“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”
Mark Twain had a knack for overstatement, but you wonder if there was ever a golden age of the newspapers, and if so, what it looked like. In Scotland, it’s seldom looked like it has this week.
Some weeks ago, Graham Spiers, writing in The Herald, made reference to comments he claimed a Newco director made about the Billy Boys song. Spiers didn’t name the director, but questioned the club’s board’s willingness to tackle offensive behaviour.
The Billy Boys were a Glasgow razor gang from the 1920s and 30s, named after their leader, Billy Fullerton. Glasgow was one of the poorest cities in the industrial world, with high unemployment and mortality rates, squalid housing conditions and what we would now term disaffected young people who drifted into criminal gangs. The Billy Boys were known as a Protestant gang (there were similar Catholic gangs) and started going along to watch Rangers, and singing their signature tune, in the 20s.
So far, so anthropologic. The song, the gangs, the disaffected masses were a product of their time, but the song persisted through the decades, including the “up to our knees in Fenian blood” third line. It was the mood music to employment practices at Ibrox from the 20s until 1989.
Scotland has changed enormously since then. We are a genuinely plural society, not one scandalised by “mixed marriages”. The vast majority of people don’t care who or what you are, boundaries have been pushed back, there is a fairly level playing field, no matter your creed or colour. All of this change brought focus to the Billy Boys song, it’s not the mood music to modern Scotland, or to ANY Rangers fans I know.
I couldn’t care less about the song. For me, it is a millstone around the neck of Newco, as it was of Oldco. It drags them down to a place they can ill-afford to be. It offends (not alone in football), has a criminal legacy (not alone in football), but it’s unique quality is that third line. You can’t say that about any group of people anymore.
Spiers has put his neck on the block over sectarianism at Ibrox repeatedly over the years. He wrote about his recent experience at Ibrox, expressed an opinion, and submitted his copy.
The club complained. Football clubs complain lots about many things. There’s a set answer newspapers give to these complaints: “It was an opinion piece”. They never retract or apologise for “an opinion piece”.
I’m 100% certain The Herald’s first response to Newco was “it’s an opinion piece”. This would normally have been the end of it, but on Wednesday The Herald issued an apology.
Spiers then became a blogger to explain “My opinion – as expressed in my column – was based on a truthful account of my meeting with a Rangers director.”
Who you believe is irrelevant for this topic. The only relevance is that within a 24 hour period, The Herald and Evening Times group changed how they deal with criticisms of an opinion piece – and then used six degrees of separation to drag Celtic into a sectarian headline.
“Ex-Celtic player in dock for sectarianism”, screamed the Evening Times, using the Celtic badge into the bargain. A woman is on trial for allegedly making a sectarian comment on Facebook. She once played for Celtic under-19s, never the senior ladies team. She doesn’t play for Celtic Ladies under-19s (or any age group) anymore, and didn’t a year ago when she made this comment. She never held an employed position at the club.
An amateur, juvenile, registered with the club who are a member of the Women’s Association. Fill your boots, Evening Times. The apology will do them no favours with any constituency, it will cost them more readers in each than sticking to their guns would have. Reacting by grasping onto something so tenuous to drag Celtic into the murky waters was unconscionable.
They do not report in this manner elsewhere. Headlines for court appearances never lead with the person’s club memberships, “Prestwick Golf Club member in driving ban”? You’ll never read this.
One very good political journalist once told me “The football content pays my wages”. That being the case, The Herald’s already difficult job to survive has been enormously undermined. Spiers also explained “the pressure brought upon the newspaper became severe”. They can ill-afford to lose advertising revenue streams, or readers.
Napoleon once said, “‘Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets”. He’s been dead a long time, though. Newspapers can now make themselves impotent in an afternoon.
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Graham Spiers þ@GrahamSpiers
I happily dynamited my position at The Herald with my own statement. But I’m disgusted at treatment of @AngelaHaggerty.
Not knowing my Greek from my Adonis i had to google “amorphous”,
shapeless, formless, unformed, unshaped, structureless, unstructured, indeterminate, indefinite, vague, nebulous
“an amorphous grey mass which proved to be mashed potato”
======================================================
So Sevco are just a humble potato MASHED preferably :)
PAUL67
Your last sentence,what have the newspapers been drinking?
Ooooo-er….
Serious point,though. Newspapers are facing real difficulties in a digital age. Some are thriving on digital content,but even they are seeing sales drop off a cliff. Advertising revenue,which not so long ago ‘subsidised’ editorial content,has retreated so far that price increases became the norm again.
Peter Oborne resigned about a year ago from The Telegraph because they refused to publish overly-critical articles about large advertisers. As a result,their readers were not informed of the problems at Barclays and Tesco,for example.
‘Spiking’ content is not new. But the reasons behind it now are. A newspaper cannot be driven by the wish not to offend,and certainly not when that offence is caused by simply telling the truth.
