Brentford’s Local Press Coverage Has Become Yesterday’s News
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I may be wrong, I rarely am, but if my memory is correct, George Sands was reporting Brentford matches in the thirties.
I am pretty sure that George Sands reported Brentford matches in the late Thirties. It may just be my memory.
Such a shame. However, that’s what our world has become now. Online media platforms, twitter and Facebook for example, and online message forums, GPG etc. Most news is out by the time a local “rag” gets hold of anything worth publishing now. It just makes you wonder how the future researchers will cope!! Nothing like going down to a library and turning on the old micro fiche machine!!
Here’s a piece on the late George Sands by MC
http://www.brentfordfc.net/george-sands/
Sports reporting shouldn’t be forgotten though, I hope it continues and someone takes up the mantle of reporting of Brentford FC again.
Sorry Jim, but the world really continues to change, even though it is clearly heartbreaking for you to see your chosen profession decimated by modern technology. Resisting the impact of the digital world is quite impossible. The only solution is to embrace it and it is for people such as you, who are immersed in media and media distribution because most of us have no idea which platform to use or how to effectively communicate on each platform.
The reason why local media (and national print media) is in rapid decline is because the majority of people just do not read it anymore. Circulations have declined, advertising revenues have declined and the speed of delivering news is painfully slow and expensive compared to digital. Local print media is in mortal decline everywhere in the world and very soon it will not exist at all.
So many young people just do not read a newspaper of any sort at all, so a local report on Brentford would not be read anyway.
Brentford have a small supporter base – bought about by (at best) mediocre results since before I started supporting Brentford in 1954. The supporter base will only grow by firstly, continuing to play well and get to be a leading Premier League Team. Secondly the supporter base will increase by attracting young supporters. Older age supporters will not change because we have all endured many, many years of mediocre football, yet refused to even consider supporting another team, nor for that matter considered it was possible to accept we could follow QPR after the failed 1967 takeover fiasco. The only way is to attract new young supporters who will read and keep up to date with Brentford on digital media, because, quite simply, that is the information source of choice for them.
I now live in Australia, I never lived anywhere near Brentford local media in the UK, but it did not diminish my support for nor the interest in finding news about Brentford.
Once in the Premier League Brentford will play to a global audience, not just an English or even European audience and that will provide a truly large supporter base, together with all the benefits commercially that go along with that. Local Print media and national print media really is quite irrelevant to the audience and supporter base that Brentford will soon play to.
I have no idea how the Manchester United and City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus of this world communicate with their world wide supporter base, but they do and most likely very effectively. That should be the focus for Brentford, Beesotted, you, the Nick Bruzons of this world and others because you all have a major role to play alongside Benham and all of his on field and off field staff in promoting, informing and creating awareness of the news in and around Brentford FC so that the Brentford supporter base continues to grow locally, nationally and Internationally.
Benham and his team are getting it right on the pitch, but there is just as much work to do to embrace the digital world and get the word out about Brentford.
Jim, you have done it before for Brentford and rather than bemoan the reality of the demise of local print media the greatest service you can provide to Brentford is to use all your vast experience and knowledge so that you can lead the Brentford Gospel that needs to be delivered on digital media to the Local, National and International audience and ever growing supporter base.
David, You’re missing the point slightly. I’ve got no issue with the digital world and agree 100% that the print media is dying on its arse due to the fact that it can’t possibly compete with the immediacy of digital. The point of the article – and the biggest regret – was that no local media bothered to have a representative at the game, irrespective of which channel they chose to use. Print is dead yes, but digital isn’t so why would the Chron et al not bother sending a reporter with good knowledge of the club and a bond with the players and Dean Smith. Makes no sense at all.
My Mum used to cut out the articles in the Chronicle in the early 90’s when I was at University, and would send me them every week, even when I spent 6 months on a placement in France they wold make their way over the Channel. Sadly The Chronicle hasn’t even entered my thoughts regarding Bees for at least 5 years.