Dear Jason,
I have read, bought and valued the New Statesman all of my adult life. I remember Duncan Campbell's reports, the combination of wit and fact, the proper journalism that would inspire BBC and "World in Action" documentaries. How it was part of an agenda that wanted to change the world for the better; and sometimes succeeded.
Maybe the world is beyond changing and now all media (yourselves included) is content with cementing its own identity into a recurring revenue stream on the matrix of opinion that doesn't seek to enlighten, just to damn their opponent.
Unfortunately, your recent article about Newcastle United and the Saudi takeover was so devoid of any merit, nuance and any semblance of fairness that my only response can be that I no longer trust anything you write in your periodical - unless I can validate it with my own experience. I don't buy a subscription for that.
You tolerated a terrible, insulting and lazy article about NUFC Fans. You missed how the KSA and the whole ME situation could be changed by leisure, engagement and diversification. How maybe the State Dept. would rather Saudi money was spent on "overpaid footballers" rather than religious-political causes. How Qatar, Iran, Israel and the entire world may argue about everything, except football. You didn't point out that one former energy producing economy (coals to Newcastle!) is being potentially influenced by a soon-to-be former energy producer (when oil runs out); how a leisure economy is one of the few places the NE of England can still have any influence. How the fight for that influence between active football fans and owners and sponsors has been going on for decades with Virgin, Brown Ale and Wonga on our shirts, Sports Direct on our ground, and money going everywhere except where it's needed.
I'm not a specialist; this stuff is general reading and the work we've done setting up one of the most active and successful football supporters foodbanks in the UK and working with fans since 2007 informs my experience.
So, I conclude that if you misinform and insult when I know something about the subject, your journalism must be unreliable when I don't know the subject. Accordingly, I hope you change, improve and become what you should.
I'll watch from a distance but there's no way I'll contribute to a periodical that insults me, my mother and our great people.
The Hell with you,
Bill Corcoran
I have read, bought and valued the New Statesman all of my adult life. I remember Duncan Campbell's reports, the combination of wit and fact, the proper journalism that would inspire BBC and "World in Action" documentaries. How it was part of an agenda that wanted to change the world for the better; and sometimes succeeded.
Maybe the world is beyond changing and now all media (yourselves included) is content with cementing its own identity into a recurring revenue stream on the matrix of opinion that doesn't seek to enlighten, just to damn their opponent.
Unfortunately, your recent article about Newcastle United and the Saudi takeover was so devoid of any merit, nuance and any semblance of fairness that my only response can be that I no longer trust anything you write in your periodical - unless I can validate it with my own experience. I don't buy a subscription for that.
You tolerated a terrible, insulting and lazy article about NUFC Fans. You missed how the KSA and the whole ME situation could be changed by leisure, engagement and diversification. How maybe the State Dept. would rather Saudi money was spent on "overpaid footballers" rather than religious-political causes. How Qatar, Iran, Israel and the entire world may argue about everything, except football. You didn't point out that one former energy producing economy (coals to Newcastle!) is being potentially influenced by a soon-to-be former energy producer (when oil runs out); how a leisure economy is one of the few places the NE of England can still have any influence. How the fight for that influence between active football fans and owners and sponsors has been going on for decades with Virgin, Brown Ale and Wonga on our shirts, Sports Direct on our ground, and money going everywhere except where it's needed.
I'm not a specialist; this stuff is general reading and the work we've done setting up one of the most active and successful football supporters foodbanks in the UK and working with fans since 2007 informs my experience.
So, I conclude that if you misinform and insult when I know something about the subject, your journalism must be unreliable when I don't know the subject. Accordingly, I hope you change, improve and become what you should.
I'll watch from a distance but there's no way I'll contribute to a periodical that insults me, my mother and our great people.
The Hell with you,
Bill Corcoran
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