Further to his picket at the Telegraph offices, Stuart Glendinning is speaking to Ben Clissit, Head of Sport at the Telegraph Media Group, tomorrow (14 December) in a further attempt at getting more coverage for RL in the Daily Telegraph.

Pointless excercise


594,000 copies a day, 6 days a week.....advertising rates of about 30k a page and 1 guy with a chip on his shoulder will make SFA difference. The Telegraphs owners will print what they believe their audience wants.....it is a right wing paper, a supporter of the Tories and therefore, not the place you are likely to find major coverage of RL.

Well he already got some things changed so STFU

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague I don't think is to bad at all..

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyleague I don't think is to bad at all..

Looks like he got a letter to me, one that explains that they have heard it all before, explains that they did cover the 4 Nations....which points out that rather than going through the "other sports" section, you can now click a tab entitled Rugby League situated by the NEW links to Cycling, UFC and Boxing.....WOW.....if only he's done it before the Double header.....Wembley would have sold out




Gotta love his rant regarding the exposure of the 4 Nations..

more here [urlhttp://www.code13rugbyleague.com/2011/11/28/exclusive-blog-taking-on-the-telegraph/[/url
....he thinks because the Daily Telegraph didn't write a decent report on the opening round fixtures of the 4 nations, that nobody knew the Wembley double header was on

Moron.

At least he's actually making the effort to raise awareness of our game, instead of sat sanctimoniously criticising people on an internet message board.

Surely trying to get more media exposure is a good thing isn't it? Shouldn't this be praised instead of slagged off by the sports' supposed fans?

Gutterfax. What is your beef with someone actually doing something to raise our profile. Instead of sniping at Stuart for making a real effort why not support him or would that mean you having to make some sort of effort.

Well done Stuart from the rest of the rugby league community.

There now seems to be a rugby league heading link across the top of the main sport page on their website. I don't think there was one recently?

EDIT - just read the letter, so the bloke has already made a difference. Obviously that probably won't be enough for those who just want to whinge anyway.

Quite. I fail to see the logic behind criticising someone for making an effort.

he made an effort.. you carnt knock anybody for doing their bit to promote our game

Yep, that link is new, and while it's not a contract with the BBC for headline news 4 times a month, it's a positive step for RL.

Thank fook for people like Stuart, well done mate.

Its called sour grapes

I used to think GF was a fan of our game but all he seems to do is put it down and compare it all the time with union.

He's clearly a troll and not even a remotely entertaining one anymore either...

It's these kind of ridiculously negative comments for people actually trying to make a positive difference in the game that make me use this forum less and less these days. Unfortunately, GF isn't the only one that thinks this way that posts on here and quite frankly it puts me off wanting to talk about the sport on here because quite frankly the only thing that I'll achieve is depression reading it.

Lets be honest though, we are a multi-million pound industry, a sport with tens and some weeks hundreds of thousands of people attending pro and semi-pro games, millions watching on TV with the 2nd best viewership on the biggest sport network in the country. Thats the image we need to be portraying to the media and through the media.

Whilst one man's crusade may be very well intentioned, It doesnt really look very good, I doubt the people at the Telegraph now think RL is a bigger sport, or that there is a huge market or huge benefit to investing more in RL, it is possible it sees us in the opposite light.

We cant approach the problem we have with visibility by trying to bully papers in to giving us more coverage, we need the RFL, through the obvious channels to be showing the benefits to media outlets to cover RL.

We shouldnt expect coverage, nor do we have any entitlement to it, if the Telegraph doesnt want to cover RL, its a private company, it can choose not to, it is up to the game to make itself unmissable, its up to the game to put itself in a position where media want to cover RL, thats what we need to concentrate on.

Because I point out the areas where I think the game needs to change tact, I am now a troll........wow, outstanding assessment there......I look forward to post 193....



