Frenkie de Jong updates are difficult to come by but needs must. And Mediawatch runs it back with Raheem Sterling, The Sun and the Daily Mail.
Thought offside
It’s refreshing to see a Raheem Sterling story in The Sun and not subconsciously wince at what is to come. But the year is 2022 and the nation’s best-selling newspaper is no longer titillated by the idea of inexplicably bullying the England forward.
They report on Sterling’s first press conference as a Chelsea player, during which the abhorrent abuse he suffered from some Blues fans in December 2018 was brought up.
Tom Barclay recounts the sorry saga in depressing detail before landing at these two paragraphs:
‘Sterling spoke out after the incident, claiming his reaction at the time was to laugh because he expected “no better” and claimed sections of the media “fuelled racism” with their portrayals of young black players.
‘His statement was seen as a turning point in the battle against bigotry, giving other players the power to speak out and the press pause for thought over coverage.’
Ah yes. It was almost four years ago but Mediawatch remembers with absolute clarity how Sterling’s statement gave ‘the press pause for thought over coverage’. And after an incredibly short pause, here was the sum total of The Sun’s thoughts at the time, kindly preserved for clarity:
‘LET’S get something straight. The racist abuse of Raheem Sterling at Chelsea is not somehow The Sun’s fault. We hope those allegedly responsible get what they deserve. We hugely admire Sterling’s talent. Our coverage of his off-field behaviour has nothing to do with skin colour. The suggestion is ridiculous and offensive – and the idea it inspired racists is baseless. His media mates should engage their brains before dishing out accusations without a shred of evidence.’
A reminder that Sterling’s ‘off-field behaviour’ extended to buying his mum a house, getting a tattoo in honour of his dead father and flying with EasyJet.
Perhaps they have paused for thought at some point over the years since, but The Sun certainly did no such thing at the time and they know it.
Ster crazy
As an aside, here is the result of The Sun’s website‘s ‘pause for thought over coverage’ when it came to Sterling:
Mightily impressive stuff from @TheSun.
Manages to entirely airbrush out of existence the fact he blames the press for whipping up this hatred.
If hiding your head in the sand is how the…
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