Search: 'media'

The Beckham to Spurs saga was covered in huge detail this winter. But, as Georgina Turner argues, it’s not all the player’s fault

I manage to pour my breakfast cereal each morning without a plastic model of a member of the Beckham family dropping uninvited into my bowl. I’ve never found one of them sitting outside my building, holding a piece of cardboard upon which is scrawled “Will dance a jig for attention”. I’ve yet to have a particularly tense episode of Spooks interrupted by a pirate broadcast from Beckingham Palace in which David, sporting oversized trousers and shoes, invites Victoria to smell a flower. Which has me confused, because Cirque du Beckham was supposed to be taking over the world. It said so in the papers.

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Paul Buller attended a fiery discussion about the responsibilities of UK sports reporting, and left with some questions of his own

The question “What’s wrong with sports reporting?” might elicit the immediate response “Where do you start?”, but on a chilly January night in London the great and the good of sports journalism gathered at a Royal Television Society event to debate just that. Many familiar faces from the back pages filled the audience alongside broadcasters, students and inquisitive fans. A fiery encounter ensued, with football being the main catalyst for the arguments made by a heavyweight panel. 

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Ever wanted to be a football pundit? Glen Wilson explains how easy it was to be mistaken for a virtual Andy Townsend

As Andy Gray took his final “boo” last month and emptied his desk of his telestrators and On The Buses DVDs, another much less prominent Andy also saw his media presence terminated. As Gray was exiting Sky Sports, Twitter was suspending the account of @AndyDTownsend, the satirical feed which had inadvertently found itself involved in the sexism scandals, having been mistaken by the Independent journalist Andy Herbert for the actual Andy Townsend.

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Mark Brophy looks at the emerging trend of former player agents becoming directors of football at Premier League clubs

If a Blackburn or Newcastle fan were to feel dismay towards recent personnel changes at the heart of their club, it might not be the sackings of Sam Allardyce or Chris Hughton that were exercising them. Supporters might find the growing influence of men who previously were in the business of promoting players infinitely more worrying. Jerome Anderson, a prominent agent, has been advising Blackburn’s new owners (see WSC 288) and Kia Joorabchian, best known here for his role in Carlos Tevez’s career, has reportedly also begun to act as an advisor to Mike Ashley at Newcastle. Chelsea fans needn’t be smug either: super-agent Pini Zahavi is a member of Roman Abramovich’s inner circle.

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At 37, Kevin Muscat’s playing career could be over following his latest reckless challenge. Graham Willgoss examines the Australia international’s controversial reputation

Is Kevin Muscat mad, bad or misunderstood? The controversial former Crystal Palace, Wolves and Millwall defender dived two-footed into the latest – and possibly the last – media storm of his playing career after committing a horror challenge. Muscat’s latest misdemeanour came while playing for his current club Melbourne Victory in Australia’s A-League. In the closing minutes of a frenetic 2-2 draw with city rivals Melbourne Heart, Muscat launched himself at Heart winger Adrian Zahra with a studs-up scissor-kick that connected with his opponent somewhere around the knee.

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