The Herald needs cleansed. It needs to remember that it is a newspaper. And that it was a great one for most of its existence.
Ernie -VG
Canamalar it looks like OCD obsession on 29th January 2016 12:59 pm
Heterosexual marriages used to be the norm, now we are referring to them as mixed marriage aye society has changed right enough.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The BBC all over this. Surprise Surprise. Not really.
All you see everywhere is the racism endemic I’m Scotland. The media would rather tear up every ounce of ethics to protect that racism. The Herald is doing just that.
Of course they attack Celtic Paul. That is part of the racism.
But the question is, what are Celtic doing about it?
You see I believe that the battle lines are now being drawn. Scotland is lurching towards a new facism. We will be the victims of that facism. Look at the courts, look at the Scottish Parliament, look at the media. The racists have circled their wagons. And in the middle of that circle lies the Celtic board.
We have been and are being systematically betrayed.
Paul67
You’ve done it again :-)
‘It offends (not alone in football), has a criminal legacy (not alone in football), but it’s unique quality is that third line. ‘
As regards this sentence its usage is wrong. It’s ‘ITS’ not ‘IT’S’.
jimtim on 29th January 2016 1:45 pm
Surely no one is expecting these court cases to go against Sevco . Won’t happen . And going by what’s went on before . Hmrc won’t win either . Imho .
…………………………………………………………….
Who knows?
I certainly wouldn’t bet against the Money launderers at this stage?
What, Who’s who.
Now about the World Health Organisation….
NegAnon2,
IMO, you are correct, we are being dismissed as collateral damage in Geo politics.
How can that be?
Well the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry is a sort of homeland for the Who exactly?
Petec go in peace my son
So not so much the official messenger bringing the news, more like court jester jumping from pillar to post. The press, such as it ever was. Is the central figure in the farce deserving of any sympathy, however?
Ronny saying Erik will make his debut very soon. How will the central pairing look after yet another change?
The Herald Group have just sacked Angela Haggerty, allegedly after pressure from Sevco directors so the situation is even worse than before. No journalist in Scotland will stand up to the Zombies now if their head will then be served on a plate to the mob. I’ve just cancelled my Herald subscription.
Two columnists depart from Glasgow Herald in row with Range
Two columnists have lost their jobs at the Herald newspapers in Glasgow following complaints from Rangers football club.
Graham Spiers, an award-winning sports writer, departed after threats of legal action over one of his Herald columns. And Angela Haggerty, who supported Spiers on Twitter, was relieved of her Sunday Herald column.
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jan/29/two-columnists-depart-from-glasgow-herald-in-row-with-rangers
What if the whole Spiers, Haggerty controversy was heralding (pun intended) a move to The National? *tinfoil hat*
So the Scottish press has been given a doing and given a kicking just as cases involving trfc are coming up which could see the release of embarrassing truths in court.
Very timely ” pour encourager les autres” isn’t it?
Print media, interweb media. It’s all just conditioning in distraction, manipulating emotion and managing attention.
Don’t believe in the hype. Believe in Ronny Deila.
Chavez
You had a herald subscription ?
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jan/29/two-columnists-depart-from-glasgow-herald-in-row-with-rangers?CMP=share_btn_tw
Two columnists have lost their jobs at the Herald newspapers in Glasgow following complaints from Rangers football club.
Graham Spiers, an award-winning sports writer, departed after threats of legal action over one of his Herald columns.
And Angela Haggerty, who supported Spiers on Twitter, was relieved of her Sunday Herald column.
The Herald’s editor-in-chief, Magnus Llewellin, is said to be downcast at the turn of events in what a colleague called “a toxic atmosphere.”
The saga began on 28 December when Spiers wrote a column headlined “Rangers must uphold progress by resisting return of the old songs” (now taken down from the paper’s site).
He began by praising Rangers for having “made considerable strides to eradicate bigotry around the club”, with “dodgy songs” having been “put on the back burner.”
He pointed out that one particular anti-Catholic anthem, The Billy Boys, had been “put on mute.” But there were “occasional public eruptions of it” and one occurred during a Rangers-Hibernian match on Boxing Day.
Spiers, a four-time winner of Scotland’s sports journalist of the year award, then made an allegation about a member of the Rangers board.
That prompted a legal complaint to the Herald from Rangers, which culminated in an apology, published by the Herald on Wednesday (27 January):
“In a recent column for heraldscotland, Graham Spiers said an un-named Rangers director had praised the song The Billy Boys.
He also questioned the willingness of Rangers directors to tackle offensive behaviour, and The Herald and Graham Spiers accept this was inaccurate.
We acknowledge every member of the Rangers board is fully committed to fighting bigotry and offensive chanting, wherever it occurs in Scottish football, and that the club is actively tackling the issue.
