Like a mighty gavel thundering down on the bench, the IPSO ruling on the Daily Record story produced by journalist Jane Hamilton was as powerful as it was damning. For those who have not yet seen it in full it can be found here:
https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=03188-16
Perhaps of particular significance is the very detailed “Remedial Action” which IPSO attached to their findings and which subsequently appeared in the Daily Record. I will leave you all to draw your own conclusions on that one.
The entailment of the findings, and any disciplinary action deemed necessary by either the Daily Record or Police Scotland, will of course rest with organisations which both our club and support have little or no influence. And it’s at this point I would stress caution.
Perhaps some of you will remember the fabrication of a story in respect of another group of Rangers supporters – Vanguard Bears – and on this occasion also IPSO were involved and ruled in favour of the complaint raised.
https://immortalrangers.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/the-sunday-herald-the-war-on-truth/
The same Neil McKay is now The Editor of the Sunday Herald – it seems this breach of editorial guidelines did his career no harm whatsoever.
If these series of events has not convinced you that our club needs a powerful, effective supporters organisation capable of responding to slurs against either our club or support – then frankly I don’t know what will. What a lot of you won’t know however is that following the publication of the Hamilton story elements of the Club 1872 working group were working tirelessly in the background building an irrefutable case proving, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Hamilton’s story was total fabrication. And I know this because I was contacted personally and was able to furnish them with some details to further their objective.
One is left to ponder if the same tawdry procedures, failure to adhere to normal editorial guidelines, and other failings highlighted by IPSO would have been present had this been any other group or collection of people other than Rangers supporters.
No-one needs told what the potential consequences were of this fabricated story and the impact they could have had on retrospective investigations into the Cup Final aftermath. The seriousness of this matter, the attempts to lay blame with the Rangers support for the failing of others, should guide our board into an appropriate response, considering all the circumstances, to the newspaper in question.
The back of the camel is already broken – this incident should prove to be the final straw.
The Blue Blog 