大象传媒

I'm sure that you're not a bunch of little Englanders, Paul, but Wednesday's programme still felt like a sour watch to me. I don't remember Des Lynam opening the 1986 final with "come on the Germans" after Maradona's handball. And I still think John Motson's "I thought he was supposed to be a genius" remark about Scolari was ungracious and illogical.

It's easy to point out the presence in the 大象传媒 team of Desailly and Leonardo, both of whom had interesting things to say. But I think your insistence on edging out Martin O'Neill, easily the 大象传媒's most cogent analyst, for England games, in favour of less articulate English panellists was a mistake.

I wasn't left with the impression that Alan Shearer thought it would be a bad thing if Rooney did "stick one" on Ronaldo. In retrospect, it was an enlightening remark, both about Alan Shearer and the level of intelligence in English football. He was certainly in a big sulk on Wednesday night.

This is a pretty poor excuse for your coverage really. No, your pundits and commentators didn't actually urge viewers to go out and assault the nearest Portugese. No, Shearer didn't actually say that Rooney SHOULD assault Ronaldo. However this is a bit like the National Front saying that if somebody attacks a Pakistani as a result of something the NF have said, it is nothing to do with them because they didn't specifically tell that person to do so.

Somebody pointed out on another blog that it was unfair to paint all English people as small-minded xenophobic bigots. Indeed the many posts from English people protesting about your coverage proves this. Why does your coverage seem to be based on the assumption that they are?

The comments above (Ron and Rob Long) are spot on. The 大象传媒 used to be above the gutter media but this World Cup has seen a quite alarming drop in standards; Lineker and Shearer in particular have been appalling. I distinctly remember David Beckham insisting there could be no excuses for England's failure to win this world cup. Moreover, it was a statement that was endorsed by the England media (including the 大象传媒). I find it remarkable that when England do go out the finger is pointed at Sven and Ronaldo (two foreigners). No mention of the fact that the 'golden generation' just weren't good enough to stand up and be counted. Such partisan commentary is below the 大象传媒.

Also, every mention of Rooney's dismissal has been accompanied by reference to Ronaldo's 'antics' which, along with Portugal's diving, have almost overtaken the 大象传媒 coverage. I seem to remember Steven Gerrard cheating against Hungary by diving to win a penalty and Ian Wright defending it on the basis that other countries do it. If the English players are happy to adopt an attitude of 'if you can't beat them join them' it is not open to the 大象传媒 pundits to suggest (as they have done) that England are a more honest side than Portugal and have somehow maintained the moral high-ground.

I am by no means an over-zealous reactionary but I honestly believe that MOTD/大象传媒 ought to apologise for their indefensible approach to the coverage of the World Cup post England v. Portugal. More importantly I would be anxious to see it return to its previously high standards.

As an Englishman, I now finally understand why our Welsh, Scottish and Irish cousins get so annoyed with the commentators when England play.

It was dismal and embarrasing to watch. We promote Britain as a multi-cultural society, especially London, and forget these people when England are playing, instead faling back on "dirty foreigner" stereotypes.

Match of the Day now reminds me of the last days of the old Radio One, when that station had all these "lovable" old DJs who were stuck in their ways and totally out of touch with current music fans. They were parodies of themselves. The 大象传媒 shook up that station, brought in some young blood, and it's never been better. The 大象传媒 should do the same with its sports coverage, starting with football.

Think you鈥檙e missing the point Paul. We weren鈥檛 discussing whether or not the World Cup inspires passion 鈥� passion is motivation. Opposing teams are鈥�.well opposed, opinions will be divided. What a lot of people wanted to discuss, as well you know, was the extent to which Match of the Day wanted to pour petrol on the flames of passion that were already burning very nicely thank you and make sure the world was torn asunder way beyond the confines of football.

Nice of you to mention the child being bullied because their parent is Portuguese but a long way from the apology I鈥檓 looking for. Interesting that everybody who commented presumed that the teacher was male 鈥� they were in fact female. You give the impression that these are isolated incidents perpetrated by odd individuals who 鈥榟ave lost the plot鈥�. Wrong, they are part of a huge body that simply can鈥檛 stomach the Portuguese and their 鈥榓ntics.鈥� Yours and your commentator鈥檚 words are still resounding around the place - just in case you ever doubted the enormous influence that you have on your audience.

