Stuart Brennan. MEN.

[salfordpaul]

I think the telling thing in all this is that City clearly don't give a fuck about it and as such, neither should we. If there was anything libellous I'm sure they'd be over it like a rash and from Stuart's earlier comments about not being in City's inner circle anymore, it sounds as though chips have been pissed on and the rewards of such are being reaped.

City are ploughing resource into our own website and Social Media output. I envisage our own TV channel at some point which will gives us the blue-biased news we crave and rendering the general media obsolete for meaningful MCFC output other than BT/Sky for live match broadcasts.

You never miss your water until your well runs dry.

*Note to reporters: get on message or miss the party.

Long gone are the days of Peter Gardner riding on the team coach. The closest Stuart gets to the action these days is from seat D7 in the press box. If he was willing to be totally honest with us all he would admit that he knows no more about what's actually going on at City on a day to day basis than we do.

He and his newspaper are reduced to trawling the internet for City news; visiting sites like BM, copying and pasting from other media outlets, speculating, guessing and possibly even just making it up. A lot of what you get from Stuart is probably no more than his own opinion which is no more or less valid than the opinion of anyone else on here. Except of course he is united fan and so I take whatever he says with a large pinch of salt.

With some of the MEN's most recent escapades 'ten goal bonanza' and the 'Boateng' picture to name but two, the MEN is simply demonstrating that it is a rapidly diminishing voice in an exceptionally noisy medium desperately trying to get itself heard.

The problem is that I'm not sure if anybody is actually listening anymore.

excellent post Dr Mick

 

[Blue Mist]

If I owned a Manchester paper that had a number of football clubs within its catchment area I would ensure all my staff printed positive articles and positive pictures about all the clubs in that area. That would encourage people to buy the paper and increase my profit. The only negative articles (relegation issues etc.) would be honestly researched but still biased towards the fans viewpoint. That is simple and sound business. This is why I find it strange that the Evening News printed the Boateng picture. It was an obvious time to print Bert's picture, Blues would buy it/click on line just to see what the article said, instead they are moaning about 'bias' and ignoring the other positive articles about City.
An independent reviewer might well say that there is no bias and it is all in peoples mind and they may be right BUT the point is whilst those people hold those views, hard work and positive articles must be done by the owners and reporters to ensure the paper continues to make money.
There seems to be no editorial leadership with profit in mind and therefore it is a poor business model destined for failure.

You are describing the official website, not a newspaper.
There are other fans who think we are too close to United/City and don't criticise enough.
Criticism is healthy if it is valid and constructive, and we always try to do that.
But the slant of the paper is definitely towards our local clubs, not away from them.Can you think of a successful newspaper/TV channel/radio station that only carries good news?
It is a business model which has sustained us for decades, and continues to do so. I'm afraid the gleeful predictions of our imminent demise are, as Mark Twain said, greatly exaggerated.

Stuart I hope you are right, City and United aside. You (the paper) have always supported and given publicity to the 'smaller' clubs in our region. I also think it is commendable that you come on here to discuss the matter.

 

[Asa's left peg]

Stuart - it's great that you have the balls to come on BM and put the MENs case. I kinda get the feeling you actually believe in what the paper is trying to achieve, which is great, shows a passion. You're one of the few journalists I read along with Samuel and Winter if it's any consolation, but where as I used to buy newspapers, I rarely do now. I always viewed you as the City correspondence ( ala Gardner but better) and your job is to be positive about the club, but not that far as to be sycophantic. I think some of your takes on things are interesting and must be difficult to come up with stuff regularly.
I don't tell you all this just to blow smoke up..., just that I agree with some on here that it does appear that there is negativity and cheap shots at the club.
I've always considered Cheeseman the same way but was disappointed that a few weeks ago, he spent a full hours show jumping on the Hart witch hunt (which many blues did on here) and I'm not sure what he was trying to achieve by it apart from pandering to the what he thought was the majority view. I try to remember when I visit BM that the people on here are a minority of the support at the stadium and it's only their opinion, to which they are entitled.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

If I owned a Manchester paper that had a number of football clubs within its catchment area I would ensure all my staff printed positive articles and positive pictures about all the clubs in that area. That would encourage people to buy the paper and increase my profit. The only negative articles (relegation issues etc.) would be honestly researched but still biased towards the fans viewpoint. That is simple and sound business. This is why I find it strange that the Evening News printed the Boateng picture. It was an obvious time to print Bert's picture, Blues would buy it/click on line just to see what the article said, instead they are moaning about 'bias' and ignoring the other positive articles about City.
An independent reviewer might well say that there is no bias and it is all in peoples mind and they may be right BUT the point is whilst those people hold those views, hard work and positive articles must be done by the owners and reporters to ensure the paper continues to make money.
There seems to be no editorial leadership with profit in mind and therefore it is a poor business model destined for failure.

