24/7 football coverage is not all it’s cracked up to be

Roar Pro

By Jesse Fink, 9 Apr 2009 Jesse Fink is a Roar Pro

Tagged:: football, mark milligan, Mark Viduka, Masal Bugduv, Socceroos

Related coverage

Australian captain Mark Viduka (9) competes for the ball with Sotirios Kyrgiakos of Greece. AP Photo/Mark Baker

I got a lot of personal satisfaction a year ago in anointing Mark Milligan “Where’s Wally” for his habit of leaving clubs without notice and jetting off overseas, but I’m starting to think it could also be a good nickname for Mark Viduka.

Not playing in the Premiership and AWOL with the Socceroos, the V-Bomber has been linked to just about every Australian club going around in recent months, from Melbourne Victory to Melbourne Knights to Melbourne Heart and now to Gold Coast United.

Then there was that embarrassing story about Pim Verbeek sending an “SOS” to Viduka to play in the World Cup campaign, which turned out to be completely fictional.

The Viduka to Gold Coast yarn was enough for News Limited to run with a big story on Tuesday declaring “Gold Coast United coach Miron Bleiberg is planning to bring 33-year-old Viduka to the new A-League club as a guest player.”

Bleiberg denies it, Gold Coast moneybags Clive Palmer denies it.

Not to say it might not turn out to be true, but until such time as there’s any verification from the player or his manager or the officials of the club he is supposed to be going to, why bother printing it? Just another cynical ploy to sell papers and a sign of the diminution of editorial standards in the Australian football media.

What are editors there for any more?

Not to say I don’t deal from time to time in rumour and innuendo, but I’m careful to couch what I write or suggest as possibilities (strong or otherwise) and not fact and I usually only listen to a few trusted sources.

Like any writer working in this business, though, I’ve been seriously burned a couple of times and I try to make amends when I make an error. And what I write is always opinion; I’m not writing news.

But there are some sites on the wild-west frontier of the worldwide web that seem quite happy to pass off completely unsubstantiated rubbish as fact – and there are a number of them in Australia and overseas. But it’s not just the start-ups. The websites of established newspapers, as my colleague Mike Tuckerman revealed in January here at The Roar, also swallow stories without verifying the facts.

The “Masal Bugduv” story completely fooled The Times and was a nadir for online football journalism.

But it achieved one positive thing: it made football fans a little bit more sceptical about what is presented as news – and so they should always be sceptical.

The internet has been a boon to football followers in this country but it’s also created a monster: the expectation of news 24/7 when there often isn’t a lot of real news to go around. And the pressure to publish what passes as news when it really shouldn’t be published.

So next time you read a news story about Mark Viduka, you’re likely better off not reading it unless it carries a quote from the man himself or is written by somebody who knows the player personally and can vouch that he’s what he’s written is the honest-to-god truth.

Otherwise, chances are, like Palmer said, it’s just “made up”.

Enjoy sports? Enjoy a bargain? All Sports Online has your favourite sporting brands at up to 70% off. Online only, premium quality sporting goods and merchandise at discounted prices. Get a deal now.

The Crowd Says (77) | Page 1 of Comments

Cpaaa said | April 9th 2009 @ 7:43am | Report comment

so Jess pick up the phone, call the Duke and ask when is he coming?

thanks

Reply
Dave said | April 9th 2009 @ 7:57am | Report comment

Gee facts you ask…checking sources???…does that mean the Herald Sun would have to employ journalists??

Reply
Tom said | April 9th 2009 @ 9:06am | Report comment

Yeah good call Jesse.

Reply
Pippinu said | April 9th 2009 @ 10:15am | Report comment

Rumours circulating unchecked in the world of football – I could never have dreamed that such a thing was possible.

Reply
- Chris said | April 9th 2010 @ 8:55am | Report comment
  
  Saw the date, saw the comment. Thought – HE’S BACK! – then realised it was exactly a year old.
  
  Reply
Slippery Jim said | April 9th 2009 @ 11:23am | Report comment

A call for journalistic integrity from Jesse? A noble notion indeed. Perhaps this means he will check the facts the next time his favourite player is left out of the Socceroos squad before presumptuously blaming curses and coaches as is his wont.

Reply
Jesse Fink said | April 9th 2009 @ 4:30pm | Report comment

Jim, you know sweet FA about what went on and the full story so stop banging your drum about it.

Reply
Joe FC said | April 9th 2009 @ 5:20pm | Report comment

Can’t argue with anything you say Jesse. The problem is we are all intrigued by rumour and innuendo

Reply
Ryan Steele said | April 9th 2009 @ 6:10pm | Report comment

The beauty of the sport is that there’s always something to report. When one league ends for the year, another starts up. The problem is the lack of global coverage from the media.

In our sad reality, though, there’s even a lack of interstate coverage – not once have I seen a news report about the Jets’ draw against Nagoya Grampus, nor about the Mariners major loss to Kawasaki Frontale, on any of the local channels. Very similar to the missing coverage during United’s ACL run, last year.

It’s all well and good that the various sporting codes can get along with football, but until the media get on board, there won’t be enough forward movement.

Reply
Slippery Jim said | April 9th 2009 @ 6:12pm | Report comment

Really Jesse? And how would you know? I could be his mother for all you know. You know sweet FA about what I know, I think that CAN be established.

And does the same go for, say, Michael Cockerill, who seemed to be more in touch with the facts then you did, or at least, more willing to portray them. I’m not sure which is preferable of those two options.

If you want to write a self-righteous article espousing virtue and accuracy of the media, all power to you, but surely you must realize that includes you, too. You “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” last time I checked. Much more interesting reading I’m sure, when you blur the line between fact and fiction.

Reply
Greg said | April 9th 2009 @ 8:21pm | Report comment

Slippery
Change your tune. The negative bilge you constantly spout out is getting boring.
There’s being smart and there’s being a smart-arse, a line you are dangerously close to crossing.
Save your time on a predictable response btw.

Reply