The Media’s Impact
on Football
Whether it is for good reasons or bad, football is always
going to make headlines. We live in an age where we can find out about almost
anything we want about the game by the use of watching games live at grounds or
on television, reading the back pages of the newspapers or reading articles on
websites. The media has always had a big presence in the game and that presence
doesn’t look like it is going to get smaller anytime soon. In the Premier
League, managers are expected to give pre-match interviews and press
conferences for their clubs website and journalists respectively. Then for the
upcoming match, cameras are set up for television and internet coverage to
cover the game and once the match is finished, managers give post match
interviews for TV and websites before ending their day with a final press
conference to give journalists something extra to write about in their
respective newspapers.
I don’t think many people will have complaints about the
presence of television cameras at football grounds. It gives people the chance
to still see the big games if they are unable to make it to the stadium to see
the game in person and also generates extra revenue for the clubs involved.
With the coverage of the match comes pre and post match analysis and interviews
which come with a bit more of a mixed reaction. Some viewers do not care for
analysis and just change channels or switch off when the final whistle is blown
regardless of who is trying to analyse the match they’ve just seen, and if a
manager has just witnessed his side suffer a tough loss, the last thing he
wants is to then receive a barrage of questions about “What went wrong?” and so
on and so forth. But regardless of whether they like it or not, the manager and
players have to answer the questions for the cameras as it is the money that
comes from broadcasters such as Sky Sports which helps the football clubs fund
new projects or signings etc.
While television coverage is generally received very well,
the same can’t always be said for newspapers and journalists involved with the
game. While it is unfair to put them all into the same category, a select few
journalists will often go to extreme measures to try and get a story and sell
their paper the next day. Managers can often get irritated with reporters when
they question them about a story which could be considered confidential or
completely made up but still leaves them questioning how or where they got the
information from. Players very rarely speak directly with newspaper reporters
as anything said can easily be twisted to make it have a negative effect on
that player and his team. An example of both the above has come this weekend
after a national newspaper reported that it had spoken with 3 unnamed Queens
Park Rangers players who claimed that they engaged in a late-night drinking
session while they were away training in Dubai recently. Manager Harry Redknapp
said there was no truth in the report and slammed the person behind the story
claiming they were just trying to cause problems at the club. Occasionally you
might come across an interesting piece in a newspaper that may or may not be
true, but the way it is written and the information given in the article can
make for interesting thinking. The best examples I find in this case are
articles about transfers, while I don’t always trust the source, it does always
leave me thinking what impact the player in question could have at his rumoured
next club if the information is in fact accurate. So while I can understand why
others might have issues with journalists, I myself have no problems and look
forward to reading their views on the stories making the news in football.
I’m not sure how much bigger the media effect will be in the
long term future of the game, but the short term is much clearer to see. Obviously
for the Premier League the new multi-million pound television deal kicks in
this summer, whether that will include more access behind the scenes at games
for the broadcasters only time will tell. An increased use in social networking
sites in recent years has allowed for more interaction between fans and the
people involved with their respective clubs which I see as nothing but a good
thing with the exception of fans that support a club that is having problems
and they aren’t able to provide you with any solutions to them. So with the
internet, newspapers and television all able to keep you updated with nearly
everything you need to know, there is no shortage of football media coverage in
the world and I don’t think that will ever change.
Premier League –
Weekend Review
The gap at the top of the table was once again extended to
15 points this weekend as Manchester United ran out 4-0 winners against Norwich
City at Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon. A Shinji Kagawa hat-trick and a
wonder goal from Wayne Rooney made it a miserable afternoon for the travelling
Canaries. The gap could be reduced to 12 points if Manchester City beat Aston
Villa at Villa Park tonight. Hot on City’s heels though are Tottenham Hotspur
who are now just 2 points off second place after won a very entertaining North
London Derby against Arsenal 2-1 at White Hart Lane. Poor defending from The
Gunners led to two goals in quick succession towards the end of the first half
from Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon put Spurs in the driving seat, and despite
conceding a goal from Per Mertesacker 5 minutes into the second half, Tottenham
kept Arsenal out for the rest of the game and got themselves a bit of payback
for their 5-2 loss at The Emirates earlier in the season. Chelsea recorded a
1-0 home win against West Bromwich Albion thanks to a first half goal from
Demba Ba. The Blues were back up to 2nd until Tottenham’s win yesterday and
they now sit 2 points behind their London rivals. Elsewhere a 3-1 win for
Everton against Reading at Goodison Park helped the Toffees put more pressure
on 5th placed Arsenal by closing the gap on them to just 2 points although The
Gunners do have a far superior goal difference.
Queens Park Rangers earned a huge win on manager Harry
Redknapps 66th birthday as they beat fellow strugglers Southampton 2-1 at St
Mary’s. Redknapp’s men now sit 4 points from safety after Wigan Athletic
suffered a heavy 4-0 defeat against Liverpool at The DW Stadium with Luis
Suarez grabbing a hat-trick after Stewart Downing had opened the scoring for
The Reds. Aston Villa can move out of the bottom 3 by getting at least a point
against Manchester City tonight. While not in immediate danger anymore, Newcastle
United didn’t do themselves any favours in capitalising on their 6 point gap
over Wigan and Villa by suffering a 1-0 defeat away at Capital One Cup winners
Swansea City thanks to a late goal from striker Luke Moore. The Magpies are
tied on points with rivals Sunderland who drew 2-2 with Fulham at The Stadium
of Light. But what the north-east teams couldn’t do, West Ham United could as
they defeated Stoke City 1-0 at The Britannia Stadium and gained a 9 point gap
between themselves and the drop zone. Each team minus Aston Villa and
Manchester City have 10 league games left before the Premier League season
draws to a close. Now is the time for teams to start performing if they want to
be playing European football next season, achieve as high a finish as possible
or stay in the division for next season. If the teams that need the points
don’t start to get them in the very near future, this time next month it might
well be too late. The time to stand up and be counted is now.
Andrew.
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