After news broke of Newcastle’s Saudi backed takeover being announced, the footballing world took to social media to react in different ways. Even some of the Newcastle players expressed their satisfaction, noting their pleasure for the fans. Dom Bleackley reports.
Aside from the players, when the news dropped, mainstream media outlets tended to hone in, predictably, on the financial aspects/details/benefits behind the takeover. With more fan-based channels opting for ‘predicted line-ups’, ‘how Newcastle will look when…” etc.
As seen in the above images, the BBC takes a more formative approach, explaining in detail who Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, actually is. Stylistically, this fits the character of the BBC, formative reports about the details, differing from the informative ‘predicted XI’ reports aforementioned. The BBC, and to some extent Sky Sports have taken on the role within the industry of being the trusted source. For genuine, sometimes exclusive, information, you’d go to their news channels.
The immediate reaction from the media resulted in reports of the details behind the takeover, the future for Newcastle and what the fans of the club can look forward to. A week on, with the excitement of the news settled, the media can be seen to take a different approach on the news.
After the dust settled, the focus from the media turned to other clubs, their (bad) reaction towards Newcastle, the Premier League and the ‘morality’ of the takeover. Outrage, disappointment and debates are going to gather more clicks in any industry within the media, but especially football. The media, interestingly, went from reporting the immediate excitement of the takeover, predicted line-ups for the future, praying on the Newcastle fans’ optimism, to the complete contrast. Reports of the wrongdoings behind the takeover, the negative affect it may have on Premier League clubs, is what the media will continue to report upon as fans from all clubs have a natural inclination to be clued up to what is going on, and how it may affect the clubs they support, in doing this the media may, consciously or subconsciously, create a narrative around the takeover in itself, the ‘morality’ of the takeover.
Outrage, disappointment and debates are going to gather more clicks in any industry within the media, but especially football. The media, interestingly, went from reporting the immediate excitement of the takeover, predicted line-ups for the future, praying on the Newcastle fans’ optimism, to the complete contrast. Reports of the wrongdoings behind the takeover, the negative affect it may have on Premier League clubs, is what the media will continue to report upon as fans from all clubs have a natural inclination to be clued up to what is going
on, and how it may affect the clubs they support, in doing this the media may, consciously or subconsciously, create a narrative around the takeover in itself, the ‘morality’ behind it, and the future of the ever-monopolising game.
