog are long long gone (except of course until Rovers get drawn against a non-league club in the FA Cup).

My own view is the club could be a bit cleverer in its handling of PR. A strap line "England's greatest town team" on the board behind all club interviews for instance might not be a bad thing. The pictures of Hughes sat beneath the poster of Ryan Nelsen is a good start in that direction.

One thing is for sure, the result against Larissa back at Ewood next Thursday is going to be desparately important in avoiding another downwards ratchet in the way Rovers are presented and perceived in the media. Everton and Aberdeen are going to struggle to survive their ties so Rovers should get decent coverage if only we can survive to the UEFA group stage.

[bblue]

I thought ITV's coverage of Carling Cup 'Highlights' was a disgrace. Most of the programme was spent talking about Chelsea, followed by 10 mins or so about Man U losing to Hull, followed by goals of the rest with 15 seconds of Rovers buried in there somewhere However, at least they showed Rovers. The Sky coverage of 'highlights' turned out to be a re-run of the Chelsea match! Tuesday evening, most of the 'Carling Cup' talk on Sky consisted of talking about Chelsea and they weren't even playing that evening! Not good enough .

It's a hard fact ...money rules even in the media. Appearances are based on club 'notoriety' probably and assumed interest in them

[Flopsy]

The Guardian didnt even have a match report for us from the other night

[roversmum]

lol I was so cross I had to get something wrong! Apologies to Coventry!

Still, in the long run, would rather not too much hype and as Hughsey says let us go about our business. Apart from the nuisance of Rovers fans not being able to see highlights and stuff it's quite fun just to be fairly quiet about things and then the media suddenly notice good things are happening down at Ewood! I'm all for that continuing

[nicko]

The Guardian didnt even have a match report for us from the other night

It makes me chuckle that some of your beloved broadsheets did not cover the Birmingham City game. I didn't realise, I don't buy them.

However you will find that all of the 'dreadful' redtops will have covered the game and given it the prominence it deserved.

A small crowd, a virtual reserve game in many ways. I think the 10 pars or so it got in the Mirror and the Sun was about right.

I think you will also find that the tabloids will carry Rovers stories more often than the broadsheets on a daily basis.

And you will not find any big football stories broken in the broadsheets either.

[CAPT KAYOS]

lol I was so cross I had to get something wrong! Apologies to Coventry!

Still, in the long run, would rather not too much hype and as Hughsey says let us go about our business. Apart from the nuisance of Rovers fans not being able to see highlights and stuff it's quite fun just to be fairly quiet about things and then the media suddenly notice good things are happening down at Ewood! I'm all for that continuing

So am I Roversmum , so am I

[Flopsy]

And you will not find any big football stories broken in the broadsheets either.

Or complete made up arse either though.

In a purely technical way, can the Times, Indy or Guardian still be classed as Broadsheets anymore?

[nicko]

Or complete made up arse either though.

In a purely technical way, can the Times, Indy or Guardian still be classed as Broadsheets anymore?

In the eyes of an old hack, yes.

You will find these great bastions are just as London-centred, under-staffed in the north and oblivious to local teams as any. In fact, probably even more so.

[philipl]

The utterly dozy BBC haven't woken up to Benni not being in today's squad.

[Lathund]

The dislike for tabloids isn't generally based on the sports section though.

It's everything else.

[bluebruce]

I think you will also find that the tabloids will carry Rovers stories more often than the broadsheets on a daily basis.

And you will not find any big football stories broken in the broadsheets either.

I scarcely ever see a proper write up like that in the Guardian though. My family get the Express, much to my anger, and I'm fairly convinced they hate us, having studied their journalistic methods in regards to us.

Roversmum...infuriated me too. And someone said money talks, but I believe it was cockup in a business sense too. Chelsea's game (A predictable, tiresome 4-0 romp over a lower league side) had already been aired on TV, so a lot of people had already seen it. I don't believe United's defeat to Coventry (which ITV conveniently hushed under the carpet) had been on TV. So where is the sense in showing every half decent kick from two games, with something like 3 replays of every goal, and some yawnsome interviews with players and management (I don't mind seeing this stuff, but not at the detriment of seeing real football and I'm sure 90 percent of fans agree), followed by all the other goals crammed into about 10-15 minutes, with no replays? I think incompetency is the only explanation. It can't be favouritism, since a lot of other clubs, quite large ones, got sidelined too. It's balls and I'll be writing to the ITV to complain. I've never lodged a complaint before about this kind of thing in my life either.

[jim mk2]

The apparent reduction in coverage given to teams like Rovers is a consequence of the closure of the Manchester production bases of the national newspapers and the computerisation of the newspaper industry in the late 1980s.

Before then, matches were always "editionalised" ; in other words a reporter would file two versions of a match, for instance Sunderland v Rovers, one with a Sunderland flavour for the North East edition and another with a Blackburn angle for the Lancashire edition.

Now, there will usually be only one version of that match, and the reporter has to decide which club is the better story. For evidence, look at tomorrow's report on Sunderland v Rovers in the Sunday Telegraph; Rovers won yet the story is about Sunderland.

The result of course is a poorer service to readers and the consequent loss of sales. For that you can blame newspaper management who closed northern offcies years ago and concentrated all newspaper production in the south (sound familiar ?), plus the dreaded computers which amazingly are less flexible than the old hot metal printing process and the switch from rail to road transport 20 years ago for distribution which led to earlier deadlines.

Another case of change not always being for the better.

[bluebruce]

plus the dreaded computers which amazingly are less flexible than the old hot metal printing process

Please justify that statement Jim. I can't see how it makes sense, sorry.

[philipl]

The national press have not sensationalised Benni not being in the squad on Saturday so along comes the gormless Lancashire Telegraph

And this will get picked up by Tribal, Eatsleepsport etc and by Thursday morning at least one red top will headline the Larissa preparation being in crisis due to a Hughes/Benni rift.....

Dumb headline if ever there was one.

[philipl]

As predicted yesterday, here is Sky picking up the LT fabrication

[brfc fan]

I thought ITV's coverage of Carling Cup 'Highlights' was a disgrace. Most of the programme was spent talking about Chelsea, followed by 10 mins or so about Man U losing to Hull, followed by goals of the rest with 15 seconds of Rovers buried in there somewhere However, at least they showed Rovers. The Sky coverage of 'highlights' turned out to be a re-run of the Chelsea match! Tuesday evening, most of the 'Carling Cup' talk on Sky consisted of talking about Chelsea and they weren't even playing that evening! Not good enough .

I think they spoke for longer about us on ssn!

[brfc fan]

As predicted yesterday, here is Sky picking up the LT fabrication

I do think Sparky's sending out a strong message to Benni and he could be off in January. I think we should try and get as much for him as possible and say goodbye. Long live Roque Santa Cruz!