Being from Leicester there was a time when I would have been pleased to hear Gary Lineker鈥檚 words regurgitated so prolifically but not today. Sorry Gary but having held you in high esteem and having followed your rise high above even football to the realms of the 大象传媒 I have to say I鈥檝e fallen out with you. As I drove past a well known crisp factory this afternoon I thought with great sadness where did it all go so terribly wrong. Please show us you have a heart that extends to all your devotees even the Portuguese ones.

"By the way, the German media 鈥� and by all accounts, that of most of the rest of Europe 鈥� haven鈥檛 been particularly kind about Portugal鈥檚 efforts, nor those of England, for that matter."

The first part is true, the second is not. The English, French, Duth and to a lesser extent German and Australian media, each for different reasons, mostly joined in on the irrational lynch mob. All the rest of the non-Anglophile world's press saw the same thing that the statistics and unbiased eyes saw -- Portugal players did not dive any more often than those of several other countries:

When the 大象传媒 included Miguel's knee-ligament injury as one of two prime examples of Portugal's diving, it became clear that you were desperate to find any evidence to confirm you prejudices. Given that this was after Portugal's had already lost to France and was essentially out of the tournament, it was either incredibly vicious of you or a desperate attempt to provide cover for your shameful actions.

I'm happy to accept that people hold some strong views aon this subject. However, I would like to correct the much-repeated complaint about the inclusion of Miguel's injury in the sequence on Wednesday. We were not suggesting it was a dive, but were demomstrating how Miguel's teammate Pauleta and the coach Scolari appealed vociferously for a foul despite there being no opponent anywhere near him when he went down.

Could we give this a rest now?

It鈥檚 an English tradition to over react when someone knocks us out of a competition. It will all be forgotten when the tabloids find something else to wine about.

No one suggested that Migel dived they just said it wasn't a free kick and no one is seriously suggesting that Portugal cheated to beat England. All that happened was that Ronaldo did something silly that he didn't need to and the 大象传媒 spent five minutes showing occasions where Portuguese players did dive in the Semi Final.

Of course other teams dived, Joe Cole for one got Larsson booked in the England Sweden game by diving. The fact that so many people are upset about this says more about their own passion and support for Portugal than it does for the 大象传媒's biased coverage.

Please do not compare the National Front to a bunch over heated Football fans getting angry and shouting rubbish to a footballer because of something he did that annoyed them. For example the Liverpool fans will probably boo Gary Neville just as much next time they play Man Utd for what he did last season etc, etc. etc.

Being in Germany, I am not able to follow the 大象传媒s World Cup TV coverage, but I have enjoyed the Blogs on this website a lot. They seemed to be fair and impartial and every time a Blogger took a rather personal point of view it was clear that the author didn't want to be obhejctive - which is fair enough.

Still, I was kind of annoyed to read the lame excuse that Alan Shearer did not ask Rooney to foul Cristiano Ronaldo (I have seen this bit on a webstream). To say "I would not be surprised..." is nothing else but an invitation to an assault and to bring up excuses for that is simply ridiculous. Alan Shearer over-reacted (not the audience who complained) and he should apologise. You don't say things like that on TV - simple as that. 21-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo will be forced to leave England, partly because of your coverage. And that's sad.

really hope the italians win tomorrow`s game,i mean lets be honest here,the french team does`nt really have very many actual french people playing in it.am i wrong?

I don't really understand the sudden fuss about the reaction of the bench? You don't get a good view from there, pretty understandable in the heat of a match you might overreact to certain incidents, especially when a player clearly picks up an injury. The decision to use an incident where a player picked up a bad injury was poor judgement and in poor taste.

Well Paul, that may be so, but then you could do the same with dozens of other even more blatant situations for every team in every game of the tournament, and you didn't. I've been keeping track of several moments in the coverage that probably do rise to the level that there should be action by the 大象传媒 board.

There's Shearer essentially making an appeal to violence.

