Today is UNESCO World Press Freedom Day 2019.
It is especially poignant for journalist on this island as we mourn the death of our sister Lyra McKee.
It is also a sad reminder that the killers of Marty O’Hagan have yet to be brought to justice.
At the last NUJ meeting in Dublin, I attended it was raw and emotional as we all processed the loss of our sister in Derry.
Across the planet being a journalist can be a high-risk occupation.
In the North East of this country, there are continued assaults on press freedom.
The targeting by the PSNI of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey is ominous for any democracy.
Of course, the digital revolution has turned the world of journalism upside down.
This talk by Professor Roy Greenslade of the City University in 2011 sketches out very well what the challenged were.
Eight years on, I think that his analysis stands up well.
The Professor stated that the economic model that sustained mass circulation newspapers for over a century was doomed.
I think that he is correct.
The digital revolution is exactly that.
To borrow from Franz Fanon’s description of de-colonisation:
“It is a programme for complete disorder”.
Anyone who thinks that they know how the digital revolution will eventually play out probably hasn’t been paying attention.
Certainly, my minor role in it was entirely unplanned.
What I am convinced of is the enduring need for journalism within any functioning democracy.
Overall the role of the Fourth Estate is vital in holding power to account.
Of course, the readers of this site, in the main, hail from Planet Fitba.
The accidental success of this blog is largely down to the continued failure of the Glasgow sports desks to fulfil their Fourth estate function within their bailiwick.
However, it doesn’t have to be like that.
Only in the last two months the excellent work of Mark Tighe in the Sunday Times finally saw John Delaney of the FAI being shown the red card.
It is risible to suggest that such investigative journalism in Scotland could not unearth genuine stories around the death of Rangers in 2012 and the Sevco shitshow.
I am fairly certain that any scoops that I can claim credit for were probably well known among the chaps on the Glasgow sports desks before I had even been given a tip-off.
That is almost certainly the case with the Hugh Dallas story.
Consequently, I’m sure that if I decided to retire fully to the Word Mines and leave this place then there are probably a few powerful folks on Planet Fitba would be rather pleased with that decision.
It would certainly be my preferred option if the situation was different.
However, for journalism to flourish there must first be journalists who do not have a succulent lamb dependency.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is not just in sports coverage where this comprised gibberish is extant.
For example, I have seen it among defence correspondents.
The largesse of the Military Industrial Complex makes David Murray’s infamous junket for handpicked hacks to the Channel Islands in 1998 look like a budget trip.
I think it useful to think of an investigative journalist as the canary down the democracy mine.
When the powerful try to prevent any excavation then it is prima facie evidence that there is something there to be found.
Moreover, something that is in the Public Interest that should be widely disseminated.
If those in authority positions succeeded in stopping the dig then it is one up to the bad guys.
The smears and threats I have endured over the last decade are unpleasant and unsettling.
However, I know very well that my brothers and sisters in this trade have paid a far higher price on this island and around the world.
As a journalist, if you’re not an incessant nuisance to those in power then you’re not doing journalism.
Sadly, much of what passed for sports coverage on Planet Fitba could be characterised as Orwellian.
Indeed, when it comes to the Ibrox story there’s certainly plenty of Doublespeak.
Dear reader, insert your own jokes about Big Brother here…
Orwell’s definition of journalism is certainly a touchstone for this nuisance in Donegal.
It is an enduring truth that drives me to do my little bit every day and ignore other projects like plays and novels.
For the cynics of Planet Fitba, your problem isn’t journalism, but rather a lack of it.
For the avoidance of doubt, there are some seriously brilliant journalists in Scotland, but they tend not to be on the sports desks.
Moreover, they would never credulously gush about billionaires to please a certain demographic.
Instead, they are difficult sods who do not take anything at face value and distrust those in positions of authority.
They are on your side and whatever platform they produce content on it is the same essential function.
One final point, for those who practice journalism, especially in this increasingly authoritarian climate, it is essential to be a member of a recognised union for journalists.
So, for the day that’s in a fraternal hat tip to those who pursue the truth and are a problem for the powerful.
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Noticed in several articles over the last few weeks that the role of Green and Whyte in the demise of the Ibrox club is being pushed by such as McCoist and the usual suspects.
However the part played by David Murray has been whitewashed by the Scottish media as if he had nothing to do with it.
From day one Murray knew exactly who and what he was dealing with when Jackson’s billionaire appeared on the scene.
Over the years Murray had done some business with Whyte’s father who had interests in a local Bellshill company.
If anyone was in doubt of Murray’s deceit then the details made public during the Whyte trial nailed him.
Murray was being incentivised by the bank to get rid of Rangers at any cost…..the prize being that the bank would sell back to Murray part of his original MIM business.
Oh what a dilemma for the Edinburgh businessman….. the opportunity to get back part of his original love child by giving away Rangers to someone who couldn’t have been further away from Jackson’s billionaire status, a man with a colourful business history, and a history that had been drawn to his attention following an investigation undertaken by worried members of the Ibrox club’s board.
It was a no contest. Murray dumped Rangers into the hands of someone who was neither Jackson’s billionaire nor had a scooby about running a football club.
When the shit quickly hit the fan Murray, and his media monkeys, pushed the line that they knew nothing of Whyte’s previous history and that they were gobsmacked when admin was followed by liquidation.
It was a lie then and given the evidence produced at Whyte’s trial blew any notion that Murray had been conned out of the water.
MIM or Rangers, no contest!
Free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning.
https://youtu.be/HGWhRCXg9Fw
Phil a sombre but lovely place to visit if you haven’t already is The Reporters Memorial in Bayeux France. Tucked between the war graves and the museum it is a memorial to journalists around the world who lost their life seeking the truth. There is a pillar for each year containing the names of reporters who lost their life in the course of doing their job. Well worth a visit.
Many thanks David
More power to your pen, sir!
As an NUJ PRESS card holder, surely you can turn up at ibrox and ask the big questions that need answered?
No, I cannot.
Football clubs have no requirement to allow access to any journalist.
Indeed, many of them are becoming increasingly restrictive.
https://www.channel4.com/news/by/alex-thomson/blogs/banning-journalists-time-football-clubs-grow
That’s a pity, because all those big questions will remain unanswered.
I occasionally put questions into the Sevco press office.
They are very precise questions and I publish them here.
I have never received an acknowledgement from them.
They certainly will in Scotland!
I must admit Phil – I’d love to see Dave king appear on the BBC news channel’s hardtalk programme being questioned by your good self. Also – you appearing as a pundit on css