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I hate Alan Green even more.
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 peterg  Anerley 26 Apr 16 10.15pm |
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Following the Hillsborough inquest verdict, Alan Green is revealed to have broadcast the police lies about Liverpool fans breaking down an entrance and thus creating the crush that caused the deaths. He and John Motsom recycled this untruth during BBC commentaries that afternoon and so the police propaganda gained traction. All this was laid out in a long detailed report in the Guardian. The two commentators' roles were nothing like as bad as the Sun's, but they helped to lay down a police version of events that has taken almost 30 years to correct.
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| dg1937 26 Apr 16 10.19pm |
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It's easy to criticise with hindsight but what else were they supposed to say? They wouldn't have seen what was going outside the ground themselves and would have been told what had happened. If what they were told was wrong that's not really their fault is it?
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| OhthisbloodyPC 26 Apr 16 10.20pm |
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I feel a bit sorry for Motson. How was he to know the police had lied? As the time, it was open season on football fans in the media, so all kinds of lies were spun. At England away games the fans would often get attacked and the standard line was that England fans were to blame. The Guardian, the BBC and the Independent were especially keen on portraying England fans as organised right wing thugs, without any evidence.
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| peterg Anerley 26 Apr 16 10.26pm |
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You always need a degree of scepticism when reporting official versions of disasters, particularly when the source is potentially at fault.
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| peterg Anerley 26 Apr 16 10.34pm |
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Originally posted by OhthisbloodyPC
I feel a bit sorry for Motson. How was he to know the police had lied? As the time, it was open season on football fans in the media, so all kinds of lies were spun. At England away games the fans would often get attacked and the standard line was that England fans were to blame. The Guardian, the BBC and the Independent were especially keen on portraying England fans as organised right wing thugs, without any evidence. So you are saying the liberal media is to blame, unlike the Mail, Express or (especially) the Sun?
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| PA Bedfordshire 26 Apr 16 10.44pm |
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I read that Guardian report and really don't see how you can point the finger at Motson or Green. They made those comments around an hour after the tragedy unfolded and were relaying what they'd been told by the police. It's not unreasonable to treat comments from those in authority in good faith. The police issued a statement later that evening to correct the comments, as they knew CCTV would show them opening the gates, not the fans forcing them open. That should have rung alarm bells about how the police were going to deal with the whole matter.
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| OhthisbloodyPC 26 Apr 16 10.49pm |
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PeterG, Not saying the liberal media is to blame at all ALL the newspapers had a field day with football fans at the time. My friend was on a train when a bloke came into the carriage and tried to get people to start a fire. Nobody was interested. (He didn't suggest starting a fire, but he kept talking about it. And comparing the group to other fans, who almost certainly would have had the 'bottle' to set fire to their carriage) Seriously. This might be hard to believe, but it's true. but it gets worse. On the following Sunday, an expose of football fans came out in The News of the World. There were interviews with two fans, with pictures of them with scarves 'covering their identity'. They gave quotes saying about how they 'went over the top on match days'. Ironically, these two weren't regular fans anyway, said my friend. So they had nothing to lose by giving a stupid quote for money. The article was written by the bloke who was talking up the idea of starting a fire. A News of the World journalist. I have many more stories. Pull up a chair. Turn the lights down and gather round the fire.
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| Qwijibo Bournemouth 26 Apr 16 10.56pm |
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Alan green is at fault for being grumpy on the radio but he is not at fault for perpetuating police propaganda. It is ridiculous to suggest he had any kind of agenda in this situation
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| Hoof Hearted 27 Apr 16 10.44am | |
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Listen to what he said this morning on R4 Today Programme.... His interview begins at about 1 hour 42 minutes. Make your own minds up after listening to him. Edited by Hoof Hearted (27 Apr 2016 10.46am)
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| silvertop Portishead 27 Apr 16 10.58am |
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Originally posted by OhthisbloodyPC
I feel a bit sorry for Motson. How was he to know the police had lied? As the time, it was open season on football fans in the media, so all kinds of lies were spun. At England away games the fans would often get attacked and the standard line was that England fans were to blame. The Guardian, the BBC and the Independent were especially keen on portraying England fans as organised right wing thugs, without any evidence. This is true. The Euros were held in Germany near that time. I recall a BBC correspondent in among rioting "English" fans. There was destruction, looting and miscellaneous mayhem among a crowd charging down the street all around him. It was actually quite brave journalism. He was saying it was yet another sad day for English football and will something be done to clean our reputation blah blah blah. Obviously, it was nasty what he was happening and there was work needed to stamp out problems at home. However, if I have one criticism of his journalistic ability, it was that the rioters were... erm... German. Unless our fans had all done a crash language course before the tournament?
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