Edgar Allan Poe, Bigotry, The Media, Murray and the RST

[bmck 117]

Sometimes, in between studying literature, I take some time off to actually read some, for pure escapist enjoyment. Even for just half an hour or so - keeping the brain ticking, but without the strain of rigorous analysis. Sometimes I think most of us do it with football - while we are dragged through the peaks and troughs of our club's every new wave, we sometimes watch a game in Europe in which we have no emotional investment just for the pure, unadulatered, pleasure of the sport. I went home at lunchtime today for a while, just to get out the office, and had a wee read. I was reading Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Mystery of Marie Roget' the fictionalish account of the contemporaneous murder of Mary Rogers (The Beautiful Cigar Shop Girl) in New York. The first great detective, Dupin, famously examines the newspaper accounts of the sensational murder, and sifts through them, applying pure reason to reach at the truth of the affair.

 

One phrase, articulating something most of us feel, inevitably stood out:

 

'We should bear in mind, in general, it is the object of newspapers rather to create a sensation - make a point - than to further the cause of truth. The latter is pursued only when it is co-incident with the former.'

 

I thought how great it would be if this were to be legally emblazened at the top of all newspapers, just to remind of us their job. It is our fault they do this - as Poe says 'the print which merely falls with ordinary opinion (however well founded this may be) earns itself no credit with the mob'. But that doesn't make it right.

 

What happens, though, in modern life, when people implicitly say this of the media? Its not hard to be reminded of Steve McLaren who after a 3-0 victory, deemed not good enough by many, refused to answer press questions. The media's response the next day was SO vitriolic that even other areas of the press began reporting on the extremity of the reporting.

 

We've seen it recently too - PLG who seemed to be a concerted effort not to endear himself with the press never had a sympathetic word for him amidst the whole confusing and misty Barry Ferguson debacle. So the press - our gateway to truth we're not party to - always have an agenda.

 

One of, I think, the most interesting examples of this lies with us. Over the last few years lacking success, we have seen a quite subtle shift in the media in giving us various smallish digs. David Murray had been the master manipulator during our success, but his relative anonymity of late has seemed to lead to an increase in the press' antagonististic attitude towards us.

 

The reaction was quiet at first, Murray's dignified silent approach is still favoured by the majority. Indeed, it still is - but the active few who had seen this pattern emerging were, not co-incidentally, people involved with the most active rangers supporters organisation, the RST. Just prior to, and indeed, during the first UEFA lead bigotry charge against us we had seen several statements from the trust about media issues. Not willing to take the cheap digs at the good name of decent rangers supporters, while acknowledging the dross, they made several statements highlighting press bigotry. Then, as with McLaren, when we were brought to bear on these charges they dropped all self-restraint and went at us full throttle, and its largely persisted to the present day.

 

Aside from the RST, continuing to try and work with the positive aspects of the media while highlighting the bad, who has been standing up for us? When we look at Murray's recent press statements they are all responses to criticisims of - well, who? - him. His commitment to the club was questioned under McLeish with challenges from demonstrators after that cup game, and not soon after McLeish was gone and his good name was restored by appointing PLG in a whirlwind of press attention. Next the idea of his commitment raised again with the lack of investment in the squad - he announced, in a whirlwind of media attention, the JJB deal. The common element in both these things of course is that they succesfully deflected media criticism, and both have made no improvement to the situation. Next he was criticised, by the RST, of not supporting his manager - the press took up on this and he appeared again in a blaze of glory shouting at the players, with players appearing in the papers. We next hear from him when defending himself about the suspicious circumstances of PLG's departure.

 

You'll have noticed the pattern that David Murray's press appearances occur when he is attacked. In this same time Rangers fans have been physically abused in Europe, had the memory of fans abused by travelling Aberdeen supporters, villified in the press and have taken all sorts of (often appauling) constrains on their freedom and slurs on their name. On all this Murray has had nothing to say. Certainly nothing that will persuade the press.

 

So whats the solution, then? Revolution always has, and always will, be with the people. No, we're not talking storming the Daily Record and battering them over the head with a cut up David Murray, but we're talking, as with all revolution the struggle for autonomy, or freedom. When all the Rangers supporters representatives joined to commit to self-regulation of the fans they declared unequivocally their independence from the moral judgement of the media. Many people have saw this as a move to appease the media - the media may even see it this way - but, infact, the message was that there's a problem in our support, the nature of which we decide, and that it is our domain to deal with. While this achieves the END, the freedom from bigotry, that the press use to justify their slanderous rants, the MEANS by which this is achieved involves us turning to a new authority, ourselves. Because where the media will quite happily see no difference between nationalism and bigotry, we will, and the people have spoken and they are quite adamant that rangers at least be allowed to be the 'quintessential british club', and while the media, in their vanity, suppose that we are bowed to their pressure, publish the fact that they've had a moral victory over the hordes, they are also publishing the evolution of a Rangers support, led by the RST, growing in self-dependence from the media and the hier-archy of the club.

