A tale of two 'papers: A view from the South.

Last updated : 11 October 2009 By Wee Jimmy
A Tale of Two Papers

Despite living many miles from Glasgow and being unable to purchase from a wide range of newspapers, the nature of 21st century media means we England-based Bears are never far behind our Scotland-based brothers in blue in accessing news and opinion on the club we love.

While I tend to avoid purchasing the Daily Record for the same reason as many Bears, the recent hard-fought win over Those We Do Not Speak Of persuaded me to wend my merry way to the newsagents on the way to work the following day to pick up a copy. No sooner had I handed over my 45p (and what a waste that turned out to be) did I remember exactly why I should not purchase this less than reputable publication, even in times of utter jubilation.

Regrettably, the Record continued its long-running subtext that any kind of Rangers success must either come about because of luck (Celtic missing chances/giving away soft goals and referees missing penalties) or the ineptitude of the opposition or, again, the referee showing exactly why he and his cronies are sponsored by Specsavers.

All I can say is that their sports desk must have been spewing at the final whistle. Murdo McLeod, Keith Jackson and company delight in sticking the knife in during times of trouble, but Rangers won fair and square on the day and to refuse to give credit where it’s due only smacks of bitterness and envy.

Seemingly, there are pundits out there who continue to harbour the belief that Rangers’ 52nd title success was some sort of fluke, claiming that had Celtic been on their mettle, they would have blown us away like some unstoppable force.

Talking of deluded pundits, fast forward to Monday evening and I was yet again faced with another diatribe from our much admired friend from The Times, Graham Spiers (the discredited journalist).

His article did not focus on Sunday’s game even in the slightest sense and was instead a near-perfect replica of his thoughts following May’s Old Firm encounter, in which he lambasted Rangers supporters for singing sectarian songs and proffering bigoted one-liners towards the green ’n’ grey inhabitants of the Broomloan Road stand.

Calling our great institution ‘cowardly’ for failing to cull this kind of behaviour from the terraces and slating UEFA for failing to take action as they had previously threatened, Spiers once again set out on a libelous rant that would make the blood of even the most level-headed supporter curdle.

As ever, though, there is a flaw in Spiers’s argument. While Rangers fans have never claimed to be angels, the hack’s lofty seat in the press box (part of the Main Stand) was among the home support and just above the ever-passionate Enclosure. That means that, yes, of course he would hear plenty of verbals from those round about him. But, as many have mentioned since the victory, the likes of Spiers have selective hearing when it comes to the Republican chanting of Celtic supports which, on Sunday, included many lines lauding the killing of British soldiers and glorifying the IRA and other such now-defunct paramilitary organisations.

This, of course, is no new scenario for us to find ourselves in, and I very much doubt that Spiers will be talking about anything other than the match in question when he visits the Breezeblock Boulevard for the return mach in January… that is, unless he suddenly develops superhuman hearing and decides to slate the visiting Rangers fans, despite being the same distance from the press quarters as he was on Sunday when he was seemingly oblivious to the misdemeanours of TGFITW.

I can, however, offer two pieces of advice in attempting to fight back against this scenario: firstly, to hit newspaper stakeholders where it hurts by refraining from purchasing their publications, thus hitting back against the editors who give the likes of Spiers free reign to make narcissistic and unjust criticisms of our club; and secondly, to write or email journalists of this ilk (including their editors) and make your feelings known. Taking such punitive measures might, in the long run and given consistent effort, just about change something.

In reflection, I suppose it’s true what my dad told me when I was just a wee boy – the media only offers a representation of life, and not necessarily an accurate one.