The Local Media


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Speaking purely from my own perspective here...

There are some very good local journalists. I like Nick Barnes in particular.

You do have to wonder though why a fanzine has to be the one to bring these issues - club ownership, the plight of the academy system, Bain's management of the club, Grayson's tenure thus far - to the fore. As the article says, this club is a veritable treasure trove of scandal, nobody likes the fact that these things happen and go on, but they do, and all supporters deserve to know what is happening at their football club. We live in a free world whereby the press should speak with truth and honesty. The Echo is an institution and they represent the people of this region, including the fans. Chronicle too, though to a lesser extent.

I know it'll never happen but it'd be nice if our local paper was on the same page as the people who live in the region. You look at how the Chronicle regularly take Mike Ashley to task on their front pages... say what you like about that particular publication but they have the backs of the supporters of their city's football club when its needed. In such a troubling time for this club and these supporters you'd be forgiven for thinking that everything was fine at Sunderland.
 
Credit where it's due, there's a chance the RR piece annoyed him enough to write that.

No doubt he'll get ticked off by SAFC but good on him for writing something that wasn't dictated by the club.
He was furious on twitter last night that Tom Lynn had called the local press "lap dogs" and was using that one example as proof that he isn't.

Tbh the headline suggests the piece is going to be far more damming than the piece really is but it's a good article.
 
Rubbish. It has 149,000 followers on Facebook & 46,000 on Twitter.
It isnt printed in Sunderland, doesnt have an office in the city, its editorial staff arent from Sunderland. It isnt a Sunderland paper anymore no matter how hard it pretends to be.

Speaking purely from my own perspective here...

There are some very good local journalists. I like Nick Barnes in particular.

You do have to wonder though why a fanzine has to be the one to bring these issues - club ownership, the plight of the academy system, Bain's management of the club, Grayson's tenure thus far - to the fore. As the article says, this club is a veritable treasure trove of scandal, nobody likes the fact that these things happen and go on, but they do, and all supporters deserve to know what is happening at their football club. We live in a free world whereby the press should speak with truth and honesty. The Echo is an institution and they represent the people of this region, including the fans. Chronicle too, though to a lesser extent.

I know it'll never happen but it'd be nice if our local paper was on the same page as the people who live in the region. You look at how the Chronicle regularly take Mike Ashley to task on their front pages... say what you like about that particular publication but they have the backs of the supporters of their city's football club when its needed. In such a troubling time for this club and these supporters you'd be forgiven for thinking that everything was fine at Sunderland.
A lot of the staff on the Echo are Mags they couldnt give a shit about Sunderland or SAFC thats why they dont bother.
 
Fair point like.

The Chronicle were calling out Mike Ashley on the front page a few weeks ago for daring not to give Rafa any cash.

You would think after they turned a blind eye to Moyes' failings last season the local press would have learned a lesson.

Instead they fawn over Martin Bain for some unknown reason and are still completely out of kilter with the public on Wearside.
I'd actually be delighted if the Sunderland Echo went bust. Every of the fans that is.
 
I remember being told years ago by a lad from the Echo "when the club does well, so does the paper" no the wonder they spin things.
 
I remember being told years ago by a lad from the Echo "when the club does well, so does the paper" no the wonder they spin things.

There's a para in the blog that nails it for me:

"And that's the crux of it. Martin Bain's biggest job, other than pretending everything is in hand, is to convince the thousands of fans - who are rightly disenchanted and angry - that everything is indeed in hand."
 
There's a para in the blog that nails it for me:

"And that's the crux of it. Martin Bain's biggest job, other than pretending everything is in hand, is to convince the thousands of fans - who are rightly disenchanted and angry - that everything is indeed in hand."
Tbh the cutbacks we've made and lack of spending were probably all part of his brief from Short. He warned us last November we wouldn't be spending in January and has more or less done the same again. That's all fair enough, but it would be nice to see his naive mistakes questioned. He obviously thought Moyes was staying, he thought McInnes was going to drop everything and come running and thought we would get decent fees for the players we have been forced into loaning out. The contingency plan seems to have been nonexistent.
 
