Lee Power radio phone in

[jonny72]

For the record, no such agreement exists.

Isn't Link Sport owned by the same person who runs/owns Excalibur, one of the clubs sponsors/partners?

[Batch]

Isn't Link Sport owned by the same person who runs/owns Excalibur, one of the clubs sponsors/partners?

It is, but that doesn't equate to 'nice stories only'. I'd imagine Sam is once bitten twice as shy. All he did to be excluded was retweet Rangers shirt that everyone had already seen anyway!

[Ardiles]

Isn't Link Sport owned by the same person who runs/owns Excalibur, one of the clubs sponsors/partners?

Didn't know that, but you're bound to come across that kind of relationship cross over in a 200k town like Swindon.

[Paolo69]

Isn't Link Sport owned by the same person who runs/owns Excalibur, one of the clubs sponsors/partners?

The Adver has been sponsoring the club in various forms for years I think. Not really sure what difference that makes?!

[Amir]

Je suis Batch.

Reviens, Voltaire, ils sont devenus focus.

[Sam Morshead]

Isn't Link Sport owned by the same person who runs/owns Excalibur, one of the clubs sponsors/partners?

Yes. James Phipps.

[Sam Morshead]

So I am slightly disappointed that Sam has kept his head down on this one, apart from saying that no agreement is in place for them not to report on bad news.  I may be doing a disservice to Sam and quietly behind the scenes he has lobbied for the adver to be included.  I appreciate that they are rivals, but there are some principles at stake here. 

[pauld]

Al the negative story telling by the adver is having a direct effect on attendances.

Really? I very much doubt it. Unless you *know* (as opposed to just reckon) otherwise?

[pauld]

As a fellow non adver buyer, but occasional reader (although much less now because of the other options)  I do think that there is a wider point here.  We as fans need / want to know what is going on at the club, both good and bad and rely on the local media to supply this.  If not we'll be forced to rely on the wild ramblings of various nutters on social media.

So I am slightly disappointed that Sam has kept his head down on this one, apart from saying that no agreement is in place for them not to report on bad news.  I may be doing a disservice to Sam and quietly behind the scenes he has lobbied for the adver to be included.  I appreciate that they are rivals, but there are some principles at stake here.

While I accept that there is no agreement in place for other outlets not to print negative stories, there may not need to be, if they see the risks involved, because these newer organisations rely massively on getting contact with players, manager and chairman to get stories and visitors and therefore revenue, to a greater extent possibly than the adver / newsquest? do.

So do we all feel confident that after what has happened that FLIC or Link would now print a negative story?? 

This isn't a slight against these organisations its really a case of the club trying to dictate what people get to know, and so is a different issue to whether the adver is any good, that will and is being determined by the market, and like others have said I can see it moving towards weekly or more likely web only at some point in the future.   

Bang on. Sets a precedent.

[Ardiles]

I don't take any pleasure in the Adver's predicament, but I do think they have been (and continue to be) extremely naive.  They should have seen this coming.

Until very recently, there was the Club and there was the Adver.  On the fringes there have been a few fanzines down the years and radio coverage provided by GWR and the BBC, but the main players were always STFC and the Evening/Swindon Advertiser.  The relationship was symbiotic.  The Club needed the Adver to spread news and for marketing purposes, and the Adver needed the Club to fill its back pages - very often the first place a reader would turn to.  STFC is just about the only institution in Swindon which can generate news on a daily basis, after all.

But as media has moved online and away from print, there are now other media outlets equally committed to reporting STFC-related news to a high standard.  The Adver no longer enjoys a local media monopoly.  It has been outmanoeuvred by both Link Sport and Flic Wiltshire - and even the Washbag, from a slightly different perspective - and it seems to be still working out how to respond.  None of these other outlets have the Adver's cost base and none are obliged to put out a print edition 6 times a week.  From a STFC perspective, the Adver looks lame and stuck in the 20th century.

And what is even worse for the Adver is that its editorial staff do not seem to have noticed this yet.  The tone of Gary Lawrence's piece yesterday indicates that he still believes the Adver should have privileged access to Club news and stories, just as it has done for over 100 years.  He hasn't got hid head around the obvious truth that things have changed.  The talk of the Adver's 'duty' to report on STFC was hilarious.  Get a grip, man.  STFC is a commercial organisation, as is the Adver.  You have no more 'duty' to report on the Club than I do.

The upshot is that Lee Power - or whoever owns the club in future - does have more power/influence now when choosing which media outlets to deal with.  And the ramifications of this are not all good.  During the Wills/Diamandis tenure, for example, the Adver was instrumental in bringing people together and reporting uncomfortable truths about how the Club was being (mis)run.  They were able to do this because they held a position of power...and could afford to get up the noses of those in charge of the Club at that time in the knowledge that there was no danger of the paper's position being seriously undermined.  I do worry that if we were ever to find ourselves in a similar position in future, local media organisations would not have the same confidence to hold the Club to account.

None of this excuses the Adver's current stance.  Power is doing nothing wrong.  He can invite or exclude whoever he wants to Club media updates.  No journalist, whoever he/she works for, has the divine right to a invitation to press conferences.  Gary Lawrence/Adver management seem to have their heads stuck firmly in the sand on this one.  It's time they woke up and developed a strategy for dealing with the Club that was more appropriate to the times - times in which they are now just one of several media firms wishing to serve the same audience.

[Ardiles]

That was a bit long.  Sorry about that.

[kerry red]

Anybody else not give a fuck about the Adver/Club shenanigans?

[OOH! SHAUN TAYLOR]

Anybody else not give a fuck about the Adver/Club shenanigans?

Me.

[@mwooly63]

Anybody else not give a fuck about the Adver/Club shenanigans?

Couldn't give a toss either way

Not bought in ages esp at 65p
Read occasionally online but have to say link sport and flic and bother better reads

[red sheldon]

I agree that its a bit of a dry subject, but unfortunately it may be that at some point in the future it becomes a very important issue, and what is happening here may determine how much local media outlets stand up to the future Diamandis or Jeds who run this club.

I hope the nodding symbol means that Sam is working with his colleagues so that we can talk more about the footie again!!