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Our new recruit

Adrian Van-Klaveren Adrian Van-Klaveren | 11:33 UK time, Wednesday, 18 October 2006

We’ve just appointed our first sports editor. Mihir Bose will join us from the Daily Telegraph, where he’s been a sports news writer for the past 10 years, .

Mihir BoseWhy are we creating this job? Well, we know some people are passionately interested in sports news, some are completely uninterested and others have a fairly general interest in the most important and interesting things happening in the sports world.

Although people are more polarised in their level of appetite for sport than many other subjects, it is undoubtedly an important part of the news agenda – not only major events such as the Olympics and the World Cup, but also the social, cultural, business and political significance which sport carries.

Mihir’s job will be to get under the skin of sport – both to break stories and to explain what’s really happening, whether it’s a story about money and the Premiership, the build up to London 2012 or alleged cheating in cricket.

We want people to find out what’s happening in the world of sport from the ´óÏó´«Ã½ – just as much as they do for politics or world affairs. This new job is a key building block in our commitment to sports journalism and we think it’s going to make a real difference to what people see, hear and read from the ´óÏó´«Ã½ about sports news.

Comments

I think this is a great idea. Welcome new sports editor to the ´óÏó´«Ã½ community.

But may I also say that I think we could learn a great deal more from Channel 4's Transworld Sport series. In my humble opinion, there is no other weekly sports coverage that is even remotely comparable to Transworld's coverage and enthusiasm for all sports and sportsmanship.

Thanks!

Shuvra

  • 2.
  • At 04:32 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Stephen Jones wrote:

A very interesting appointment. I hope Mihir remembers that he works for the ´óÏó´«Ã½, not the EBC - unlike his colleagues in ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sport who seem to think it's the latter.

There's as much sports news in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as there is in England. And it's just as important.

  • 3.
  • At 04:34 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • June Ewing wrote:

My husband is an avid fisherman and a great fan of all sport. He is always complaining that there is never anything shown on television about fishing even though there are about 4,000,000 fishermen in the U.K.

Any comments on this?

  • 4.
  • At 04:40 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • David wrote:

Mihir Bose is a great catch for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ - his columns in the Telegraph are insightful and very revealing about the internal workings of various sports.

How about considering a TV programme that goes behind the world of sport - like the excellent Sportsweek on Radio 5 Live each Sunday morning - which would give Mihir the chance to report on some of the background to various sporting topics each week. It could even provide an opportunity to revive 'Sportsnight' and that fantastic theme tune!!

  • 5.
  • At 04:45 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Dave Topping wrote:

I too welcome this move by the ´óÏó´«Ã½, it's good to see that sport is being taken seriously once again by the ´óÏó´«Ã½, after a period which could only be described as a 'barren patch'

Shuvra makes a great point about the coverage in the Transworld Sport show. I think too much is made of the competitive elements and the conflict within sports and not enough devoted to the people who make the sports what they are. The ´óÏó´«Ã½ do lag way behind when it comes to this and would be excited to see more action with the personalities.

I think people want to know more about US sports, home-grown motorsport, and with the Olympics fast approaching again, the sportsmanship element which is key to all sports.

SO here's hoping for a different point of view of the sports we watch and play.

  • 6.
  • At 04:48 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Neil Carrington wrote:

Excellent news, good move! I have admired Mihirs work for sometime.

As somebody with sport under their skin.. Can I have job aswell??

  • 7.
  • At 04:52 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • craig mcgill wrote:

Does this mean ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland's website can expect something/someone similar soon?

  • 8.
  • At 05:01 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Belinda wrote:

I'm not a great fan of main-stream sports or sports news but I applaud this recruitment, if for no other reason than to stop sport infiltrating the main news blogs.

To mirror the above comment, can I please ask that football, in particular Premiership football, does not take up 90% of the content? There are a wealth of sports out there (I remember being glued to the online Curling coverage during the Winter Olympics!) and it would be refreshing and interesting to see some attention given to lesser-known sports.

  • 9.
  • At 05:02 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • David Wilson wrote:

When do we get a dedicated ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sports channel on Freeview?

