Why you won’t read or hear the real Arsenal news in the media today

To understand the daily news about Arsenal we need to think of three levels of activity.  On one level, we have a football club that would like to be winning trophies.  A very reasonable idea.

On the second level Arsenal have the daily issues to deal with – decisions on tactics, injuries, possible transfers, lack of form, illness, players’ mental health, luck, and the activities of the opposition.  So matters and issues can change and if reflected that would mean an ever changing agenda – which the media hate because they believe it confuses the readers and viewers.

So on the third level all of that interesting stuff about Arsenal’s decision making is filtered by the media, who have their own agenda which involves keeping everything simple (ideally so it can be told in 50 words while not losing the readers’ attention), keeping it cheap (the media hates spending money on research when it can make things up for free) and consistent (ie the same story that everyone else is running.)

Now almost everything we think we know about Arsenal comes through journalists.  And I exclude most bloggers here because they just quote journalists. There are no real original open or named sources which are right at the centre of things.   We are dependent on these people to be in the know.  Maybe they are, maybe they are not.  I guess probably not since their ability to predict anything is around a 3% accuracy level.  Sometimes less.

So the broadcasters and the print media are dependent on information being handed out by the clubs, who are hardly disinterested observers, and on what each other can make up – which they all then report as if fact – while in certain areas they are controlled as to what they can say or show, because of agreements made with clubs, the Leagues and others.  If the reporters move outside of the agreements they lose their rights to attend press conferences, broadcast games, sit in the press area at the ground etc.

3 Replies to “Why you won’t read or hear the real Arsenal news in the media today”

  1. Not for the first time, you seem to be critical of the sacking of Emery, and place it in the same category as the removal of Wenger 18 months before.

    Can you please, once and for all, confirm whether it is your view that Emery should not have been removed and that he should have been allowed to stay on as manager?

    I have made no secret of my view that he was the wrong man for the job from the start and that he should have been removed a long time before he was.

    However, as you are the owner and the primary blogger on this site and having implied on a number of occasions that you are critical of Emery’s removal, I think every one of your regular readers would like this point clarified, please. Thank you.

  2. Once again! Emery was never the manager of Arsenal. He was appointed chief coach. His removal was unsavoury as was Wengers. It might have been right for the club but was poorly consolidated.

  3. @jigsol,

    I believer what Tony and others here are thinking is that just switching managers in the middle of a season has statistically littel chances of making things really better. If you were betting 100’000 pounds on it, that is the manager change in being a positive for change, and it were your money, would you bet that ammount ? Again, when it is being done between seasons it is always a big bet, when it happens during the season, what are the numbers. Here on UA, they don’t look good.

    Then again, Tony is a big boy and can confirm or infirm what I think he thinks….

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