Rangers - Fake News Generator

[StuGers 477]

I notice that the board had to put out a statement on this recent boardroom reshuffle which in plain writing was just a formality of tying up historic positions. It stated that it needed to be clarified due to a number of online blogs. This made me think - is there any other club in the world which has to deal with so much "fake news"? A quick search of Celtic FC news on newsnow identifies a significant number of "Celtic blogs" that are almost dedicated to spreading misinformation about anything going on at Ibrox, from the roof being damaged, to the theft of water from local churches, to boardroom chaos, to players leaving or being unhappy, to the next financial meltdown, to fake UEFA letters... the list goes on.

You then have the blogs that were "award winning" on the Rangers tax case that seemed to be based on leaked documentation from an ongoing court case. This itself is highly unusual. Especially as it was lapped up by the mainstream media who regurgitated a lot of mis-truths.

Moving on to main stream media - Scotland's best selling paper printing lies about Rangers fans, papers left, right and centre slating everything about the club from its directors to its performances on the park. Stories about how much punishment should be handed out on a live court case when the "guilty" (anyone that knows about tax cases knows that there is no guilt, just liability) verdict hasn't been given. The clamour to include Rangers in the child abuse scandal when there is a well documented case sitting right in front of them. The media blackout of what is a scandalous black and white state-aid case.

The question is; is this the work of a lot of deranged individuals who have either managed to get themselves a daft online blog / work their way into papers as "journalists" / "editors" or is this a more orchestrated movement of a multi-level attack to destroy the club? Is it just a coincidence that Rangers, which is a massive unionist instituation is under attack from a country which seems to be reeking of republican control in both the media and society with independence as it's ultimate goal ? Could it be said that if Rangers was damaged either reputationally or financially beyond control that it would actually have an effect on the politics stance of a large section of the population of Scotland's biggest city? It sounds crazy but the constant attack on Rangers and everything to do with it is really hard to understand just now. It is reminiscent of the "fake news" campaign that Trump utilised to achieve his final goal.

 

Any thoughts from anyone else or am I just a paranoid wreck!

Edited March 29, 2017 by StuGers

[Frankie 8,562]

The scale of which can be debated but there's no doubt in my mind this is a co-ordinated effort on behalf of Rangers haters.

[StuGers 477]

The scale of which can be debated but there's no doubt in my mind this is a co-ordinated effort on behalf of Rangers haters.

 

The question is; who is co-ordinating it?

[Frankie 8,562]

The question is; who is co-ordinating it?

 

Hmmm, I'd suggest Celtic themselves embarked on a project to increase their say politically and in the media in the mid 90s and many aspects of that are now bearing fruit now.

 

I doubt they're closely involved with some of the more unhinged elements of the anti-Rangers bloggers but neither do they hinder them. Meanwhile these Celtic supporting bloggers maintain good relationships with more mainstream media contacts which ensures even the less credible stories and rumours are widely discussed.

 

It's actually very clever and I'm envious of the hard work and effort that's went into it. I've yet to see Rangers counter it all that well.

[jhunter 0]

http://ifyouknowtheirhistory.blogspot.com

 

i find that site a great antidote and reminder of what we're up against

[RANGERRAB 3,657]

Hmmm, I'd suggest Celtic themselves embarked on a project to increase their say politically and in the media in the mid 90s and many aspects of that are now bearing fruit now.

 

I doubt they're closely involved with some of the more unhinged elements of the anti-Rangers bloggers but neither do they hinder them. Meanwhile these Celtic supporting bloggers maintain good relationships with more mainstream media contacts which ensures even the less credible stories and rumours are widely discussed.

 

It's actually very clever and I'm envious of the hard work and effort that's went into it. I've yet to see Rangers counter it all that well.

 

unfortunately it seems we're back to the days of 'dignified silence' instead of what should be happening i.e. litigation

[StuGers 477]

Hmmm, I'd suggest Celtic themselves embarked on a project to increase their say politically and in the media in the mid 90s and many aspects of that are now bearing fruit now.

 

I doubt they're closely involved with some of the more unhinged elements of the anti-Rangers bloggers but neither do they hinder them. Meanwhile these Celtic supporting bloggers maintain good relationships with more mainstream media contacts which ensures even the less credible stories and rumours are widely discussed.

 

It's actually very clever and I'm envious of the hard work and effort that's went into it. I've yet to see Rangers counter it all that well.

 

The thing I find more baffling as it goes on is that there is no counter to it. It this was a big company and there were constant lies being peddled about it and it's products that affected profits, shareholders and reputation then they would be on the phone to the lawyers. Is there a particular reason that this doesn't seem to happen with a football club?

[craig 5,199]

unfortunately it seems we're back to the days of 'dignified silence' instead of what should be happening i.e. litigation

 

Part of the problem here is that if we litigated every false story we would never be out of the courts defending ourselves. Some would say that is exactly what we should be doing but we also have some major situations to deal with such as on-field personnel, club finances, infrastructure, youth development, merchandise deal. In other words we have bigger fish to fry.

 

With the amount of nonsense stories out there we probably actually need a dedicated department to deal with just the lies and falsehoods.

 

What I think the Club SHOULD be doing is going after the major ones, such as Jane Hamilton - that one was a tap-in to bring the Record to task and to not accept an apology stuck in the bottom corner of a page - the Club need to get tough on these ones because they offer the Club an opportunity to start weeding out dishonest journalists, especially when those same journalists are pro-Celtic and anti-Rangers.

[StuGers 477]

Part of the problem here is that if we litigated every false story we would never be out of the courts defending ourselves. Some would say that is exactly what we should be doing but we also have some major situations to deal with such as on-field personnel, club finances, infrastructure, youth development, merchandise deal. In other words we have bigger fish to fry.

 

With the amount of nonsense stories out there we probably actually need a dedicated department to deal with just the lies and falsehoods.

 

What I think the Club SHOULD be doing is going after the major ones, such as Jane Hamilton - that one was a tap-in to bring the Record to task and to not accept an apology stuck in the bottom corner of a page - the Club need to get tough on these ones because they offer the Club an opportunity to start weeding out dishonest journalists, especially when those same journalists are pro-Celtic and anti-Rangers.

 

I don't know anything about litigation but could someone hunting these stories and demanding damages not in a way self-finance this activity?

[boabie 230]

There's no point in trying to sue folk like the Donegal tramp or the fool JJ, they don't have anything worth taking.

I'm not a lawyer but I'd think there's some way of having their sites shut down due to the continual lies spouted.