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‘Cheerleading’ coverage of Wales at Euros shows UK ‘has stopped pretending it is one’ complains Telegraph

12 Jul 2021 2 minute read
Gabby Logan presents coverage of Wales’ matches on the BBC. Image by the BBC.

It may come as a surprise for anyone who sat through yesterday’s coverage of the Euros 2020 final between England and Italy, but it was the lack of balance in broadcasters’ coverage of Wales matches that drew the Telegraph newspaper’s ire this morning.

Rounding up the “good, the bad and the ugly” of the tournament, the newspaper’s pet peeve was that the BBC’s coverage of Wales’ matches against Switzerland, Turkey, Italy and Denmark was too one-sided.

And it argued that the coverage in support of Wales suggested that the “different countries of the UK have given up pretending they are as one”. Wales has fielded its own international team since 1876.

The Telegraph included Wales’ BBC coverage under the heading “Most one-sided selections”.

“Gabby Logan presented the Wales games with an all-Welsh pundit trio who were all allowed to talk of ‘we’ and basically cheerlead (which is not to deny that England games are covered with partisan fervour as well),” the newspaper said.

“It is sign of the times that a) being neutral or objective is so last year, and b) perhaps, that the different countries of the UK have given up pretending they are as one.”

Without a hint of irony however, the same article praised as the best partnership of the tournament “Ian Wright and [Emma] Hayes’s celebration of England’s equaliser versus Denmark”.

“[It] was perfection: would absolutely watch a travel show where they go to places together in a really enthusiastic way.”


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Quornby
Quornby
2 years ago

Bloody hypocritical English media is a symptom of the entitled English polity.

hdavies15
hdavies15
2 years ago

If those Welsh presenters were “guilty” of anything it was their cheerful and understated use of language. DT and other English rags just cannot accept that their BBC England coverage with its endless jingoistic prattle set a very high bar for anyone else to even contemplate matching. So no one did except for ITV in odd bursts. BBC coverage of 2 non UK countries contrived to bring the chatter round to what “we”, i.e Engerland, were going to do, or what they had eaten that morning …….. Bunch of dunces.

CJPh
CJPh
2 years ago

It’s funny, in a way. Should you ask any of the Welsh football pundits if they would support an independent Cymru I’m sure you’d get a majority ‘no’ back. Rugby pundits/players, on the other hand, would most likely be a good deal more split (even favouring separation). Our national football culture is certainly more pro-indy. Our national rugby culture is more in support for the establishment. Could be a young/old thing, probably not a class thing (rugby isn’t a posh boy sport here). The fact that a clutch of welsh soccer stars can talk about their national team without referring… Read more »

Last edited 2 years ago by CJPh
Bruce
Bruce
2 years ago
Reply to  CJPh

Except they are quite content to just steal our water and clean energy and gradually turning Wales into a weekend break destination for wealthy English people.

Llin
Llin
2 years ago
Reply to  Bruce

not gradually turning it into o holiday hot spot. It already is one. Fine, tourists are welcome, but do not buy our houses to use for a couple of weeks a year. Thanks you

Brian Coman
Brian Coman
2 years ago

Like groundhog day, the same rhetoric after every loss…the massive hype went sour again. No mention of how Wales or Scotland competed in the Euros. .
The World Cup is around the corner,apparently England are the only mentionable home Nation team with the English media,some things will never change.

Chris
Chris
2 years ago

Oh boo hoo!
I was in the local Spar yesterday and noticed that EVERY SINGLE Sunday (including the massive pile of unsold Torygraphs) was COVERED in Georgie Crosses and varying degrees of jingoistic headlines.
Every single “British” national “news” paper was England, England England.
So ONE programme where Cymru are playing has commentators being enthusiastic about our game is reason for the bigoted Torygraph to pi55 and moan?

Last edited 2 years ago by Chris
Bruce
Bruce
2 years ago

Who gives a flying fcuk what the Daily Torygraph say.

Ned Parish
Ned Parish
2 years ago

Today I was listening in the background to Radio 4 for a couple of hours droning on about England and football and England and covid plans from the 19th of July. This is supposed to be the BRITISH Broadcasting Corporation, however it is increasingly the English Broadcasting Corporation. A very large number of English people see Britishness and Englishness as pretty much identical. They feel that the English view point is the British norm, as something neutral and fair and other view points e.g. Welsh or Scottish as different, unusual or deviant. On certain coved issues the media was heard… Read more »

Bruce
Bruce
2 years ago
Reply to  Ned Parish

No, it is Boris’s Broadcasting Conservatives.

Steve Duggan
Steve Duggan
2 years ago

The only way we are to get equality amongst the nations of the UK is when they are independent of each other. The Torygraph can then say what it wants – we wouldn’t need to sell it – we’d have our own comprehensive media service.

Nick Randall-Smith
Nick Randall-Smith
2 years ago

I’m not sure what was supposed to be coming home but it has gone to Rome instead. Obviously the Italians weren’t playing fair and didn’t understand that they weren’t supposed to win. The UK government have just said that they are going to set up a new competition for countries outside Europe that nobody has heard of so England can win. The games will use an innovative illuminated  football and be held at night without floodlights,  the name of the new competition is called Glow Ball Britain! Interest from  abroad  has been fantastic, South Georgia and Pitcairn are very keen to take part! 😁😁😁

Arnold Pitt
Arnold Pitt
2 years ago

Are other readers not annyed that ~~~~~~~~~~~~England uses the BRITISH national anthem in sporting fixtures. Can’t they find one of their own?

Keith Evans
Keith Evans
2 years ago
Reply to  Arnold Pitt

Not really it’s a song that means literally nothing to me,and whatever it’s “official” title it’s always been the English anthem to me

Linda Munnerley
Linda Munnerley
2 years ago

Perhaps the DT should watch ‘national news’ and see how equal coverage of ANY events are, England is the main topic, Scotland and Wales come poor 2nd between them, and Northern Ireland may as well not exist. Its not just football where division is felt, each has its own ‘local news’ so surely the main NATIONAL news coverage should be what it says. It isn’t.

Llin
Llin
2 years ago

we never pretended to be one. It is not one. Is is 4 different nations of which only one wants to be part of britain. Cymru is a country. Accept it.

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