Rangers fans have been criticising the Daily Record for their coverage of separate incidents of violence surrounding the Old Firm derby with Celtic at the weekend.
Gers supporters – including supporters’ group Club 1872 – have long been frustrated with tabloid coverage of fan bust-ups and other, more loosely linked stories which attach the name of the club in the headline.
This has been intensified given the reluctance of mainstream news outlets in Scotland to attach the name of Celtic supporters to similar incidents involving groups of fans from across the city.
By putting Rangers in the title, this has two major effects in that it drives Ibrox fan traffic to the website via SEO but also attaches negative news coverage to the Ibrox club.
There appears to be a consistent, different approach taken to Celtic in this regard, regularly labelling supporters of the Parkhead club “football fans” with no mention of “Celtic”.
Rangers fans have highlighted this after the weekend via the Record who attached Rangers to an isolated story of violence but omitted Celtic’s name from a story concerning a minor riot outside a Glasgow city centre pub caused by Celtic fans.
https://twitter.com/Robynnn72/status/1433012861199134727
The Celtic article was titled “Man arrested after football fans ‘brawl’ outside Irish pub in Glasgow leaving one in hospital”.
Contrast this with an article involving a solitary Rangers fan incident which reads “Moment Rangers fan bottles another supporter from behind caught on CCTV”.
There is a reason why Rangers and the club’s supporters are at loggerheads with this newspaper and the club’s fans criticised the approach on social media:
https://twitter.com/1964AMR1872/status/1433024610497355777
https://twitter.com/nedling14/status/1433103420894982151
https://twitter.com/jordanrmckay_/status/1433028718109372416
https://twitter.com/WhiskyQueen89/status/1433016598294671363
As a fan media who shares numerous platforms in competition with this newspaper, we are delighted to nowadays have the power to highlight fan views on these issues.
Rangers fans have the choice which newspapers and which outlets they read and click. Please understand that this is the lifeblood of these digital papers.
If you do not click or read any of the negative coverage, then one of two things will happen.
There will be a dramatic change in direction as media companies recognise the gravity of their mistakes, or there will be serious financial implications.
Choose what you read, and who you click, very wisely. In a digital world, there’s plenty of places to get coverage of the same stories.
