Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

An alternative to the media

By Kieran   Fitzgerald  ::  07/10/2011   67 Comments (»Last) Many people on this site have criticised it for being overly negative. Apparently, all we ever do ? and I include myself in this ? is complain, whinge and see the worst in everything to do with the club. Maybe this is true; maybe it isn't. For me, I think the fact that I can come on to the website and read a number of different opinions and ideas posted by and for fans, is part of something bigger that is of huge value to fans of clubs like ours.

A website like ToffeeWeb isn't just about fans getting the opportunity to voice their opinion. It has proven itself to be highly informative in relation to potential stadium moves over the years, to highlighting the work of groups like KEIOC and Blue Union, to the workings of the Board, to what has happened at AGMs and even just providing high quality match reports.

Now this isn't just a piece of propaganda for the site. I have often disagreed with pieces posted by Michael and Lyndon, and have felt sometimes that we have been overly negative when contributing to the site. However, for fans of clubs like Everton, who are pretty much regarded as non-entities by the Media, social media outlets such as websites like ToffeeWeb or Bluekipper, are invaluable sources of information that we just wouldn't get anywhere else.

Take the traditional media. Regardless of what Everton do over the coming season, the Media will only ever trot out the same point. Haven't we done brilliant on a shoestring budget.

Take Fulham as another example. They could win the Europa League this season and finish in the top eight in the league. The only thing that the Media will bother to write about is that Fulham is what Roy Hodgson did next after leaving Liverpool.

Bolton could sign the Barca starting eleven in the January transfer window but the only thing that the Media will bother to write about, if at all, is that Bolton is a club renowned for it's hoofball tactics. How many full- or half-page articles will you see in the broadsheets about West Brom this season?

Journalists and TV pundits don't want to know about clubs outside of the super rich group of Sky Darlings. They don't want to bother researching. It's easier to just recycle the standard article. Their knowledge or interest in clubs like Everton or West Brom or Swansea is very poor. Chelsea and Man Utd sell newspapers and boost viewing figures, for them it is sexy football at it's finest. Journalists and TV pundits are happy to wax lyrical about Arsenal and Man City as it's good for their profile and makes them look knowledgeable. Every other club can just do and behave as they want.

I don't know about other clubs' websites. I don't know how good or how bad they are. I would hope for the sake of their fans that they have access to websites like ToffeeWeb and Bluekipper. Whether you agree with the style on websites like these, or even with the approach of supporters' groups like KEIOC or Blue Union, please just take the time to value the contribution they all make to clubs like Everton, or West Brom or Fulham. Without them, for fans like me, my knowledge would be confined to what the media and the offical site bother to give me.

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