One day into his new job and England caretaker manager Stuart Pearce is already feeling the full force of the tabloids.
The Mail's headline is misleading. There is nothing "fresh" about this apparent "racism row". This is not a new story. The People first revealed Dennis Pearce's involvement in the BNP back in 2008 in a story headlined "PSYCHO'S FURY AT RACIST BROTHER".
If Pearce's brother is a member of the BNP that is a great shame. But to suggest this four-year-old story somehow embroils Pearce in a "fresh racism row" is a nonsense. This is nothing more than a rather desperate hatchet job of the kind any England manager should expect from the tabloids.
Harry Redknapp may want to take note.
The Mail of course should probably be more careful than most when it comes to smearing individuals because of their family member's political affiliations. After all, its own founder, Harold Harmsworth, whose family owns the paper to this day - was far from spotless in that regard:
Last year, Roy Greenslade at The Guardian expressed his desire for people to stop dredging up the Daily Mail's close ties to Hitler and facism in the 1930s. But when the paper is willing to implicate others because of their family members' political affiliations it seems fair game.
Comments