We apologise for any embarrassment that may have been caused to the members of the Rangers board.”
Spiers hit back with a piece, also published online on Wednesday, in which he told of “severe” pressure on the Herald.
He wrote: “Having searched many avenues to reach an agreement with the club, the newspaper ultimately denied my request to withhold any clarification/apology until my own position was clearer.”
He went on to say he retained the highest regard for Magnus Llewellin, “who has tried to resolve this problem.”
Spiers, who also writes for the Times and works for the BBC, told me by email that he had “no illusions” that in issuing his statement he was “putting a pile of Semtex under a bridge between me and the Herald.”
He added: “I didn’t have the temerity to even think about filing my usual weekly column to the paper yesterday… I do have some sympathy for the Herald. The paper, for complex reasons, became embroiled in a very difficult situation.”
Llewellin has come in for widespread criticism since running the apology. Among the critics was a former Herald political correspondent and leader writer, Robbie Dinwoodie, who wrote a blog item about the matter. After spending 28 years at the paper, he took redundancy four months ago.
He was also upset by Haggerty’s departure. Following Spiers’s article on Rangers she wrote a tweet in which she complained about Rangers’ bigotry.
She maintains that she was referring to fans, but the Herald considered this to be a reference to Rangers’ directors.
Llewellin felt that it compromised the newspaper and Haggerty, a freelance contributor who edits the news website Common Space, was told that her column would no longer be required.
In her most recent column, she told of editing a book about Rangers’ financial collapse in 2012 that “led to a nearly four-year long sustained campaign of abuse” by Rangers’ fans.
Questions about this issue have been emailed to Rangers’ press office. At the time of writing there has not been a reply.
Earlier this month, a BBC sports writer, Chris McLaughlin, was told he was no longer be welcome at the Rangers ground because of objections to his reporting. The BBC retaliated by announcing a boycott of Rangers’ games at Ibrox.
The big lie seems to be coming to the boil and the rotten mob know it.
Florida Bhoy,
Erik sounds like a good wan, fingers crossed.
Celtic, and the pressures of being a first team Celt, are tremendous, some players are naturals, others need Support, by the Coaching staff and the Support itself, even though they are getting 10K a week or whatever.
We demand to know this directors name
There’s a tasty wee item: works for the rag darn sarf, and the brit brainwashing corp tae…
Boycott The Herald
Boycott Parks’
http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/jan/29/two-columnists-depart-from-glasgow-herald-in-row-with-rangers
Two columnists have lost their jobs at the Herald newspapers in Glasgow following complaints from Rangers football club.
Graham Spiers, an award-winning sports writer, departed after threats of legal action over one of his Herald columns.
And Angela Haggerty, who supported Spiers on Twitter, was relieved of her Sunday Herald column.
The Herald’s editor-in-chief, Magnus Llewellin, is said to be downcast at the turn of events in what a colleague called “a toxic atmosphere.”
The saga began on 28 December when Spiers wrote a column headlined “Rangers must uphold progress by resisting return of the old songs” (now taken down from the paper’s site).
The stories you need to read, in one handy email
Read more
He began by praising Rangers for having “made considerable strides to eradicate bigotry around the club”, with “dodgy songs” having been “put on the back burner.”
He pointed out that one particular anti-Catholic anthem, The Billy Boys, had been “put on mute.” But there were “occasional public eruptions of it” and one occurred during a Rangers-Hibernian match on Boxing Day.
Spiers, a four-time winner of Scotland’s sports journalist of the year award, then made an allegation about a member of the Rangers board.
That prompted a legal complaint to the Herald from Rangers, which culminated in an apology, published by the Herald on Wednesday (27 January):
“In a recent column for heraldscotland, Graham Spiers said an un-named Rangers director had praised the song The Billy Boys.
He also questioned the willingness of Rangers directors to tackle offensive behaviour, and The Herald and Graham Spiers accept this was inaccurate.
We acknowledge every member of the Rangers board is fully committed to fighting bigotry and offensive chanting, wherever it occurs in Scottish football, and that the club is actively tackling the issue.
We apologise for any embarrassment that may have been caused to the members of the Rangers board.”
Spiers hit back with a piece, also published online on Wednesday, in which he told of “severe” pressure on the Herald.
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He wrote: “Having searched many avenues to reach an agreement with the club, the newspaper ultimately denied my request to withhold any clarification/apology until my own position was clearer.”
He went on to say he retained the highest regard for Magnus Llewellin, “who has tried to resolve this problem.”
Spiers, who also writes for the Times and works for the BBC, told me by email that he had “no illusions” that in issuing his statement he was “putting a pile of Semtex under a bridge between me and the Herald.”
He added: “I didn’t have the temerity to even think about filing my usual weekly column to the paper yesterday… I do have some sympathy for the Herald. The paper, for complex reasons, became embroiled in a very difficult situation.”
