“That is not the narrative we are trying to promote.” These were words uttered by a media manager in sport in the past month.
Is this is what is wrong with sport today? People trying to tell a story that they want, rather than having the teams or the competition itself be the story? When did this all change and are the fans the ones who are in fact missing out and being sold short?
There is no doubt that the media landscape has changed a phenomenal amount in the past 25 years. In many instances today the media are prevented from mingling with players and having a relaxed chat with them. This is often born out of a fear that a disgruntled player may say something that they shouldn’t. Or that they will not stick to the narrative that the club or sport is trying to sell the public.
As covered in podcast #97 when we spoke to former Springboks Media manager Anthony Mackaiser players ‘going rogue’ in the main only comes about when the media manager has not briefed the players appropriately. Yes, in our discussion MacKaiser admitted that players were told how to react to questions on certain issues, whereas yesterday players may simply have been left to their own devices. This is of course done to build a unity, protect the team and brand, and help players who may not know how to answer questions on a certain topic.
Let us not forget the title of the role, Media manager. These individuals are there to manage the media.
Sadly, the relationships that used to exist with many sports is no longer there as the clubs and sports strive to make the media tell the stories that they want. Often when questioned on issues that may be controversial people in these roles have been known to say whatever it takes, even if it is untruthful, just to stop the story being told. Others simply do not respond at all.
This is a double-edged sword, the club or sport will tell you that they are protecting their brand, or the team from further scrutiny, but the end result is that many in the media then simply stop calling.
One of the other major issues in the last two decades has been that many major news services no longer have their staff go out and source stories, they wait for those stories to come to them. As a result we have witnessed some clubs and teams try producing their own content, and sending it to the various news outlets. However, the problem with these is that often the production quality is poor and of course the questions are skewed entirely to the story that they want to tell.
As The Chaser showed in 2021 many of the News outlets today do not fact check the stories that they receive so this is the ideal way to share your message. (The Chaser exposed on Media watch 2021 – Story starts at 11minutes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q-N5twiEeg ).
The change in the media landscape surrounding sport has also opened up the opportunity for player agents to manipulate the situation to suit their clients. Once again the only people being duped are the fans.
Now a disgruntled player has their agent go to the media and feed them the inside story, and in some cases the person that breaks the story and helps the player gain a move to another club is remunerated by that manager for their help in “breaking the story” that assists in their the unhappy player gaining a transfer or having their contract ended by mutual consent..
The clubs and the sport complain about the fact that these situations make the news, and that they are often forced to opt to let the player go rather than suffer more embarrassment. Yet the clubs themselves, or some of the national set ups are also guilty of “leaking” information. They too go running to key individuals to give them the ‘scoop,’ as long as they tell the story that they want to be out there. Many have in fact found it easier to ‘leak’ to fans with a strong social media following, and give them ‘benefits’ for their help.
Conversely, some sports and clubs have tried to silence the media by threatening to withdraw accreditation if someone has carried a story with negative connotations. There is nothing new in this. Brian Clough on a few occasions banned journalists who had carried stories that were either incorrect or not to his liking from press conferences. Another reporter was banned from covering games for the club he was employed to cover after criticising performances. He simply bought a ticket and did his job from the main stand.
The media should not be seen as a publicity vehicle for sport or clubs, despite what it may appear in recent times. Their job is to report good and bad. To give those who are interested news on the club or the sport. Sadly today there are only a few whose words can be trusted.
The problem today is knowing who and what to believe, as the messaging as frequently these are being manipulated.
Even when untruths are exposed how often do we see the media go back to those who have made the original statement and question them over the validity of that original statement?
The real truth is being buried, and yet many fans take what they are reading or hearing on face value. As a result social media is cluttered with opinion based on information that is often rarely factual, although it may have a tenuous link to the actual truth.
It is the chaos theory working to perfection, where what should be ordered disintegrates into disorder. Which means everyone ceases to focus on the issues that really matter. This frequently suits the club or the team.
This has been particularly evident with State organisations with human rights issues taking ownership of established big football clubs. Suddenly they garner positive publicity from that ownership. People forget the regimes and human rights issues, because they are seen as saving a club. In fact when one googles the regime the first stories to come up are about the football clubs they own, and not the other issues, which is ideal for them.
In defence of the media many in this space have become increasingly frustrated by the number of emails received stating that a Press conference will be held and that it will be a “Major Announcement.” It then proves to be anything but. Often these major announcements are just news of a new sponsor coming on board which is in most cases of no interest when your job is to report on the team and its performances. Once again those putting out such releases are doing their club and sport a disservice. They are crying wolf, and as result when they have a genuine announcement will not attract the numbers from the media that the genuine announcement may warrant. Time is precious today, respect the time people will take to attend and do not waste these people’s time,
Equally frustrating is when the media receive an email advising of a press conference and take the time to attend only to have the sporting organisation or club put out a release of their own before the Press conference has started, let alone finished. Here they have given media outlets who have not sent anyone to the press conference the opportunity to get the story out before those who have taken the time to attend the announcement are able to. That is never going to go down well!
While the genuine media are frustrated by such tactics, the fans themselves are becoming increasingly annoyed at what they perceive as a lack of transparency. There is so much misinformation being shared and the pertinent questions that they want answered not being asked,, or when asked being avoided, that the fee paying fan who is invested in the club or team is becoming increasingly frustrated and feel that they are being lied to.
Rather than having clear lines of communication it appears that communication is now blurred, or rather as the individual quoted at the beginning said, has to suit a certain narrative.
Many clubs be they privately owned or not have come into being because they represent a community. Their name will usually reflect that community. Representative teams are the same, they are exactly that, representative of an area, a state, a province or a nation, so treat those you are repersenting with respect. Once you start to contradict that role there is a risk that you will lose that community. The asset that you are trusted with will soon lose its lustre.
Sport is not there to make those who work in it or who own clubs look good. We all know that it has been used by politicians and will continued to be used by them. However the essence of sport is about the rivalries on the pitch to the fans, and the competition that exists. That is the only narrative that should matter and that is the one that the media should be focussed on.
