Midway through the season, I was stuck in between some conflict between the manager at the time and the hierarchy of the club.
Following a defeat, the manager gave out his honest opinions which were strong and direct message towards the club. This was recorded as part of the post-match interview and we as the media team were encouraged by the manager to post it across social media. Initially, I feel we were all hesitant on posting the video as it was so strong, but we trusted the manager and felt it would not be right if edited what he said or even not posted it at all.
A few hours after the video was posted, we all received a message from the Business officer that he had been told by the clubs hierarchy, for us to take down the video as soon as possible. We initially were not given a reason for the removal of the video so we did not take any immediate action, however we soon got another message that it had to be removed no matter what.
The video was then taken down immediately and us as the media were given an explanation. We were told that the manager’s comments, despite being very truthful, were affecting the club’s image in a bad way. At first, we did not understand this and thought honesty was the best policy, but we then started to realise the potential damage the video could do.
As much as the club needed change at the time, to post a video which points out some of the problems is poor branding and could deter future players/coaches from signing for the club. We as the media team should have recognised this from the beginning and despite being asked by the manager to post the video, we should have made the correct judgement. We also could have discussed with the manager that the message still could have been posted but via their own social media platforms as it is too risky to post on the club’s own account.
Despite having this issue this season, I am glad I experienced it as this type of situation will inevitably come up in the future. The biggest learning curve I got from it all is that as a journalist, whoever you are working for, you have to be respectful and represent who they are and their values. If you do not do this, you can land yourself in big trouble and consequences will occur not only for yourself but the organisation you are working for.
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