A reporter speaks out

Respected German football reporter Raphael Hönigstein was on Twitter last night explaining why transfer stories get out of hand in Silly Season. You may know him from the pages or podcasts of the Guardian.

"99% of transfer stories are reported in good faith. real problem is that clubs and agents often lying - with impunity, off the record

"sifting through the spin and counter-spin very difficult. one example?

"Bayern nearly signed a Chelsea player a few years ago. he failed his medical. next day, Bayern: "We were NEVER interested in him"

This is exactly what this blog is about. The sources in football have no qualms with lying through their teeth if it serves their purposes.

The lies get reported because reporters have a hard time deciding what are lies and what is truth. Besides, they are often the only things to report. And the readers are seemingly unsatiable.

But why not quote people, to hold people to their statements?

by the way: absence of quotes means nothing. zero. nobody on this business goes on the record, for the very reasons outlined above

The debate went on with, among others, Gabriele Marcotti and Sid Lowe, who both are freelance reporters of some repute. It was interesting reading, and it can be accessed through a simple search on Twitter.

Finally, I include the telling - though sarcastic - reaction from another of Hönigstein's colleagues, Oliver Butler of the Times:

@honigstein and still we reprint those lies again and again to sell papers/hits #dontblameus

[Added:] After I wrote this, the debate went on, and Lowe made some very readworthy points:

"...  Clubs often biggest liars of all.

"Fans' (readers, viewers, etc) evaluations often coloured by their support. Usually they're biased ones, not journo

"...  I (and I would bet my life Raf and Gab) have never made up a story. But have got plenty wrong.

"Nor reported anything with malicious intent. You interpret wrong at times but never totally blind, never deliberately"

Noone claims that being a reporter is an easy job, especially not if your sources aren't trustworthy. But there's a skill to judging your sources' credibility as well.

Errors will get in print, or get published on the web. We - the readers and fans - need to bear that in mind when Silly Season is on.