Why is so much blogging and journalism about Arsenal so appallingly negative?

 

 

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By Tony Attwood

When Arsenal don’t live up to the standards that some have set for them, there are multiple websites that instantly publish articles about how individual players have let the club down and possibly that the manager doesn’t know what he’s doing.  

And I mention this today as I found one such this morning under the title The Gunners flop who looks finished at Arsenal.  I don’t recommend that article but it is there if you really want to read – although I’d like you to finish my piece below, before you click away.

Such articles do get lots of hits, and indeed, this piece might convince some readers that there is at least one player who should not be playing for Arsenal.

But there’s a problem, for I am not at all sure that such a piece does anything for Arsenal. Indeed, the problem is that such an article might well convince other players not to sign for a club that has such negative supporters, or for a manager who clearly doesn’t know what he’s doing.  Indeed, it is hard to think of anything beneficial to Arsenal that might come out of such a piece.  If fans are influenced by it, they might well get on the player’s back.  If players thinking of coming to Arsenal read it, they might think, “I’m not going to a club that has such rubbish players.”   Or maybe “I’m not going to a club that has such negative fans.” 

However, by suggesting Player X should go, the blogger or journalist probably gets more readers and perhaps more money.   And quite possibly the player might think, “Bugger this for a lark, I’m going to a club where I am appreciated.”  Which in turn might influence other players against coming to a club.  

After all, players do talk to each other and read what’s in the media.  And although they know that most bloggers (like me) have never played professional football or worked for a club, players can be influenced by what is said and written about them..  

Indeed, I have been told that there are certain clubs that players would only go to as an absolute last resort because of the negativity of the club’s own fan base.  

Indeed, it is hard to see how any negative commentary about a player is ever likely to do any good.  If the player or manager doesn’t realise the player is hopeless, then reading about it online or in a paper is unlikely to help.  For if a club’s manager is being influenced by what’s online or in the press, they’ve probably got the wrong guy as manager. 

Indeed, do those people who criticise individual players online or in print really think that by saying how awful the player is, the manager will suddenly wake up and think, “Oh yes, I never realised that, of course the writer is correct – this player is rubbish.  I’ll sell him.”  I suspect not.

So, who does benefit from the publication of a totally negative report about an Arsenal player?   The answer is the writer and the publisher.  First, because negative articles are much easier to write, and secondly, they mostly get a lot more reads than positive reviews.   

There are multiple reasons for this, and indeed, there is a whole area of psychological study within the topic known as  “negativity bias.”   Basically, it shows that the brain is configured to highlight threatening or challenging information more quickly, because being aware of such things aids survival.  If there’s danager we need to get out of the way quickly. If something’s good, we can take our time over it.     

Thus, negative articles are easier to write, and they get more readers as they have a direct line to the negative bias the human brain has.  Negative experiences also tend to stick in the mind longer, because being aware of the negative aids survival.

This has become the essence of all journalism, and as a result, the negativity that we read, see and hear each day dominates written commentary.  So, although we can appreciate the good things Arsenal do, we feel much more empowered if we can announce that the manager has got it wrong by using a certain player in a certain way.  But the trouble is that feeling of power that comes from being negative only lasts a little while, and to get the good feelings back, we have to do it again and again.

So we have people who have never played professional football and never managed a team, or run a company etc, telling us that player X is rubbish and if the Arsenal manager doesn’t see that, he’s an idiot.  Journalists, bloggers and fans don’t write this to help the club, but to make themselves feel more empowered.   “I can see this is rubbish, and you are an idiot if you can’t,” is the essence of a lot of football writing.

But writing about a player or manager from a negative point of view doesn’t make things better – it just boosts the writer’s ego.  Sadly, writing about the positives is much harder, takes longer and gets fewer readers.  But it can help the club.  

Bloggers and journalists who focus on the negative are basically responding to one of the most primitive instincts that virtually all animals possess.  Blame someone else when your life is not as good as you’d like it to be.  It doesn’t do any good, but it can make the person doing the blaming feel better for a while.