I have to be honest with you all, one of my posts the other day was an experiment of sorts. The results were intriguing, but also entirely predictable.
It Started with a Simple Opinion...
My opening line might have you all a wee bit confused. Please let me explain.
A couple of days ago, here on ACSOM.net, I posted an article entitled: “A Kyogo Comeback? Stranger Things have Happened.”
It was a casual opinion piece, something that, in all honesty, I threw together in about half an hour. However, in a slow news week for the mainstream, I thought it would be interesting to see what happened once the story was out there.
Most Fans Got My Point
Feedback I got from most Celtic fans who read the article was that it was an interesting idea, but not one that would make a lot of sense for Celtic or indeed for Kyogo.
To be honest, that was my take too. I just put the idea out there to provoke discussion and to see how others felt about it.
Mainstream Media Jumps in
I detest clickbait, so I made it clear from the outset, that my article was an opinion piece, a “what if” scenario. I simply highlighted the reasons why a return to Celtic might be a good idea for Kyogo and for Celtic.
However, I also made it abundantly clear why, overall, I still think it’s very unlikely Kyogo will ever come back to Glasgow.
That didn’t stop the Daily Record from leaping on the story and cannibalizing it for their own, attention-seeking ends.
“3.5 Million Return Floated”
It’s an open secret that mainstream media outlets frequently trawl fan media looking for scraps, in the absence of practicing actual journalism.
And so, the Daily Record headline emerged: “Kyogo 3.5 million return floated”.
Now if you read the actual story, it is just one of the newspaper’s reporters saying that, if Kyogo were available for 3.5 million, he thinks it would be a good idea, along the lines of the Jota deal.
Don’t Blame the Journalist, Blame the Publisher
I personally don’t think it’s the reporter’s fault that the editors at the Record decided to slap that totally misleading headline on his off-hand comment.
I don’t know if the reporter in question read my article, but his reasoning was remarkably similar.
Like a Virus, Misinformation Spreads
Fast-forward about 24 hours later, and Sports Illustrated, an international sports publication based in New York runs the story suggesting that Kyogo may be about to come back to Celtic, citing the Daily Record as its source.
A number of other sites have reposted the claim, with the Record as its primary source.
So, in a little over a day, potentially, something I wrote out of boredom whilst waiting for my dinner, is taken totally out of context and becomes international fake news.
Mainstream media is broken, and in an even worse state than I suspected it was.
Kyogo Isn’t Coming Back, Probably
For the record (no not that one), I’ll say once again. I do not think Celtic will re-sign Kyogo Furuhashi this summer.
I wish him nothing but the best in his future career, and I’ll always be grateful for the memories of his goals, his smile and his rapport with the Celtic support.
But that ship has sailed. I hope he can find a club where his talent is appreciated, but I do not think that club will be Celtic.
Still, I wouldn’t be against the idea...