You are describing the official website, not a newspaper.
There are other fans who think we are too close to United/City and don't criticise enough.
Criticism is healthy if it is valid and constructive, and we always try to do that.
But the slant of the paper is definitely towards our local clubs, not away from them.
Can you think of a successful newspaper/TV channel/radio station that only carries good news?
It is a business model which has sustained us for decades, and continues to do so. I'm afraid the gleeful predictions of our imminent demise are, as Mark Twain said, greatly exaggerated.

"The Manchester Evening News was one of the worst performers according to the latest ABC figures, reporting a drop in circulation of 13.2%.
The Manchester Evening News suffered one of the biggest year-on-year falls in circulation among the main regional evening newspapers in England in the first six months of the year,

Trinity Mirror's part paid-for, part free title reported a 13.2% year-on-year fall to 78,894, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Wednesday.

The circulation decrease was 6.5% compared to the previous six-month ABC audit period to the end of December 2011.

Paid-for circulation accounted for 52,696 of MEN's total circulation, down from about 57,000 in the last period.

The MEN's year-on-year decline was only matched among regional evening papers by the Nottingham Post, which lost 13.3% of circulation compared to a year ago"



hey stu, take a gander at this. "WAY TO GO M.E.N" !!!

 

[squirtyflower]

I may be wrong but i would guess there is no way your average blue could access the press box?

Yes you can, it's just at the back of the lower tier of Colin Bell stand

it is, I pass it every single home game, I'll look out for you Stuart

 

[BertTrautmann'sParachute]

If I owned a Manchester paper that had a number of football clubs within its catchment area I would ensure all my staff printed positive articles and positive pictures about all the clubs in that area. That would encourage people to buy the paper and increase my profit. The only negative articles (relegation issues etc.) would be honestly researched but still biased towards the fans viewpoint. That is simple and sound business. This is why I find it strange that the Evening News printed the Boateng picture. It was an obvious time to print Bert's picture, Blues would buy it/click on line just to see what the article said, instead they are moaning about 'bias' and ignoring the other positive articles about City.
An independent reviewer might well say that there is no bias and it is all in peoples mind and they may be right BUT the point is whilst those people hold those views, hard work and positive articles must be done by the owners and reporters to ensure the paper continues to make money.
There seems to be no editorial leadership with profit in mind and therefore it is a poor business model destined for failure.

You are describing the official website, not a newspaper.
There are other fans who think we are too close to United/City and don't criticise enough.
Criticism is healthy if it is valid and constructive, and we always try to do that.
But the slant of the paper is definitely towards our local clubs, not away from them.
Can you think of a successful newspaper/TV channel/radio station that only carries good news?
It is a business model which has sustained us for decades, and continues to do so. I'm afraid the gleeful predictions of our imminent demise are, as Mark Twain said, greatly exaggerated.

I take it he read the paper online?

 

[Dr Mick]

And so you have a local newspaper tasked with reporting local news that has the luxury of having two football teams that in the last few years have both been very successful and yet both sets of supporters claim that the paper in question has been negative in its reporting of their team.

That tells me all I need to now about the standard of the MEN's reporting. Surely it can't be that difficult to find something positive to say about these two clubs and keep everyone happy. And that's the crux of the problem at the MEN. For some unknown reason (maybe Peter Spencer knows) they prefer to shit stir and be antagonistic rather than be pro-active and positive. And they wonder why their readership is dwindling.

If they carry on like this I can see the MEN folding in the not to distant future. In a city the size of Manchester there is a real opportunity here for someone with a bit more journalistic integrity to come up with a really positive alternative to the outdated MEN.

If you think that we don't carry positive articles about United and City, you must never look at the paper or the website, or you are just so one-eyed that you can only see the negatives (which are very much a minority)
Did you say in an earlier post that you are a journalist?

Yes, my real name is Joseph Pulitzer, you may have heard of me.

 

[stuart brennan]

Long gone are the days of Peter Gardner riding on the team coach. The closest Stuart gets to the action these days is from seat D7 in the press box. If he was willing to be totally honest with us all he would admit that he knows no more about what's actually going on at City on a day to day basis than we do.

