PR Agency One » The Times

Football fans need a PR agency

James Crawford — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:43:43 +0000

The Football Association needs a PR campaign to show that hooliganism is no longer a big problem in England.

The reason for my post is that this story of the Italian FA telling Capello that “Hooligan is an English word” annoyed me today.

England has an issue with its reputation abroad, one that is no longer based on fact, but rather folklore.

With such strong, negative and ingrained perceptions of British fans there is a clear task for the Public Relations Industry. This is because unbalanced reporting leads to disproportionate levels of coverage, that then informs international football fans and organisations worldwide. It becomes a vicious circle.

The facts need communicating:

- England is the safest place to watch football (there is lots of evidence to back this claim up)
- France, Italy and Spain is a far more dangerous place to watch football
- France has ancient stadia with hooligans aplenty, as does Italy
- Spain has the added joy of racism to throw into the mix, click here

OK, here is my caveat, this season there has been more trouble than usual in the UK, e.g. Man Utd v Barnsley, West Ham vs Millwall, and England can’t take its eye off the ball, but look at this more severe example which happened this week in France at a match between Marseille and Paris SG. In my view it was under-reported, see here:

Events such as what happened in Marseille are a regular occurrence in France, but just aren’t reported worldwide, compared to when we Brits get involved. This lack of balance needs addressing. I just want to see us all up to necks in the same problem without other countries missing out on the criticism.

35 Italians died in a horrific incident involving Liverpool FC hooligans, yet during the war millions of human beings died. However we can forgive the nations involved in those war-crimes, so why not the same with sport?

Could the Football Association create a crisis management strategy which kicks into action every time there is trouble in the UK or the rest of Europe? Maybe it already has a crisis PR team but clearly more needs investing in improving our reputation. When trouble is severe then the FA will rightfully hold its hands up! However robust efforts must be made to put hooliganism into perspective when compared to what happens in mainland Europe. OK, we need to stamp the problem out here, but reporting of events in Spain, England, and Italy must be proportional on a global level.

Bizarre or genius? This advert was in the middle of the equity prices’ page in the business section of The Times

James Crawford — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:38:27 +0000

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BBC accused of bias over mayor’s Eastenders cameo

James Crawford — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:53:02 +0000

The BBC is today facing fresh accusations of bias for allowing Boris Johnson to make a guest appearance on Eastenders (The Times, 1 October)…

The reason for this accusation is that Red Ken was rejected the dubious honour when he was in the post as Mayor of London.

The poor old BBC is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t at the moment. Accused of being a left-wing mouthpiece by the right, now Labour is outraged that Boris is rubbing shoulders with Peggy Mitchell and sinking a lager at the Queen Vic.

BBC bashing is a major past-time of the hard up print media right now. Not only is it “distorting the market” with its acquisition of Lonely Planet and other ventures, but the ‘lefty’ producers and staff who inhabit Clapham, Notting Hill and other communist communities are pushing their twisted take on Trotsky’s ideology onto young impressionable minds.

What we need is Fox News…

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Murdoch makes the BBC the battleground for the next election

James Crawford — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 15:03:38 +0000

James Murdoch has laid out the battleground for the next election with his criticism of the BBC.

A controversial media tycoon, Murdoch and his family are seen as being over-powerful, and to some are real-life bond villains who are controlling an evil media empire. In this context James Murdoch?s criticism of the BBC is going to be controversial and the row isn?t going to go away anytime soon. Especially as he has pointed his finger at a British cultural icon.

Laying my cards on the table, I?m no News International fan ? especially its more extremist mouthpieces like Fox. The argument for and against the numerous media outlets owned by this huge corporation is a thesis in itself which I will write up during a bored afternoon sometime in the very distant future.

Regardless of where I stand on News International, my problem is that I kind of agree with Murdoch. In what other industry would we stand by and let a public entity keep growing and growing, competing for space with ?hard-up? publishing entrepreneurs?

This argument might not hold any muster with the man on the street, and I chose the term ?hard-up? with my tongue firmly in my cheek. However, for me, I am behind the entrepreneur. Some of these entrepreneurs are SMEs or regional media outlets which are fighting out for every bit of revenue they can get in order to pay staff and suppliers.

Gordo (@gordomanchester) of Manchester Confidential (www.manchesterconfidential.com ) tweeted me earlier to say that he is behind James Murdoch 100%. He made a valid point and said, how can small publishers compete against a state funded entity that has £180million each year? Putting it like that who can argue?

The BBC is a bit like a member of the family, so changing it would be a poison chalice and will be met with uproar. You could liken it to the spoilt, cute little nephew who the family loves. Everyone knows he needs a firm clip behind the ear, but you love him the just the way he is.

I am not certain if I want Auntie changing, but maybe it should sell off some of its publishing arm. Does it really need to own Lonely Planet for example? Then again, this is a good way to subsidise the cost to the tax payer?

It is inevitable that the BBC will now be the major strategic lynchpin of the next election. Whoever, dances to Murdoch?s tune will get the backing of The-Sun, The-Times et al and ultimately wins the election . This one will rumble on and I would love to hear from other publishers on their views.

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