  • 10.
  • At 05:15 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Mathew Ring wrote:

Mr Bose is a good journalist so this appointment should be welcomed - but I hope Mr Bose doesn't bring his well known agenda against a certain ex-England football manager over to the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

  • 11.
  • At 05:39 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Kev wrote:

Good move. There is a need but you've got the wrong man.
I read, and enjoy, the Telegraph sports section, but rarely read Bose. I suspect that is the case with the majority of average sports fans picking up the paper's supplement.
Ver-Bose is more apt. Stodgy too. So I'm hoping he has a bit of a presentation makeover before he starts.

  • 12.
  • At 05:43 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Tim wrote:

Sorry June - if its possible to partake in an activity whilst sitting down and (conceivably) asleep, its not a sport.

Maybe there'll be a Past-times Editor soon?

  • 13.
  • At 05:47 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Steve Renshaw wrote:

I can't believe you didn't have a sports editor before!

  • 14.
  • At 06:07 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Alan Forde wrote:

Oh great...now we can look forward to some anti Arsenal bias in the ´óÏó´«Ã½ sports dept.Maybe Mihir can get together with the newsight team and do an expose on David Dein.

  • 15.
  • At 06:10 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Steve Myers wrote:

Interesting appointment, but I hope Mr Bose will change his current reporting bias with regard to Tottenham / Arsenal and adopt a more neutral viewpoint.

  • 16.
  • At 06:16 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • John wrote:

Who is this guy, I don't read the Telegraph so his writings are unknown to me. So what is he going to do? What new persective is he going to bring to the myriad sports that exist from Archery to Darts, or is he an expert on all sports?

  • 17.
  • At 06:50 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • John Wilson wrote:

Excellent choice. Mihir Bose takes sport seriously and writes incisively and intelligently.

I shall miss his Daily Telegraph columns, though.

  • 18.
  • At 07:13 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Lila Das Gupta wrote:

Great to hear this news!
I worked with Mihir when he presented South Asia Report for the ´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service. He is a fantastic reporter with great contacts, a generous colleague, well respected for his neutral and lively contributions. As someone who now works on the Daily Telegraph, I can only say that the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s gain is our loss.
I am not a sport lover but I always find his reports engaging and look forward to him bringing the world of sports to a wider audience.
Good Luck Mihir !

This is very good news. Mihir has a great writing style and would appear to have some great contacts. Very much lookin forward to his contributions.

How about doing a monthly podcast Mihir on the business behind sports? Be happy to help out.

  • 20.
  • At 07:39 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Robert Pollard wrote:

Great appointment...
Have long regarded Mihir as the No 1 sports journalist.

Certain he realises there is much going on outside the M25 stockade, to counter the usual Beeb approach.

Have to agree with Shuvra that Trans World Sport is the bench mark for the genre, by some distance.....

  • 21.
  • At 07:56 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Andrew Newman wrote:

Can we please have some daily dedicated Sports News both on TV and radio, instead of titbits tagged onto news bulletins and summaries.

And by sport I mean all sports, not the huge bias in favour of football found in all parts of the media

I agree with those complaining about the lack of other sports. We need World Of Sport back again, but then we'd need to resurrect Dickie Davies :(

Good appointment though, thanks ´óÏó´«Ã½.

  • 23.
  • At 09:03 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Graham Newsom wrote:

Hey Tim,

What about cycling, rowing, sailing and equestrian? We've won plenty of Gold medals sitting down

  • 24.
  • At 09:19 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Srikrishna Gutta wrote:

Welcome aboard Mihir. I hope you enjoy this role and we enjoy your work :)

I really think ´óÏó´«Ã½ should look at minority sport and board games a lot more seriously.

Chess is a good example. No coverage whatsover of the World Chess Championships or the excellent performance by england teams at chess olympiads.

And similar fate for Angling,Volleyball and lot more other sport.

´óÏó´«Ã½ should also think about more actively promoting participation in sport. Here is a suggestion: Why not provide a section to report on local leagues of minority sports? For instance, there are club leagues for chess. You can get the club secretaries to update the news and scores directly by providing an admin interface. It would encourage the small league players a lot.