There's the fact that Hargreaves was the only player booked for harranguing the ref in the England-Portugal match, clamoring for a non-existent pen. But that was described as 'great fighting spirit' and never mentioned again, while Ronaldo's much shorter protest continues to be vilified in the most abject way.

The only dive with any actual consequences for the game in the England-Portugal match was Joe Cole winning a free-kick with a blatant dive (zero contact) at the edge of the box.

The only player, as far as I could tell, that got a verbal warning from the ref for diving in the France-Portugal game was Zidane (shortly before the pen), for the most cynical dive of the entire match. The only time I've seen this mentioned was when describing Maka's reaction to it -- berating Zidane not to get himself booked, 'great team spirit', protecting the great man for the fairytale final, etc. No vilification of Saint Zidane.

Then there's Henry's antics, making a meal of a 50/50 call to draw a pen. And there's the wildly different reactions to Maniche vs. Henry clutching their noses (at least Maniche was hit in the jaw, Henry not even that).

I could go on at great lenght, because it's easy given that there are so many stark examples of bias -- the statistics aren't there by accident.

That even today the 大象传媒 continued it's disgusting biggoted and hateful campaign in the Germany-Portugal game really puts this in an even more serious light (the 3rd party stats for this game are not out yet, but I counted 3 dives by Portugal and 5 dives by Germany -- including one that conned the ref into giving Costinha a yellow card).

It does start having a whiff of a smell of National Front. For whatever it's worth, I filed a formal complaint with the 大象传媒 board.

tony bee -- the issue is not about whether the teams were good or bad, or about whether they 'deserved' to win or not. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and were closely matched. England will have a hard time winning the WC without more technically gifted players -- and having so many divas doesn't help either. Portugal has no chance until they develop good strikers to complement they brilliant midfield and passable defense.

But the issue is not that. The issue here is about the 大象传媒 joining in in the media's witch-hunt. The 大象传媒 is British, so rooting for England is expected and acceptable. However, throwing away all standards of objectivity, fairness and decency is not expected. And promoting hatred is not acceptable.

Mike, Well done! You got the message.

Just heard on Skysports news that Cristiano Ronaldo wants out of Manchester United due to the treatment he has received concerning the Rooney incident. Bet the BBc and the other "lynchmobs" which include so called football fans and the media are really proud of themselves. Shame on my fellow countrymen for driving out someone whose only crime was to stand up for his team mate in a football match ( at this time he was playing for Portugal and NOT Man United!).Makes me ashamed to be English ! Mike-couldn't agree more with your comments.

thanks for opening this blog entry for comments.

The 大象传媒 have learned that you can't shut down a blog.

Which they should learn and apply to their forums too.

Thanks to Paul Armstrong for his views and insight of how people think inside 'the box'. Ooops I meant beep.

Paul Armstrong,

You've replied to defend yourself on the Miguel incident, why don't you reply to the simple question that cries out from these blogs: why have you focused on Portugal when it is clear that other countries have comprable, if not worse, diving/cheating records? Just set the record straight - have you and your team allowed your emotion to degrade the high standard of 大象传媒 braodcasting?

The World cup throws up some funnies

At the start of the WC I'd never have predicted leaping out of my chair with joy (with the same enthusuiasm as England scoring) when Germany scored a goal against Portugal. I'm sure it will end with some form of diplomatic incident; Portugese Gun Boat off Margate, Re-targeting of Trident misiles onto Lisbon...

Something was finally going to end anti-german rhetoric. The bbc's anti Portuguese rhetoric might end up as a really good Fawly Towers episode...

I suppose the Treaty of Windsor between England and Portugal should really be torn up - 1386 wasn't a world cup year.

Dear J Wood,

I am sorry but Portugal will not be able to satisfy your request for more exciting and funny entertainment... We just don't have the miliary power to do it.

Maybe our President or Prime-Minister can borrow some Gun Boats from our oldest allies! Oh... Hang on... I guess we can't do that either, since apparantly Portugal is persona non grata... What a shame!

We can try to send C. Ronaldo to Germany and wink at everyone who passes his way. Maybe that will do the trick!