So, it's not just me then......
Careful SmokeyTA, they will brand you a troll because they don't understand your point of view. Whilst well intentioned, 1 bloke having a moan at a multi million pound organisation because he doesn't agree with the contents of their paper is hardly a game changer and as has been pointed out doesn't really paint RL in a good light.

As for the Self Appointed Troll hunters....put down your pitchforks and put out your torches.....nothing to see here other than a dose of reality.

I think you need to re-read your history books. You will find that there have been many occasions when one person, man or woman, has stood up to 'multi million pound organisations' and have ended up changing the world, never mind one organisation's view of the issue that is the subject of the campaign. Campaigns always begin small. That doesn't mean they stay small. But sadly the small [iminded[/i, like yourself, are always there to pull things down and undermine the good things, of which this campaign is one.

There are a growing number of people who support what Stuart is trying to do, including me. I hope he has real impact. I want to see our game noticed. I would imagine most rugby league supporters want that too.

But there is a big difference. The Telegraph arent doing anything wrong by not giving RL coverage. They have made a business decision, thats it. We have no right to make 'demands' of them. Nor should he be 'at war' or having 'campaigns' against them.
There is a right way, and a wrong way to do this kind of thing.

If it was simply a matter of badgering then PR would be the easiest job in the world (its not far off the easiest job in the world, but there are people who are good at it, and others who are not so good).

Surely you must see the risk that campaigns like this, rather than sell the game as a professional multi-million pound, cutting edge, sport it makes us look small. Surely you must see that badgering and harrassing and picketing isnt going to endear you to people, its not going to make them look fondly upon the game. Its not going to make them think the game has huge support when all they see are a few 'nutters'.

You catch more flies with honey than vinegar, the game needs to put effort into increasing its visibility and definitely the visibility of its stars. A one man picket isnt the way to do it.

So the Daily Telegraph now has a Rugby League tab on it's website. So what?

The difference between how Smokey put it across and how you put it across is that Smokey wasn't trying to be a patronising condescending git about his disagreement with what he is doing. He doesn't agree with him, but isn't knocking him for what he's doing.

You've offered nothing but snide comments. No suggestions on what you would do or what should be done. Just knocking someone for having a go whilst you're in the comfort of your chair behind a computer screen. Well done.

Try and answer your own question and we'll see what you can come up with...

Rubbish! As potential paying customers from whom the Telegraph makes its moniey, we have an absolute right to make demands! And of course we should be campaigning against them if we think that they are doing something wrong. Have you completed the questionnaire on the BBC Trust website yet? You know, the one about the decimation of local radio services? Do you think this is wrong or do you think that because the BBC is a big organisation who have made a business decision we have no right to make demands of it?

An organisation doesn't have to be using child labour/polluting the planet/putting health and safety at risk/name your issue to be doing something wrong. In the eyes of other sporting communities they may be the bogs dollocks but not in the eyes of the rugby league community because they have made a policy decision to release their RL correspondent and almost completely ignore our sport. In the eyes of many rugby league supporters, that is wrong.

The only way to campaign is by being visible and audible to the organisation that is the focus of your campaign. Picketing, writing letters, emails, articles, making phone calls, creating leaflets (and Stuart created a really good leaflet), films, motivating support, whatever - these are all perfectly valid means of campaigning and they are used by individuals and organisations the world over to protest over a practice or organisation or individual considered to be wrong by the campaigners. You might not agree with them - as obviously you don't - but that doesn't mean their protest isn't valid or that the issue they are protesting over isn't actually a problem.


So everybody who pickets is a nutter then? I suppose you have just written off the miners, dockers, public sector workers, animal rights activists, political activists, etc, etc, etc. Stuart might not have been alone had more people known well enough in advance about what he was going to do. 'Badgering' is a very good way of protesting. That is exactly what should be done.

And Stuart strikes me as a very intelligent, articulate and dignified man. Nothing 'nutterish' about him at all.

I would suggest that your real problem is that you are a fence sitter, embarrassed by people who take a stand, and it is YOUR embarrassment rather than the validity of the cause which is determining your position in this matter.