 

While Poe ultimately seemed to get parts of his assessment of the murder about Mary Rogers wrong, his pursuit for the reasoned truth led him to some startling discoveries missed by everyone at the time. His main premise was that we should always read critically, especially when dealing with the press. And those of us reading the press critically at the moment can just see the slightest glimmer of a small revolution's birth amidst the Rangers supporter that will usurp their moral authority and give it back to the people.

[buster 0]

bmck

Excellent article !

Not much to add really as you�´ve covered it very well.

[pete 2,499]

Excellent read Barry.

 

I watched a programme a while back where all the top sport journalists gave their account of the changing faces of the press.

Until the 1978 WC the journalists were actually a part of the team and travelled in the same airplaines as the team. Because of that, all that happened within the team was actually an open book.

After all the hysteria of Ally and his tartan army the chief editors of the papers decided to send the sensation journalists to the WC behind the backs of the sport journalists. This actually led to fights in bars between the two sets of journalists as the sports journalists realised there position of trust was in jeopardy.

 

The Willie Johnston drugs fiasco gave the sensation press their story and football appeared on the front pages which in those days was almost unknown.

 

After that football clubs saw what the press could do, the position of trust for the sports journalists disappeared.

The modern day press has unfortunately become totally sensationalist and a player getting drunk in a bar gets bigger headlines than a 4-4 draw with 4 missed penalties.

 

Unfortunately Mr Murray has decided hiding his head in the sand is the best way to defend our club.

If he was a football defender he would have been dropped long ago.

If one of his companies got bad press in the stock exchange he would react immediately.

Mr Murray it is time to join the first team and be a great defender of our club.

[Frankie 8,148]

Great read mate - will put that on the main site today and post it on some other forums with your permission of course...

 

[bmck 117]

aye, charge on, man. i'm going to tidy up a few grammatical issues on here, but i dont think they are that important. cheers lads.

[bmck 117]

After all the hysteria of Ally and his tartan army the chief editors of the papers decided to send the sensation journalists to the WC behind the backs of the sport journalists. This actually led to fights in bars between the two sets of journalists as the sports journalists realised there position of trust was in jeopardy.

 

i couldnt see that happening now - i think both serious and horrible journalists have realised the benefits in a bit of sensation for sales, which is why we see in high-brow papers comments on the reporting of tabloid papers. they play off the same sense of sensation but provide a more liberal commentary on it, as if they are detached from it.

 

its a horrible situation.

[buster 0]

i couldnt see that happening now - i think both serious and horrible journalists have realised the benefits in a bit of sensation for sales, which is why we see in high-brow papers comments on the reporting of tabloid papers. they play off the same sense of sensation but provide a more liberal commentary on it, as if they are detached from it.

 

its a horrible situation.

But with the gradual dumbing down of a nation, it fits like a glove

[bmck 117]

But with the gradual dumbing down of a nation, it fits like a glove

 

dumb people are more easily defined by what they buy - its telling that in most places a media developed before a police force, and basically dictated what they should investigate. the lassie that i was referring to's death was only investigated because the papers took it on, because she was beautiful and was an acqaintance of the mayors (at hence the medias). the media is a bastion of capitalism in its current form, which is fine, but this fact should be so blatantly, blatantly apparent to us that it filters everything, every-single-individual-in-the-country should realise this or the papers are being misread.

[buster 0]

dumb people are more easily defined by what they buy - its telling that in most places a media developed before a police force, and basically dictated what they should investigate. the lassie that i was referring to's death was only investigated because the papers took it on, because she was beautiful and was an acqaintance of the mayors (at hence the medias). the media is a bastion of capitalism in its current form, which is fine, but this fact should be so blatantly, blatantly apparent to us that it filters everything, every-single-individual-in-the-country should realise this or the papers are being misread.

The case is that a great deal of the population don�´t see it like that.

"If it�´s in the papers it must be true"

"No smoke without fire"

As for agenda, the internet helps those that want to find out what is going on in the world however that is a small percentage of people and if it ever increased significantly, I�´m sure the "powers" would start to excerise more control of the web .

 

The BBC since the Hutton Report has been manipulated by government interests.

[bmck 117]

its terrible - i'm away to read 1984 and greet.

 

either that or i'm paranoid - i would be infinitely more able to deal with this paranoid affliction if all these bastards weren't out to get us!