Get her on MOTD!

[StanSP]

Either way... WE dont know the truth... he could be full o sh*t..and selling a crap redtop... or she could be a Chelsea mouthpiece. Her attempt to bully a "supposed" source (IMO) shows her as having even lower journalistic ethics and skills..than the man she is "questioning" and it surprises me how quickly everyone just licks her ar*se

It's because time and time again, journalists spout shit and twist people's words. She's gone up to him, asked him questions and he genuinely looks like he's gonna start crying and you can see him get all sulky because he doesn't like or doesn't know what it's like to be pushed like that.

[Mack]

Or, she works for Chelsea TV ie Chelsea and she's been told to rubbish the story.

This.

And she is burning bridges in the process, foolish in my opinion.

[ajthefox]

his reaction to her pressing says it all really, he gets so uncomfortable!

[Finnegan]

I'm sorry but I don't really want to read half-arsed, lazy journalism from uncredited "sources." We've seen, locally, examples of Stringer repeating bullshit stories he's read on Foxes Talk that never had any weight. You're immensely naive if you think that's not the state of journalism nationally, as well.

With respect to the journalists themselves, it's not exactly easy given the sheer volume they're expected to have to produce daily and the demands from above to run a profitable, competitive paper and to "break" stories first. But that shouldn't excuse the mass culture of sheer bollocks being committed to print and, regardless of her motives or employer, it's fantastic to see someone give some tabloid hack a bit of stick for it.

[Guest ttfn]

I'm sorry but I don't really want to read half-arsed, lazy journalism from uncredited "sources." We've seen, locally, examples of Stringer repeating bullshit stories he's read on Foxes Talk that never had any weight. You're immensely naive if you think that's not the state of journalism nationally, as well.

With respect to the journalists themselves, it's not exactly easy given the sheer volume they're expected to have to produce daily and the demands from above to run a profitable, competitive paper and to "break" stories first. But that shouldn't excuse the mass culture of sheer bollocks being committed to print and, regardless of her motives or employer, it's fantastic to see someone give some tabloid hack a bit of stick for it.

[Mack]

If it's such a crock of shit why dont Chelsea sue?

[Finnegan]

If it's such a crock of shit why dont Chelsea sue?

If people or companies associated with professional sport took it upon themselves to sue every time a hack made a rumour up about them to sell a paper they'd be forever in the courts. And they likely don't give that much of a toss.

[Webbo]

Is it really so hard to believe that a player could say to a journo, knowing he wouldn't personally be named,'yeah our current boss is crap I wish we had the old one back'.

It's a nothing story and I surprised people are making a big deal out of it.

[Finnegan]

Is it really so hard to believe that a player could say to a journo, knowing he wouldn't personally be named,'yeah our current boss is crap I wish we had the old one back'.

It's a nothing story and I surprised people are making a big deal out of it.

It isn't such an unbelievable, left-field event when taken entirely out of context, but the problem is that it's far more believable that it's just some made up dross to fill pages. That's the reputation that journalism (quite rightly, sadly) has established for itself since the slow take over of Fleet Street by the mass-production culture.

None of us will ever know with any certainty whether or not this chap actually did tear himself away from his desk long enough to build up a rapport with any player or off-field employee in the Chelsea camp. What we can say with a degree of caste-iron certainty is that, on a daily basis, he (like everyone else - sadly at both tabloids AND broadsheets) will most likely commit-to-print rubbish half-truths from unchecked sources and unchecked PA copy.

Not necessarily out of malice, not even necessarily out of any sort of laziness. But purely, simply, a lack of time and a need to mass-produce.

[Thracian]

I don't really see what the woman achieved. For all her bluster she didn't solicit any information. As for the flippant dismissal of modern journalism and journalists I know first hand what brave people there are out there trying to get news for people, and all the physical and financial risks they take for that and for wages which often don't compare to those of a footballer like Yakubu. As for sources, well, that's really down to the editor. A story may well have no public source for obvious reasons but if the editor isn't privy to a source he's an idiot to publish anything. Cos he'd be taking as big a risk as the journalist and who would do that wihout tangible back-up?