  • 25.
  • At 09:29 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • rob williams wrote:

good for Mr Bose; hopefully he can help the ´óÏó´«Ã½ get its head round foreign footballers' names, specifically the 'Latins': Ribas Diego??? Ronaldo Naldo??? and that's just (the Brazilians) tonight...Diego Ribas is known simply as Diego for football purposes whilst Ronaldo (his first name) has chosen the shortened Naldo as his 'footballing' name...its all very well in GB with solid first and second names such as John Terry but the whole world does not have to do as we do...the Beeb wouldn't call England's skipper Terry John now would it? nor would it call him Terry Tezza if he specifically opted to be called by his training-pitch nickname (which probably isn't Tezza, alright)...rant over, rob

  • 26.
  • At 09:33 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Alex R wrote:

One of Mihir's great strengths has been the offend contraversial subjects he has addressed in his columns. Can you confirm that he will still be able to express his opinions in the same manner as he did at the telegraph, unincumbered by a strict ´óÏó´«Ã½ editorial policy?

I'd be grateful for a comment.

  • 27.
  • At 10:16 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • David Hornbuckle wrote:

I greatly enjoyed his writing in the Telegraph where he will be sorely missed. A monthly podcast would be a great idea

A great appointment. Im an avid reader of Mihir's sports columes and am delighted to see not only the creation of this post but the appointment of one of the best people for the job. I thoroughly look foward for a more well rounded and national report of the sporting news on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ NEWS website. I would like to reiterate several comments made already that we do need to see more NATIONAL sporting news and not just the usual "sports". Fishing does exist....welcome Mihir! good luck with the position!

Fantastic news, I can't wait to see the fruits of this news. I am truly surprised however that the ´óÏó´«Ã½ did not previously have a Sports Editor!

  • 30.
  • At 11:41 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Drew wrote:

Good news, but pity you couldn't also hire some people that know how to design message boards. ;)

  • 31.
  • At 11:43 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Alan Wilkinson wrote:

I hope he does a better job than he appears to have done over his reports of the relationship between Arsenal and Beveren in the summer, which appear to have been totally discredited in subsequent investigations.

  • 32.
  • At 11:48 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Robhardiman wrote:

What a great recruitment for ´óÏó´«Ã½ News , Mihir Bose is the best investigative journalist and his commentary is leagues above his competition. If you can poach Gary Richardson from time to time, the two would make a formidable team.
Well done ´óÏó´«Ã½!Quite a loss for the Telegraph.

  • 33.
  • At 11:51 PM on 18 Oct 2006,
  • Gary Naylor wrote:

Superb appointment - at the moment Sir Alex and Big Sam won't talk to the ´óÏó´«Ã½: Mihir will know he's succeeding if that list grows longer!

  • 34.
  • At 12:21 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Stuart Harris wrote:

Mihir
For those of you who do not know him, is a class act
his writing is always more informative than most other
Sports journalists.
I saver every article he writes he is that good.
a great scoop for the ´óÏó´«Ã½, and a huge loss for The Telegraph.

  • 35.
  • At 12:29 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Mark wrote:

My sympathy to Mihir Bose for taking a downgrade in his career. And my condolances to those who worked in ´óÏó´«Ã½'s sports department who thought they were doing a perfectly fine job before this messiah came along. Nobody on staff good enough to promote to this new position from within the organization? So ´óÏó´«Ã½, you have admitted your sports department was not adequate as it was. Which other departments are you looking to hire superstars from the outside to rescue? I know which ones I'd vote for.

  • 36.
  • At 12:37 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • A Oso wrote:

re:Craig McGill and ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland getting a similar person and Stephen Jones wanting more on non-English events. The first B stands for British as Stephen points out so which do people want. ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland OR more Scottish stuff on the ´óÏó´«Ã½? Cake and eat it springs to mind. I'll be happy to see more broad ranging subjects on the Bbc including non-english and especially non-Premiership pre madonna issues. Mihir, can you pull the Beeb away from licking the boots of the over paid and giving all the space/airtime to those spoilt kids. More on the lower leagues and other leagues, more on diverse sports and then we might see more balanced sponsorship spread throughout the less well off sports and then more medal chances - god knows we have tried in football and still fail. Give the other sportspeople a hand. Mihir is a great acquisition, well done Auntie Beeb.
ps after six years in Australia, the hardest thing has been to not have the five live coverage over the weekend of several sports. International rights i assume restrict the net broadcasting..shame

  • 37.
  • At 01:20 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Dom wrote:

Oh no, anti-Arsenal nonsense alert from Tottenham loving Bose. Disaster.

