I have a theory, that the Scum editor is on the pay roll of Mr Bob 'the camp monk' Murray & co.

Over the past 6 or 7 months the Makkums have been stealing the main back page headlines of the Sunday Scum, it has to stop. We havent had ONE main back page headline in this time!

I think all media coverage should be proportionate to it's population base. This past week Tyne and Wear showed its population base 37000 verse 24000 makes Tyne and wear 60% Newcastle at least(NOTE: I didnt include the prices a NUFC fan pays against a SAFC fan in this equation). Most of the variables have been controlled, similar weather, two mid week games etc (i'll even exclude SAFC #5 against our #16). So how have the Tyne & Wears obviously smaller club hogged the limelight in the Sunday Scum????? Those back page headlines are shamefull and in the face of the majority. We have to campaign to stop it!!!!!

I've used Mr Neil Farringtons e-mail address and notified him -by robot- of the responses so please reply to stop this biased reporting.....

JUST HOW HAVE THE MACKEMS BEEN GIVEN THE BACK PAGE FOR 7 MONTH??????????? ITS A FUC^*^ DISGRACE.

So come on Lads & Lasses start to reply to this petition!!!

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

Answers

Sorry to p*$$ on your bonfire "Neil" but I could have sworn the one I bought in Blyth today had "Robson: I must buy".

Now, apart from that, I saw very little evidence of comment about NUFC, apart from the match report and anciliary fans comments. Plus of course, the classic Angelico Fucks story. (Actually, I'd have thought that should have been in the News of the Screws). I was very disappointed with the coverage of NUFC this w/e. I'd put it down to the 'lympix, but not being a regular, I hadn't realised it was a regular "feature".

On balance, definitely not worth the 60p price.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

Ditto in North Shields!

It used to be a good newspaper, but cr@p tabloid rag these days; only partially salvaged by its sports coverage.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

Where do you buy your paper from mate?

I buy my Sunday Sun every week in Newcastle and find that it nearly always has headlines relating to Toon issues. I recently had the unfortunate experience however to have to spend a Saturday night in Mackemland and when I read a Sunday Sun the next morning I found that it was totally leaning towards Mackem issues. I learned later that day, that it was a completely different back page headline to that being sold in the Toon.

It seems therefore that there are different editions published to cater for different markets and I therefore suspect that you buy your paper 'south of the Tyne'.

Wouldn't surprise me if there was a different version for Smogland as well! Probably like yourself, I've always thought of the Sunday Sun as a 'Newcastle paper' but it is obviously traded as a 'North-East paper' by those that publish it.

I suppose this is what is done by most newspapers in the UK. I mean, who's bought a daily tabloid on holiday abroad and found that it contains any significant football news about teams north of Watford.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

There was something in the letters page saying that there are two versions, A geordie version and a makem Version.Do you think they have then mixed up a bit?

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

Sorry Mungo, we seem to have posted at the same time.

BTW I like the Sunday Sun and have been trying to get a better picture of Fucks for my web site, but when you type in his name in a search engine you get some very strange web site.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

Cheers for the reply lads.

Regarding where I buy the luxury makkum bogroll- I buy it on TYNESIDE (NUFC land), South Tyneside, Jarrow to be exact.

Seriously, I WANT NEIL, AND THE MR EDITOR, TO GO INTO A JARROW OR HEBBURN WORKING MANS CLUB WHEN THERE IS A NUFC MATCH ON TO SEE THE PLACE PACKED TO THE RAFTERS. Then follow this up with a makkum match to see the place 1/4 full. JARROW AND HEBBURN ARE 80% NEWCASTLE, FACT.

ITS REALLY PISSED ME OFF THAT I GET MACKEM PROPERGANDA IN MY FACE ON MY DAY OF REST.

All this will do eventually is make people associate Jarrow as being dirty mackems, which is not true.

Sorry for the CAPS LOCK SHOUT, but what can you do when your pissed off.

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

More for Neil and Co.

If I wanted to buy mackem properganda I would buy the Sunderland echo, WHICH YOU CANT BUY IN JARROW ANYWAY BECAUSE IT DOES NOT SELL, unlike the Chronical and Shields gazzette. So why give me a back page with a mackem main story????

-- Anonymous, September 24, 2000

T. Smith you are absolutly right to be annoyed - it is something that has bugged me for a long time (I live in S Shields). Its not just the S Sun though. The Chronicle and The Journal both do it as well. I glance at the back page of the Journal in S Shields but don't buy it till I arrive at work in Newcastle. This mornings North of the river Journal is about B Robson being pissed off with the players. The South of the Tyne edition has the same space devoted to the pieces of shit from wearside. I accept that South of the Tyne has more Sunderland supporters than North but to lump in the South with a different river and race of people is an insult to the (majority) thousands of S Tyne based mags. As you say - it perpetuates that 'South of the Tyne are mackems' garbage, as well.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2000

Ginga, It's also so laughable that they give the back page to Sunderland, heh, heh, heh. Why tell the majority of your population on South Tynside about Sunderland, when they want Newcastle all they are going to do is eventually lose customers and eventually turn South tyneside in to mackemside (how does saddem hussain control his masses to go his way???)

What do they want to do, give its Chronical customers to the UNSELLABLE SUNDERLAND ECHO. The reason the Echo does not sell in Jarrow and hebburn is because its Newcastle, thus we buy the chronical. There aiming the BALL AT THERE OWN GOAL HERE LIKE, heh heh heh.

Who ever is in control of the marketing wants the SACK.

Like what I said before Neil, you and your Editor go to a workingmans club when the toon is playing, and when the mackems are playing, you will see at least Jarrow and Hebburn is the Toon 80/20. Go to shields to see a 50/50 split. Dont try to brush South Tyneside as being Mackemside Neil and co.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2000

Well, for the sake of being controversial...........

.............it has been commented on here before that there is an increasing trend of barbers' poles appearing north of the Tyne - Blyth, Ashington and Cramlington being infected places. Now, hard that it may be to believe, I have to think that Ronnie Gill and his stable mates count returns of their papers. Would it be beyond the wit of man to have a Toon and a Mackem version on sale and see how sales of each progress in each "grey" area?

Now, not being a regular reader of any of these mastrerpieces (araprt from the online versions), I don't know whether it is simply the layout which changes or whether the actual content differs too. I'm pretty sure the SS this week carried similar amounts of column inches to Toon, Mackems and Smoggies, in that order from back to front in the North Tyneside edition. However, what happens when you get further afield from Tyneside? Is it football or local news coverage which sells the papers? Or more perhaps the classifieds? And I only thought market research was something to do with which days you could park the car in the Blyth Town Centre.

-- Anonymous, September 25, 2000