[DJ Barry Hammond]

The journo proberly heard it on an answerphone message - or is that the wrong paper?

[MPH]

If he is not prepared to name names then he is pissing in the wind. Secondly if the players want to remain anonymous then they are gutless wonders. <_< Put up or shut up.

I actually think there is alot more hacking into phonecalls than we know about...... he probably was given a taped private conversation where one player said it to another and then he blurted it.

Or of course he could of just made it up..... hate him. really do.

[MPH]

The journo proberly heard it on an answerphone message - or is that the wrong paper?

are we supposed to read the whole thread before posting?

[DJ Barry Hammond]

are we supposed to read the whole thread before posting?

bah, like thats stopped anyone before

[MPH]

Is it really so hard to believe that a player could say to a journo, knowing he wouldn't personally be named,'yeah our current boss is crap I wish we had the old one back'.

It's a nothing story and I surprised people are making a big deal out of it.

so .. the player tells the editor of ths sun newspaper who tells him " don't worry. You can trust me"

Dont think so....

[MPH]

Either way... WE dont know the truth... he could be full o sh*t..and selling a crap redtop... or she could be a Chelsea mouthpiece. Her attempt to bully a "supposed" source (IMO) shows her as having even lower journalistic ethics and skills..than the man she is "questioning" and it surprises me how quickly everyone just licks her ar*se

He works for the Sun newspaper. That automatically tells me about the integrity of the man let alone the story.

[Finnegan]

who would do that wihout tangible back-up?

Every major tabloid and likely a majority of major broadsheets in every developed country in the world, every day.

Besides, it's not a "major risk", it's an extremely low-risk story to run. Mostly because it's only about as troubling as the average bit of pub gossip but also because of the fact it's just an uncredited source's "opinion." In regards litigation it's almost bullet proof.

Ther'es a big difference between printing "<player name> is banging <controversial celebrity>" (fairly high risk story) and "a source inside a club tells us they think X is better than Y" (massively low risk.)

Again, I don't mean entirely to attack journalists. Whilst I don't doubt there are unethical wankers in the profession, I think that's true of most institutions and at the end of the day the majority of them - as you say - are likely just fantastic people. A large percentage, I'd wager, are likely former starry-eyed, disillusioned young writers who got into their paper fresh from studying Journalism, Communication or Media at University and are now trapped writing pages and pages and pages of copy a day that they never anticipated.

But contemporary newsrooms are just production lines and nothing else. Whatever you experienced in your hay day of writing for the Merc, I guarantee you that the Sun or Mirror offices in 2011 are nothing alike.

[ozleicester]

So, a "journalist" who works for national newspaper says one thing, A "journalist" who works for a football club says another.

If you disbelieve the Sun reporter simply because he is a Sun reporter, then im afraid you are being as easily led as the fools who accept what is written in their papers. I agree that too many (in fact probably most) newspapers are merely regurgitating press releases, in fact ive watched it being done and it disgusts me. However, if you force a journalist to reveal their source you can be sure that you will only INCREASE the collapse of our media.

Can anyone seriously believe that someone in the Chelsea dressing room isnt unhappy with the current management?

Go into the Leicester change rooms im pretty sure you could find someone in there who is unhappy (in fact, i could guess at 3 names with out even trying). If as a journalist you spend a good deal of your time in contact with these players then its a fair bet they will express their disatisfaction to you at some point.

The Chelsea representative did nothing to back up her claims in the same way as the sun rep didnt, and yes the sun rep looked uncomfortable, but in my experience many journalists arent loud, confident and media savy.

The decline of the media is one of the greatest disasters of our time.

[Finnegan]

I am not saying I believe either side per se. I just like her attitude towards lazy sourcing. Something which is central to the decline in journalism that you mourn.

[Webbo]

He works for the Sun newspaper. That automatically tells me about the integrity of the man let alone the story.

The Mirror actually.