  • 38.
  • At 02:17 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Ben Bernards wrote:

While the creation of this position in itself causes me no great concern, the appointment of Mihir Bose is a woeful one indeed. I can think of few journalists in the last two decades who fail so miserably in the paramount areas of objectivity and balance, as Bose does. Many of his articles for the Telegraph could be summed up in 5 words instead. They are : "Waaaaaah waaaaah, I hate Arsenal".

The word unprofessional is not half strong enough for this poor imitation of a journalist.

  • 39.
  • At 02:51 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Richard Harrison wrote:

Lets hope he leaves his Spurs bias with him at the telegraph.

If you look up all his scare stories about how we will never fill Ashburton you won't have the same faith in his skills.

  • 40.
  • At 05:40 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • richard cohen wrote:

Mihir Bose is an excellent choice, an outstanding journalist with a wide knowledge of sport.

  • 41.
  • At 07:48 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Steve Wilson wrote:

Interesting appointment! I only hope that Mihir will embrace all sports including the rarely covered ones such as Hurling, Non-Premiership and non-English international football, Aussie Rules etc, and not continue the media's obsession with Premiership/English international football - it is extremely dull and up its own backside. Perhaps Mihir could utilise the time taken up by the pointless interviews with football managers and players by producing programmes on popular sports that are largely ignored.

  • 42.
  • At 08:31 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • John Williams wrote:

´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland? That's a good one. I'm also rather partial to the British Gas website where the logo on the banner scrolls between 'British Gas' and 'Scottish Gas'. What's all that about? I though Scotland was part of Britain?

  • 43.
  • At 08:31 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Francis wrote:

I have been an avid reader of Mihir Bose's columns in the Daily Telegraph. With enormous frequency he writes, "As predicted exclusively in the Telegraph....". This comes across as a little bit tabloid in style in a broadsheet. However, his ability to bring new and meaningful stories is the most exceptional of any journalist in sport that I have ever come across. When one reads that there is some event that will happen, if Mihir Bose is the author then the probability of that event actually occurring is extremely high. I would ordinarily be unhappy at losing the privilege of reading his stories in the Telegraph but if he is moving to the ´óÏó´«Ã½, at least I can continue to enjoy the benefit of his work.

  • 44.
  • At 08:55 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Andrew wrote:

Bose is an essentially excellent journalist, with apparently good sources, whose articles I regularly read in The Telegraph.
However, he has a dreadful weakspot in his undisguised support for Spurs and consequent Anti-Arsenal bias.
This is the the man who within the space of a few days desperately tried to give credence to the "dodgy lasanga" and the "Arsenal Own Beveren"
stories, stories that most journalists regarded as amusing silly-season fodder. Therefore as an Arsenal
supporter, I would be greatly worried about what fairy tales Mr. Bose will try to concoct in his new position.

  • 45.
  • At 09:11 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Sam Taylor wrote:

Let's hope this marks a change in the apologetic reporting which seems to permeate the ´óÏó´«Ã½ sports pages. If England do well, then let's see some articles celebrating their glory, rather than something suggesting we were lucky and that just because we won, that doesn't make the other team losers. A bit of passion will go a long way, Mihir.

  • 46.
  • At 09:16 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Steve Isaacs wrote:

An excellent decision in terms of the post/role created (can't believe you did not have a sports editor prior to this...) but my enthusiasm is lessened due to the individual appointed.

I have no personal knowledge of Mr Bose but suffice to say his column's in the DT leave me apprehensive about the level of non-biased contribution he will bring to the ´óÏó´«Ã½.

In my experience his reporting can at [frequent] times be classed as 1-sided, inflammatory & hopelessly biased against Arsenal & David Dein.

He retains an evident & deep seated loathing for the North London club & some of its current & past employee's & I hold out a degree of hope that this style of journalism will not be bought to bear in this new role.

  • 47.
  • At 10:58 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Jeff wrote:

Not a fan of his writing. Too much investigation and hearsay in his reports.

Plus its the same old topics with him.

Wembley, the FA, Arsenal debts, Cricket corruption and repeat all over

Aaaargggggh!