Looks like Ronaldo McDolnaldo's on his way. Of more concern is Sols departure from Arsenal. They are already lining up an oversees player as replacement.Ashley Cole probably will not be staying which means they will be playing without a single English player. Dein should resign from the FA. Its a shame Spurs didn't get that final championship spot because they at least have English International's who desperately need international experience (as We have seen these last weeks!). I am not a supporter of either team (Up the Owls!) but at least Martin Jol has some respect for English football. I'd love to ask Arsene Wenger why he thought Walcott was good enough for England when He obviously wasnt good enough for Arsenals first team?

I am no racist but in the interest of our game I think We should limit the number of foreign players in the premiership otherwise the England Manager will be picking his team from the Championship with obvious consequences. (Though they will probably play with more passion!)

Jane

'The World torn assunder'? Surely not! Round where I live people have largely forgotten the World Cup. They may have moaned about the Portuguese for a couple of days - but now I hear nothing. I know Leicester well actually and considering it has a large immigrant population I'm really surprised to hear of your experiences.

As for your child being bullied at school - I'm truly sorry - but I would take serious issue with your teacher. My children have been to 2 different primary schools. At both huge efforts have been made to introduce the children to different cultures and societies. They've been taken to mosques, temples and synagogues (no churches). At their present school they have a policy of zero tolerance of bullying . Yes the English arn't beyond reproach but were getting there.

As for Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer they represent the face of our National team on the 大象传媒. Dont you think political correctness will have reached ridiculous proportions if they couldnt criticize other nations for the way they play against England - particularly in the light of some of the hateful criticism the English team came under. But for good measure the 大象传媒 threw in Leondardo and Marcel who were largely very supportive of Ronaldo and the Portuguese players.

I wonder if whatever you are experiencing in the way of prejudice has more to do with how the tabloids have been whipping up hysteria than anything Gary Lineker has said.

I think you should be careful not to exaggerate. You just have to read some of the rabid anti-English posts to realize that we all come in for our fair share of prejudice and remember that only a couple of weeks ago a 7 year old Scottish boy was beaten up for supporting England!

To Penny and others

Yes, we have heard a great deal about the 7 year old boy beaten up in Scotland for wearing an England shirt. Fortunately he was not badly hurt. We seem to have heard nothing whatever on the 大象传媒 about the 17 year old German boy who was attacked by a group of men in England for wearing a German shirt, knocked unconscious and hospitalized. If one incident was such big news, why was the other not?

@James (Post No. 12): Yes, you are blatantly wrong. How long does somebody have to live in a country to become a "real" - insertnameofcountry -? Can somebody who has the "wrong" skin colour, denomination, last name etc. never be a "real" countryman? This is ridiculous. People move from one country to another and they become citizens, they learn the language, get a passport and become "countrymen". In Germany, there is a big Turkish, a big Polish and a big Italian community. Whoever decides to become a player for the German national team is more than welcome - I actually find it more strange that there are players who are born here, have lived here all of their lives and still decide to play for their "home countries" that they only know from their holidays. Does that answer your question?

You have misquoted Shearer by the way:

"I think theres every chance that Wayne Rooney could go back to the ManUtd training ground and stick one on Ronaldo"

were his actual words.

It would appear that it is perfectly okay for England players to cheat and dive, e.g. Gerrard, Crouch, Cole and Robinson, your pundits even condoned that; but are mightily aggrieved that England were cheated out of a semi-final place by Portugal because Cristiano Ronaldo winked at the bench some minutes after Rooney was sent off for stamping.

Since then 大象传媒 video editors have been working overtime collecting every shred of evidence they can, however flimsy or outrageous, to prove that Portugal are cheats.

That is disgraceful.

Further since England have been knocked out you, your bloggers and your MOTD pundits have been at great pains desribing how poor this World Cup has been. When you consider that we have witnessed the finest ever World Cup goal ever scored, great peformances from Cannavaro and Zidane, great games in the knock-out stages between Argentina and Mexico, Brazil and France, and of course the classic between Germany and Italy that attitude too is nothing sort of disgraceful.

It's not even a question of sour grapes anymore, it's more the lack of professionalism at the 大象传媒 that should be more of a worry. This xenophobic bile is simply very poor broadcasting.