You said the Sunderland Echo is no longer relevant at all. Over 150,000 followers suggests otherwise.

It isnt printed in Sunderland, doesnt have an office in the city, its editorial staff arent from Sunderland. It isnt a Sunderland paper anymore no matter how hard it pretends to be.


A lot of the staff on the Echo are Mags they couldnt give a shit about Sunderland or SAFC thats why they dont bother.
It has its offices in Houghton which is part of its area. Many of the journos are still local. Where it is printed doesn’t really matter in an age where people get their news digitally. I haven’t read a printed version of the Echo for 5 years yet still read it every day on the iPad.
 
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You said the Sunderland Echo is no longer relevant at all. Over 150,000 followers suggests otherwise.


It has its offices in Houghton which is part of its area. Many of the journos are still local. Where it is printed doesn’t really matter in an age where people get their news digitally. I haven’t read a printed version of the Echo for 5 years yet still read it every day on the iPad.
It does when they make a big deal out of being Wearsides paper ('our city' etc) a lot of skilled jobs went out of the town and dissapeared altogether when they went upto Rainton Bridge and the printing press to Yorkshire both which are not in Sunderland.
Liam Kennedy still writes on SAFC under a pseudonym and the editorial staff who set the agenda on the paper are Mags which shows the contempt they have for the few readers they have left.
 
It does when they make a big deal out of being Wearsides paper ('our city' etc) a lot of skilled jobs went out of the town and dissapeared altogether when they went upto Rainton Bridge and the printing press to Yorkshire both which are not in Sunderland.
Liam Kennedy still writes on SAFC under a pseudonym and the editorial staff who set the agenda on the paper are Mags which shows the contempt they have for the few readers they have left.
They have more readers than ever thanks to the digital age. Rainton Bridge is still target audience area. Plenty non football journos are local. Too much is made of Mag influence by paranoid fuckers.
 
Hard to disagree with it. I posted something a few weeks back asking why the tough questions weren't being asked. Suppose thats the answer.

They certainly, have asked important questions and its good to see, unlike the press who continue to live in the clubs basement, and wait to do what they are told, the fact that the local media reacted in the way they did to this tells me that RR, have struck a nerve, keep it up i say, why simple because its better to debate, and ask questions instead of following along blindly which is what the local media appears to do, along with some others
 
They have more readers than ever thanks to the digital age. Rainton Bridge is still target audience area. Plenty non football journos are local. Too much is made of Mag influence by paranoid fuckers.
Rainton Bridge is probably as near to Durham City centre as it is to Sunderland centre.
 
They have more readers than ever thanks to the digital age. Rainton Bridge is still target audience area. Plenty non football journos are local. Too much is made of Mag influence by paranoid fuckers.
Rainton Bridge isnt in Sunderland which is the point. No it doesnt the paper is an irrelevance no one pays for its content or buys a copy it will go in a few years time. The non sport journalism is rubbish it is just a crime magazine and obituary report.
Yeah right i would like to see the same situation play out at the Chronicle or Journal. People from Wearside running their papers or writing on NUFC it simply wouldnt be tolerated or be allowed to happen as they know people would kick off. The Echo and other local media have been blowing smoke up the arse of the club for far too long and this week with Bain is another example.
 
Rainton Bridge isnt in Sunderland which is the point. No it doesnt the paper is an irrelevance no one pays for its content or buys a copy it will go in a few years time. The non sport journalism is rubbish it is just a crime magazine and obituary report.
Yeah right i would like to see the same situation play out at the Chronicle or Journal. People from Wearside running their papers or writing on NUFC it simply wouldnt be tolerated or be allowed to happen as they know people would kick off. The Echo and other local media have been blowing smoke up the arse of the club for far too long and this week with Bain is another example.
It's technically still in the City Of Sunderland just, but totally take your point.
 
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