Llewellin has come in for widespread criticism since running the apology. Among the critics was a former Herald political correspondent and leader writer, Robbie Dinwoodie, who wrote a blog item about the matter. After spending 28 years at the paper, he took redundancy four months ago.
He was also upset by Haggerty’s departure. Following Spiers’s article on Rangers she wrote a tweet in which she complained about Rangers’ bigotry.
She maintains that she was referring to fans, but the Herald considered this to be a reference to Rangers’ directors.
Llewellin felt that it compromised the newspaper and Haggerty, a freelance contributor who edits the news website Common Space, was told that her column would no longer be required.
In her most recent column, she told of editing a book about Rangers’ financial collapse in 2012 that “led to a nearly four-year long sustained campaign of abuse” by Rangers’ fans.
Questions about this issue have been emailed to Rangers’ press office. At the time of writing there has not been a reply.
Earlier this month, a BBC sports writer, Chris McLaughlin, was told he was no longer be welcome at the Rangers ground because of objections to his reporting. The BBC retaliated by announcing a boycott of Rangers’ games at Ibrox.
Quick thought on the latest hun/Sevco/TRIFCO court case.
‘question by one of the three appeal court judges who inquired: “Why is it so important that Rangers football club is Sevco Scotland rather than an institution going back 100 years?” ‘
Isn’t this similar to asking why,having bought an antique,the buyer should now consider himself the owner?
Seriously,if the judges decide that Rangers 1872 is more important than the law,we are really FUBAR’d. It means there IS no law,only Rangers.
The Hun guide to being a fat Hun.
1- Ignore the message
2- attempt to discredit the messenger
3- intimidate messengers’ employer with potential financial penalties
4- threaten the messenger physically
5- threaten the messengers’ wife and children
6- physically threaten the employer
7- use the media to deflect, discredit the messenger, muddy waters, and drag in CFC
8- use the SFA as the neutral ‘voice of reason’
Did I miss anything out Graeme, Stan, Neil, Phil, Angela etc etc?
The Director has brought it on himself………………….
“for aw that an’ aw that..
..a hun’s a hun…
…..for aw that”
Petec this malaise runs much deeper than any of us know. This is no conspiracy theory, merely a conspiracy.
The awful truth is that there is now no audible opposition to this. The Scottish electorate have a herd mentality and the SNP is simply behaving like a dictatorship. The Catholic Church sold its soul some time ago and I’m afraid that Celtic are actively undermining us.
As someone said on the blog recently, and to quote a famous film, it’s a sh!te state of affairs.
The positive in all this is that things which were hidden are now firmly in the light. That won’t save us but at least those who question Scotlands racism can begin to come to terms with it.
Petec-
Erik does seem like a steal, the fact that he was club captain at his previous employers bodes well. A leader, and from watching his clips, seems to be a defender first. No footering about at the back with this lad. I predict him to be a fan favourite too.
https://www.nuj.org.uk/news/herald-condemned-for-axing-of-columnist/
Herald condemned for axing of columnist
29 January 2016
The NUJ has robustly defended a journalist at the Sunday Herald, whose column has been terminated because of pressure by Rangers football club.
The union has written to the editor condemning the pulling of columns of Angela Haggerty and Graham Spiers following intervention by the football club.
Dominic Bascombe, assistant organiser NUJ Scotland, said:
“The NUJ has already defended Angela over the bullying and harassment she has suffered for doing her job. The axing of her column sends a message that The Herald is unwilling to stand up for its contributors and is willing to sacrifice journalists when commercial interests are involved. This is totally unacceptable.”
Michelle Stanistreet, NUJ general secretary, said:
“It is outrageous that commercial meddling has led the Herald to sack a respected columnist. This pandering to the mob does the freedom of journalism and the reputation of the Herald no favours. We call on the editor to reinstate these columnists at once.”
TAGS: , sunday herald, angela haggerty, rangers
Emphasis on “mob”.
Haters gonnae hate
Disnae matter if they are sharp suited or wearing the cheapest of the cheap.
Tradingplaces.csc
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2016/01/29/scottish-media-failure-exposed/
The Herald, Sunday Herald and heraldscotland.com adhere to the Editors’ Code of Practice (which you can find at http://www.ipso.co.uk We are regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation. Complaints about stories should be referred firstly to the Editor by email at: complaints@heraldscotland.com or by post at 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB.
It is essential that your email or letter is headed “Complaint” in the subject line and contains the following information:
It’s a dark day when the truth costs you your job.
But it’s scotland and the huns canny handle the truth.
They would rather attack the messenger than the problem, hopefully with the help of the media the bastard incarnation will follow follow the deed club, but I doubt it.
5-4-3-2-Won
Just Win Both Cups Ronny D. ;))
Celtic should end association with Parks of Hamilton. I dont know why we haven’t done so previously anyway.