Exclusive blog: Taking on the Telegraph

[josie andrews]

As you may have seen or heard recently Stuart Glendinning will picket the Daily Telegraph newspaper to protest over their coverage of the Four Nations tournament. We’re pleased to highlight Stuart’s cause and feature this exclusive blog from Stuart.

‘Why’ and ‘what good will it do?’. Two questions I have been asked a lot this week since I announced I was going to picket the offices of the Daily Telegraph on 1st December 2011.

Let’s start with why. I’ll try and explain.

Like, I imagine many rugby league fans, I have complained about the coverage the sport receives in the national media for many years. Most of the time I curse and get angry but don’t actually do anything about it. Every so often, I telephone or write to complain but it’s quite rare.

I have written to the Telegraph once or twice over the years plus the Sunday Times. I once telephoned a producer at Radio 4 to ask why there was no mention of an important game, I think it was England vrs Wales at Old Trafford, and she said there was something on Radio Leeds! I was non-plussed. Had I lived in the radio Leeds area this answer would have been unacceptable. As it was, I was in Wolverhampton. Anyhow I was asking why no mention on Radio 4 which probably Britain’s most influential radio station and a station listened to by many who might have been interested in a big rugby league event.

For me this is the nub of the issue. Southern based sports editors think there aren’t many rugby league fans and thus feel little coverage is necessary. My contention is that many sports fans have an interest in other sports and would be more than happy to watch a big rugby league event if they knew it was taking place.

Many people all over the country would have enjoyed watching England vs Australia at Wembley but most were simply unaware it was taking place. Many people would be interested to know about Kevin Sinfield and Sam Tomkins. The former should be a household name yet, almost certainly, never will be. The latter will reach fame and recognition only by playing the other code of rugby.

Rugby league fans should not be relaxed about this state of affairs. Sponsors will not want to pay to endorse the sport if they get precious little coverage and our stars will remain underpaid relative to the stars of other sports. The former editor of the Daily Telegraph, David Bond, is now sports editor at the BBC. The quality press set the news agenda and have a massive influence. If our sport is ignored by them it will be ignored in many other ways.

Will my picket do any good? Maybe, maybe not. It is a certainty that doing nothing will achieve just that – nothing. One thing I can be sure of, many people who work at the Telegraph will know by the close of play Thursday that rugby league fans are not happy and the printed material they will receive from me makes a strong case for better coverage (partly because it highlights the complaints of others).

It so happens that on the 2 November Adam Sills, sports editor at the Telegraph, wrote to an 80 year old ex-civil servant in Leigh to ‘apologise’ for the ‘unacceptable’ coverage of the Four Nations. Two days later, on the eve of the double header at Wembley, the same Adam Sills ensured there was the grand total of three sentences in the paper on rugby league. I think we can safely deduce that simply writing to the sports editor to complain is ineffective.

Do we throw in the towel and accept our fate as one of steady but gradual decline? Rugby league fans are fast to call our game the ‘greatest game’. If we believe this we should push for others to be aware of our big events.

Join Stuart outside the Daily Telegraph offices on Thursday December 1. You can email stuart.glendinning@thelifedept.co.uk for further information or emails of support. You can also send club flags for use during the picket, please email Stuart for where to send flags.

http://www.code13rugbyleague.com/2011/1 ... telegraph/

[josie andrews]

Good Luck Stuart

[Panchitta Marra]

I cannot go to the Daily Telegraph offices on 1st December, however, I have e-mailed Stuart Glendinning to offer my support in anyway I can to safeguard our great game.

[jaws1]

We have a group of MPs who support the RL would it not be better if we lobbied them to get us more recognition.

[Mike]

How would they do that then?

[Kittwazzer]

Let's be honest. If you were going to buy a paper to read about rugby league, it wouldn't be the Torygraph!

[markill]

Let's be honest. If you were going to buy a paper to read about rugby league, it wouldn't be the Torygraph!

That's not the point Kittwazzer, and by falling in line with this view the point will never be successfully made. Our game won't get the voice and coverage we the fans beleive it deserves.

To be honest, I wasn't aware of this campaign but its agood idea to do something to boost the game's media profile. As I wasn't aware of it, it suggests that this hasn't really been acheived, but this should be the start of something, not an isolated attempt.

We need to get the sport trending discussed on main stream TV shows, we need to get regular coverage on national TV and in national numbers and we need prime time/space coverage on the regional versions of such. We need to get the game trending on twitter, discussed on web forums for other sports or pasttimes, etc. etc.

We the rugby league supporting public can be just as bad though, as made clear here - why can't tories like rugby league too? We should teach everyone that our game is the greatest of all, rather than keeping it to ourselves then being spiteful to those ignorant to it. Their general ignorance isn't necessarily their fault. You can't love what you're not informed about.

[Panchitta Marra]

A couple of links sent to me from Stuart Glendinning after his picket outside the Daily Telegraph.

http://www.thelifedept.co.uk/livelonger ... telegraph/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague/

Stuarts initial feeling was that he thought it has been a qualified success, and I sincerely hope he is correct.