I've been an ardent follower of bbc when it comes to news in general ever since I've had access to it from the philippines via cable or the internet, as I deem its coverage a cut above the rest in terms of objectivity. I was appalled, however, by the way the world cup coverage was thrown into the gutter by bigotry showing its ugly face after the ronaldo-rooney incident. This time cnn handled the job better. I believe some people in the bbc owe its readers/followers a serious apology. Thank you very much.

Paul,
Dont try to defend what is impossible the way that bbc behaved is xenophobic. You lost not because of Ronaldo you lost because your team doesnt know how to play and they dont score penalties. The work of bbc is shameful, disgusting and outrageous! If it was a small country like Portugal doing the same what would call them third world or under developed. The ability of accepting the defeate is something good in life, a country a tv station that dont learn anything with defeats are loosers. And being humble and ask apologize to the misjudge of the portuguese it is what differs men from beasts.
You dont clean your hands with this article Paul you will be responsible, like lineker and shearer and other bbc reports for furthers developments. Y>ou accused a country without the possibility of having a fair judgement..that reminds stalin...are you going to send the entire nation to the gulag because of a football game? balme on gerard, roney, beckham,lampard and the others that were playing in slow motion and leave the small nation in peace and dont crucify a young player when rooney was the only responsible!
Great article Mike

If, as has been suggested, viewers have contacted the 大象传媒 demanding action against Shearer based on a misquote then this new Blog topic is wholly justifiable.
Regarding the 大象传媒 and the newspapers causing the hatred of Ronaldo, I and many others watched the incident in the England v Portugal game live (ie not the 大象传媒's choice of camera shots)with the sound barely audible (in a crowded bar) and our reaction was 'He won't be able to play here again'. It is not a reflection of supporting or condoning of any action against him but just reality, he had burned his bridges publicly. Post match comments and the press can obviously stir things up but the immediate reaction of the viewer should not be underestimated - we had preceded Shearer's prediction without any media influence neccessary.

Ronaldo will now have to look at leaving Man Utd ? What the hell was all that business three weeks ago which required their assistant manager to fly to Germany, days before the England game, or I did I just imagine it ?
He has not been hounded out of a country he is simply a professional who's relationship will his fellow professionals has become unattainable due to his behaviour.
Maybe the wink was directed towards Madrid.....

Mr. Paul Armstrong.

For years our public TV (RTP) used the 大象传媒 as a model, now mr. Armstrong i think it is time that you see our TV and maybe learn something.

For centuries England was our reference as a country, today in the restaurant the TV show a small piece about the attack to the Ronaldo麓s house in England, i can麓t tell you here what as the reaction of the public to the English, must of the comments involved someone mother...

Mr. Armstrong, do you have reporters from the 大象传媒 expelled from a fan park in Germany, with stones, by portuguese fans? No? you must talk with the portuguese reporters, they can tell you some experiences with your country men.

Usually we are by nature a very pacific people, when we fail we talk about destiny or "Fado", we aren麓t used to be villains to nobody and surely we don麓t villianize no one.

My thanks to you Mr. Armstrong, the 大象传媒, Guardian, Sun, etc. for show to all the portuguese how much superior we are as a culture and people.

Viva Portugal

Neste momento estou farto de ingleses, isto passa mas por agora...

I know its a bit late for this topic but I hope its read by the 大象传媒 production crew anyway.

Firstly, with regards Paul Armstrong's post above - The coverage by the 大象传媒 was poor over the semi final and unfortunately displayed very obvious signs of personal grudges held by 大象传媒 commentators/analysts. Messrs Shearer, Linekar, Motson and Lawrenson seemed to hold this purely because of the Portugal England game while O'Neill (a man I admire greatly for his management skills and intelligence) was consistently showing his contempt for Portugal throughout the tournament. There is no excuse for some of the coverage and the implications that were made surrounding Rooney's sending off; that is, that he was only sent off because of Ronaldo's actions. This was in stark contrast to the official commentary position during the game itself: John Motson said that for the stamp Rooney deserved to go. Clearly, the 大象传媒 had changed its viewpoint in the intermittent period.

