Jack Irvine and Me – How One Tweet Can Be Misrepresented – A Case Study

Back in August I wrote a blog post which referred to a statement from the official Rangers website. You can read my full post here.

It covered the attempt by Rangers to deal with “inaccurate stories” and also referred to Jack Irvine, PR and crisis management guru extraordinaire.

I wrote the following:-

And then, in its penultimate paragraph, the fans are advised that only by reading Pravda the official website will they know the truth – thus implying that every media organisation and newspaper is “anti-Rangers”.

And then, in twelve words which I will quote as the message it sends would be diluted by using my own words, the end of a long and mutually fruitful marriage is signalled:-

“Finally, Jack Irvine of Media House does not speak for this Club.”

Jack Irvine and Media House have been “hand in glove” with Rangers over many years – they were closely connected to Sir David Murray in his time as owner (and with his companies outside football). They worked for Craig Whyte and also continued to serve Rangers loyally during the Duff and Phelps reign. Between February and June 2012 Media House did £124,000 of work for Rangers which, by that stage, was being run by administrators. (In addition Rangers (in administration) paid almost £30,000 to Spreckleys for “media consultancy in connection with the administration” – as I commented at the time, the administrators needed PR people separate from those of the football club, but still charged the company in administration for that!)

Media House continued to work for Rangers until only a few days ago. And now that has come to an end.

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Guess Which Blogger Has Been Taken to Court by Rangers?

As I often say the Scottish courts website is a great source of information and often provides scoops for those happy enough to plough through its pages.

A quick look today revealed a new case on the “calling list”. This means that the action has been raised and served upon the defender, and because at least 21 days have passed the pursuers want to make progress.

Whilst it is not clear precisely what the action is for, I think it is noteworthy that Rangers have taken action.

Who is the lucky blogger to fall victim to Biggart Baillie, the lawyers for Rangers?

The Ups and Downs of the “Rangers Bloggers” – Civil War is Always More Brutal

Historically civil wars and internecine strife have often been more brutal than conflicts between sovereign nations.

Whether we go back to the US Civil War, which cost the lives of more American soldiers than any conflict before or since, or look at the conflicts brought into the open with the crumbling of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, there seems to be more viciousness exchanged between neighbours than across national frontiers.

Cambodia, China, Russia, many African nation-states – the hatred and violence exceeds wars where patriotism for one’s country can unite a country against another.

(That is not to say that war between nations is civilised and genteel. It is clearly not.)

If we look at the present “conflict” for the soul of Rangers, we can see similar signs – of conflict rather than violence of course.

Who Will Break the Silence on “Charlotte Fakes”? Step Forward David Leggat!

The “Charlotte Fakes” phenomenon is something which could only have existed now – in an age where teh Interwebz allows people with an obsession interest in a subject to discuss and share information outwith the normal strictures of the media.

Professor Greg Philo, of the Glasgow University Media Group, believes that the problem with the media is not so much the differing stances it takes on issues but rather the refusal to cover certain topics at all, with this being a trait across the industry.

I wrote about Professor Philo and his thesis following a talk he gave to the Scottish Press Club and I applied his thoughts to coverage at that time (back in early 2012) of the Rangers story by the Scottish media. You can read the piece here.

We now have, in the Charlotte Fakes story, a perfect example, in a post-modern or meta way, of the subject.

Mr Leggat, the Easdales and Charles Green – Thoughts on Defamation and Stock Market Abuse

David Leggat has shown by his insight into the internal affairs of Rangers that he still has a fine nose for a scoop.

He spotted the apparent flaws in Mr Green at an early stage, repeatedly calling him a snake-oil salesman. And even though, as the year progressed, he became one of the biggest cheerleaders for Mr Green and his consortium, he could be excused for having been led into misjudging the soon-to-be former Director.

It would be unfair to hold his change of mind against him, and in fact I am sure he would be quick to claim that he had been right about Mr Green from the start.

Yesterday too he indicated his prescience, pointing out that he had used his contacts to find out about and publicise the freezing of season ticket prices well in advance of the official announcement from Rangers.

As a man with his finger on the pulse, it is clear that he is privy to thoughts inside Ibrox.