He and his newspaper are reduced to trawling the internet for City news; visiting sites like BM, copying and pasting from other media outlets, speculating, guessing and possibly even just making it up. A lot of what you get from Stuart is probably no more than his own opinion which is no more or less valid than the opinion of anyone else on here. Except of course he is united fan and so I take whatever he says with a large pinch of salt.

Yet again, you talk utter bollocks, and libellous bollocks at that.
You give me one instance where I have cut and pasted from another media outlet.
You claimed earlier you are a journalist. I find that very hard to believe, given your level of ignorance about the way newspapers operate.
I have come on here under my own name - you know exactly who I am, and where you can find me.
Have you got the balls to tell us who you are? Or are you too "snivelling and underhand" to do that?

One thing that you can't seem to get over is my United past, which may explain your hostile, sneering, abusive attitude from the outset.

 

[oakiecokie]

If I owned a Manchester paper that had a number of football clubs within its catchment area I would ensure all my staff printed positive articles and positive pictures about all the clubs in that area. That would encourage people to buy the paper and increase my profit. The only negative articles (relegation issues etc.) would be honestly researched but still biased towards the fans viewpoint. That is simple and sound business. This is why I find it strange that the Evening News printed the Boateng picture. It was an obvious time to print Bert's picture, Blues would buy it/click on line just to see what the article said, instead they are moaning about 'bias' and ignoring the other positive articles about City.
An independent reviewer might well say that there is no bias and it is all in peoples mind and they may be right BUT the point is whilst those people hold those views, hard work and positive articles must be done by the owners and reporters to ensure the paper continues to make money.
There seems to be no editorial leadership with profit in mind and therefore it is a poor business model destined for failure.

You are describing the official website, not a newspaper.
There are other fans who think we are too close to United/City and don't criticise enough.
Criticism is healthy if it is valid and constructive, and we always try to do that.
But the slant of the paper is definitely towards our local clubs, not away from them.
Can you think of a successful newspaper/TV channel/radio station that only carries good news?
It is a business model which has sustained us for decades, and continues to do so. I'm afraid the gleeful predictions of our imminent demise are, as Mark Twain said, greatly exaggerated.

"The Manchester Evening News was one of the worst performers according to the latest ABC figures, reporting a drop in circulation of 13.2%.
The Manchester Evening News suffered one of the biggest year-on-year falls in circulation among the main regional evening newspapers in England in the first six months of the year,

Trinity Mirror's part paid-for, part free title reported a 13.2% year-on-year fall to 78,894, according to the latest Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published on Wednesday.

The circulation decrease was 6.5% compared to the previous six-month ABC audit period to the end of December 2011.

Paid-for circulation accounted for 52,696 of MEN's total circulation, down from about 57,000 in the last period.

The MEN's year-on-year decline was only matched among regional evening papers by the Nottingham Post, which lost 13.3% of circulation compared to a year ago"



hey stu, take a gander at this. "WAY TO GO M.E.N" !!!

So based on those figures they have dropped 165 copies a week.Is that a major problem for them or are they making bigger profits from on line services ?? And before anyone asks,it is a question and not a statement.

 

[Dr Mick]

Long gone are the days of Peter Gardner riding on the team coach. The closest Stuart gets to the action these days is from seat D7 in the press box. If he was willing to be totally honest with us all he would admit that he knows no more about what's actually going on at City on a day to day basis than we do.

He and his newspaper are reduced to trawling the internet for City news; visiting sites like BM, copying and pasting from other media outlets, speculating, guessing and possibly even just making it up. A lot of what you get from Stuart is probably no more than his own opinion which is no more or less valid than the opinion of anyone else on here. Except of course he is united fan and so I take whatever he says with a large pinch of salt.

Yet again, you talk utter bollocks, and libellous bollocks at that.
You give me one instance where I have cut and pasted from another media outlet.
You claimed earlier you are a journalist. I find that very hard to believe, given your level of ignorance about the way newspapers operate.
I have come on here under my own name - you know exactly who I am, and where you can find me.
Have you got the balls to tell us who you are? Or are you too "snivelling and underhand" to do that?

One thing that you can't seem to get over is my United past, which may explain your hostile, sneering, abusive attitude from the outset.

Calm down love.

You give me one instance where I have cut and pasted from another media outlet - The MEN takes stories from the Daily Mirror quite often, almost word for word, sometimes..