The coverage was aimed throughout the semi final at the Portugese player's tendency to dive. Yes, this is an undesireable part of football and yes it needs to be stamped out. However, what is annoying most people is the 大象传媒's double standards over this: what about Michael Owen's dive against Argentina in 2002, Steven Gerrard against Jamacia, Gary Linekar against Cameron, Aaron Lennon against Portugal and Alan Shearer in 2000 to name a few? If you consistently said that diving was wrong with reference to all incidents, including England's players, then one would not feel that you are being biased in your coverage.

Re Alan Shearer's comments. I know this is a rather tedious analogy but i'll use it anyway. Over the past few months, a very highly publicised campaign has been made to make incitement to terrorism a criminal offence. In all honesty, this was not actually needed as there was already an offence in regards incitement to commit a crime. Nonetheless, the logic over the terrorism/criminal acts may be applied here - Alan Shearer, although not directly saying Rooney should punch Ronaldo, is inciting a crime (assault) and this is inexcusable on the 大象传媒 and live TV. The 大象传媒 should also be aware of the influence of the media and in particular with regards children. They should not be encouraging violence in a programme that many young boys and girls will have been watching, and must surely take this responsibility seriously. If a similar incident happened in a school playground, what would stop an impressionable young boy from punching his friend for diving in a school game. Alan Shearer should apologise for his words and I think most people would recognise that they were said in the heat of the moment, however, this does not by any means excuse such irresponsible behaviour by a professional broadcaster.

Re Miguel's injury and post 7.
I do accept that on Wednesday's coverage, the main focus of its inclusion was over Pauletta's run to complain over a foul. However, in the initial game itself and aftermath, it was included as an example of a dive. This was clearly not a dive and Miguel has subsequently suffered an injury. Please make sure for future reference that you are more careful with your selection of footage as this is insensitive. How would you have felt if, for example, Spanish or German coverage included Michael's Owen injury as an example of a dive?

Moreover, you gave such strong coverage of Pauletta's appeal for a foul on Miguel, however, you seem to have ommitted from your coverage Owen Hargreaves's attempt to do the same following Aaron Lennon's dive. Please be consistent with your coverage and highlight the same failings by English players too.

Overall, I think the 大象传媒's coverage in this World Cup has been average, some good some not so good (I think most people, including Paul Armstrong, will be aware of who the bad commentators/analysts were), and has been distinctly less impressive than I expected from them. I hope for future international games and tournaments the 大象传媒 takes note of the criticism both directed to itself and the pundits, to ensure more enjoyable coverage. This could start by clearing out the old gaurd and giving people like Steve Wilson and Adrian Chiles a more prominent role. I suspect, however, that they won't and we will have to endure another tournament with the same level of poor coverage.

Just logged on again back in Television Centre, London. I can't allow the above comments from Pan to be the last posting following a blog pointedly called "Peace Love and Understanding". I think the use of "Stalin" "Cleaning your hands" "Crucify" and other similar terms are perhaps a little excessive, not to say hysterical. We broadcast hundreds and hundreds of hours of coverage from Germany, and if at any point you heard anyone say anything defamatory about the Portuguese nation or people I'd love to know about it. Our pundits criticised a few players, but then they also criticised players from pretty much everywhere else, including England

Although I don't think the 大象传媒 are exempt from criticism over their World Cup coverage, I do agree with Paul when he says that to use analogies with Stalin is a bit harsh.

There has been, without any doubt as far as i'm concerned, a hugely disproportionate level of blame aimed towards Ronaldo, by the 大象传媒 and other media outlets, rather than accepting England's failings, both of the players and the management, and this will undoubtedly lead to pressure on Ronaldo next season. Hopefully, for all concerned, this will not result in physical violence aimed at him, either by Rooney or otherwise, and I do have confidence that most football fans will not strike out at him in retaliation.

I accept that it would be wrong to blame the 大象传媒 wholely for any such violence as they have not been the only, or indeed the worst proponents of the campaigns against Ronaldo, however if such an incident occurs, I believe the 大象传媒 will have to accept that they may have played their part.

Whatever happened to the customer is always right?