Have been reading the posts of late but have resisted the temptation to post. A lot has been said about Laudrup and his intention, am prepared to trust his word, to stay at Swansea. Tutumlu has come in for some well deserved flack; he hasnât done anything to change my opinion of agents! Huw has also been criticised and praised in equal(ish) measure, but the real villain in this âsagaâ is the Evening Post!
I have been disgusted with their behaviour in recent weeks, but not in the least surprised. Letâs be honest, as much as the Post claim that they support the Swans, their only allegiance is to their shareholders. That is the bottom line; they are in the business of selling newspapers. I followed yesterdays EP hosted web-chat with interest and a growing sense of incredulity! When answering the accusation of sensationalism Post reporter Gareth Vincent replied with âIt is wrong to suggest that we would spread unsettling rumours in an attempt to boost sales. It would never happen. All our stories have come from senior sourcesâ â and there we have the classic cop out of all journoâs; senior sources â will you name them then? No, we canât reveal our sources! How do we know they actually exist then? Because you can trust us, we only have the public interest at heart! Absolute bollocks!! The journalism of the last few weeks has been lazy to put it mildly. The âLaudrup unhappyâ âscoopâ started with hearsay and dubious research peppered with soundbites such as âalthough he hasnât said as much publicly Michael Laudrup is privately very unhappyâ â really?!! Then print the quotes that prove it!
Vincent has been happily stirring the **** and dressed it up as âinvestigative journalismâ, all the while professing that he is just reporting the âfactsâ. Another quote âWe could not get away with doing stories which are based on no evidence. A local paper does not work like thatâ. I disagree Mr Vincent â that is exactly how a local, or national, paper works; facts will never get in the way of a story; rumours can be validated by attributing them to a âsource close to the club!â I have worked for newspapers and been astonished at the libertyâs (pardon the pun) they take to get an unsubstantiated story into print! The truth will never get in the way of a good story!
Vincent and the Post have strung this out over a few weeks, feeding the publics appetite for controversy without backing it up with any hard facts! And the truth is, no one can really dispute what they print â they wonât reveal their sources but expect us to believe them! Another âquoteâ from the web-chat â when asked âHow senior is a âsenior source? I donât imagine Huw would be very pleased with the way the reporting has unfolded. Would it be fair to say there is a âmoleâ on the board that is passing material to you? The reply was âWe canât be too specific, but it is senior!â How vague can you get? Letâs hide behind press confidentiality; we can print what we want and if anyone questions it can close ranks and invoke our own version of the Hippocratic oath! Itâs just too easy to write this kind of bullshit and use outdated legislature to avoid question!
The Post has conducted itself shamelessly over the last few weeks; they portray themselves as the champions of the Swans but take every opportunity to chip away at the reputation that we have earnt through our exploits over the last decade. Objective reporting it is not! It is sensationalism of the lowest order! We have suffered from lazy journalism during our short time in the top flight and it is disappointing that our local newspaper has decided to focus on the negatives rather than celebrate the outstanding achievements of the last ten years!
Gareth Vincent and EP editor Jonathan Roberts â hang your heads in shame; you could have celebrated our success, but instead preferred to damage our reputation by publishing stories whose only goal was to diminish what we have achieved! Only time will tell how much damage you have done, but you are no friends of Swansea City, neither is the rag you work for!
I have been disgusted with their behaviour in recent weeks, but not in the least surprised. Letâs be honest, as much as the Post claim that they support the Swans, their only allegiance is to their shareholders. That is the bottom line; they are in the business of selling newspapers. I followed yesterdays EP hosted web-chat with interest and a growing sense of incredulity! When answering the accusation of sensationalism Post reporter Gareth Vincent replied with âIt is wrong to suggest that we would spread unsettling rumours in an attempt to boost sales. It would never happen. All our stories have come from senior sourcesâ â and there we have the classic cop out of all journoâs; senior sources â will you name them then? No, we canât reveal our sources! How do we know they actually exist then? Because you can trust us, we only have the public interest at heart! Absolute bollocks!! The journalism of the last few weeks has been lazy to put it mildly. The âLaudrup unhappyâ âscoopâ started with hearsay and dubious research peppered with soundbites such as âalthough he hasnât said as much publicly Michael Laudrup is privately very unhappyâ â really?!! Then print the quotes that prove it!
Vincent has been happily stirring the **** and dressed it up as âinvestigative journalismâ, all the while professing that he is just reporting the âfactsâ. Another quote âWe could not get away with doing stories which are based on no evidence. A local paper does not work like thatâ. I disagree Mr Vincent â that is exactly how a local, or national, paper works; facts will never get in the way of a story; rumours can be validated by attributing them to a âsource close to the club!â I have worked for newspapers and been astonished at the libertyâs (pardon the pun) they take to get an unsubstantiated story into print! The truth will never get in the way of a good story!
Vincent and the Post have strung this out over a few weeks, feeding the publics appetite for controversy without backing it up with any hard facts! And the truth is, no one can really dispute what they print â they wonât reveal their sources but expect us to believe them! Another âquoteâ from the web-chat â when asked âHow senior is a âsenior source? I donât imagine Huw would be very pleased with the way the reporting has unfolded. Would it be fair to say there is a âmoleâ on the board that is passing material to you? The reply was âWe canât be too specific, but it is senior!â How vague can you get? Letâs hide behind press confidentiality; we can print what we want and if anyone questions it can close ranks and invoke our own version of the Hippocratic oath! Itâs just too easy to write this kind of bullshit and use outdated legislature to avoid question!
The Post has conducted itself shamelessly over the last few weeks; they portray themselves as the champions of the Swans but take every opportunity to chip away at the reputation that we have earnt through our exploits over the last decade. Objective reporting it is not! It is sensationalism of the lowest order! We have suffered from lazy journalism during our short time in the top flight and it is disappointing that our local newspaper has decided to focus on the negatives rather than celebrate the outstanding achievements of the last ten years!
Gareth Vincent and EP editor Jonathan Roberts â hang your heads in shame; you could have celebrated our success, but instead preferred to damage our reputation by publishing stories whose only goal was to diminish what we have achieved! Only time will tell how much damage you have done, but you are no friends of Swansea City, neither is the rag you work for!