  • 48.
  • At 11:29 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • garyb wrote:

Mihir Bose appears to have waged a campaign of vitriol and bile against Arsenal Foootball club over the past few years.

One can only hope that he realises that in his new found role as sports editor this slanted view point will need to stop.

Remember, Mihir has reported on numerous occasions that Arsenal's new stadium would never open and the whole project would flounder.

I hope he brings greater insight to his new job.

  • 49.
  • At 11:46 AM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Markham wrote:

Does this mean that some of the ex sports stars being employed as summarisers will be sacked to pay for yet another jobsworth? There is already too much of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s revenue spent on "sport". Mind you they are getting rid of Grandstand so maybe we'll get an hour of this man waffling on about "sports" no one but a minority of a minority is interested in. A complete waste of money.

  • 50.
  • At 12:43 PM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • David Lewis wrote:

I totally agree that Mihir Bose is an excellent appointment having heard his insightful contributions to Simon Mayo's Friday Five Live programme . Can I also echo the comments of several earlier correspondents to give us something along the lines of Transworld sport ie a magazine programme with worldwide contributions from a whole range of places and sports . The concentration of resources on not just football but Premiership football to the exclusion of virtually everything else gives a very blinkered view , much as I enjoy the coverage .Sports coverage on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ has become far too parochial - surely with all the correspondents around the world it should be possible to give some coverage to major events such as US baseball play offs currently on going but hardly mentioned even on your web site .

  • 51.
  • At 12:53 PM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Phil Russell wrote:

Could I also say that I thought Transworld Sport was great as it definitely caught the spirit of competition and adventure that encourages sportsmen/women to push their own limits.

I hope Mihir Bose is able to report more on the unity that competitive sports introduce rather than the usual litany of confrontation, conflict and dirty tricks that seem to be the staple diet of sports writers these days.

  • 52.
  • At 03:00 PM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • GlasgowGooner wrote:

Bah, humbug! His anti-Arsenal bias and his 'investigative skills' have been well documented by previous posters. I do hope he's learned from his (many) mistakes!

Interesting appointment, I hope he will feature on your sports website

It could do with a bit of livening up after the dismantling of the popular messageboards

See here, if you don't know what I mean

/blogs/sporteditors/2006/10/quality_and_quantity.html

  • 54.
  • At 04:57 PM on 19 Oct 2006,
  • Mark wrote:

Does this mean we will hear a little more animation in the voice of the presenter who reads the scores? To me it always sounds the same; Left foot seven, right foot five. Left leg three, right leg four. Left arm two, right arm one. Left eye six, right eye three. Is the reader a computer generated voice or is he actually a living human being? Has anyone checked lately to see if he is still alive? Maybe he's like the Cheshire cat, he faded away but only his voice remains.

  • 55.
  • At 04:45 PM on 20 Oct 2006,
  • Kem wrote:

I had began to sway from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Sports journalism since the vile, inconclusive & damaging reports of Arsenal's supposed dealings with Beveren. But the appointment of Bose will make me totally blank the ´óÏó´«Ã½. Bose should not be involved with any journalism concerning Arsenal or it's relations, his bias is astonishingly un-paralelled.

  • 56.
  • At 06:15 PM on 20 Oct 2006,
  • Phil Topping wrote:

Was this job advertised anywhere? Or is it just another example of the ´óÏó´«Ã½'s cronyism?

  • 57.
  • At 09:56 PM on 22 Oct 2006,
  • George McAllister wrote:

I am very surprised at the appointment of Bose to the job of Sports Editor, i expected that it would be an internal appointment and am disappointed that it is not esp when there is a wealth of talent sports correspondents that could easily step up to the mark inc Adam Parsons, Kevin Geary and James Pearce. It could even have been a good moment to finally have a women in a senior editoral role...its the 21st century and still the ´óÏó´«Ã½s on-air editoral team consist of men and men alone.

  • 58.
  • At 10:54 PM on 27 Oct 2006,
  • GlasgowGooner wrote:

So, what has Mr Bose done since 18th October?? It's all been silent. Or is it just that I can't find anything on the 'new and improved' 606 pages? Or the Editors' blogs? Or wherever he's supposed to post stuff???

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