The Media and their treatment of Raheem Sterling | Agrees new 5 year deal

Rednotdead said:
Tell that to the families of young black kids getting slaughtered by other black kids with guns on London’s streets at present.

Like it or not, Sterling is a high profile player representing England and everything he says or does in public is going to be scrutinised. It goes with the territory. It’s not racism as some have implied or suggested, look at past media treatment of the likes of Rooney and other white England players. Give the media something to run with and they’ll run with it. Why would anyone expect any different?
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Show me past examples of times where Rooney/Beckham/Wilshere/Whoever have been randomly linked to stabbings for no earthly reason, or where they were called a "footie idiot" for no apparent reason, or where there picture was used for a story about drug dealers which he had absolutely nothing to do with... or were called a "love rat" when they proposed... I could go on.

Nobodies saying that other players haven't been given harsh treatment by the media before... but I don't remember anything that compares to the shit Sterling gets. There was Beckham after the 98 World Cup... but there was an actual reason for that (no matter how daft it was) and even though that went too far, it stopped after a few months, this with Sterling has been going on for ages, and there's something sinister about it.
 
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Annihilate Now! said:
Show me past examples of times where Rooney/Beckham/Wilshere/Whoever have been randomly linked to stabbings for no earthly reason, or where they were called a "footie idiot" for no apparent reason, or where there picture was used for a story about drug dealers which he had absolutely nothing to do with... or were called a "love rat" when the proposed... I could go on.

Nobodies saying that other players haven't been given harsh treatment by the media before... but I don't remember anything that compares to the shit Sterling gets. There was Beckham after the 98 World Cup... but there was an actual reason for that (no matter how daft it was) and even though that went too far, it stopped after a few months, this with Sterling has been going on for ages, and there's something sinister about it.
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Don’t forget when they claimed he had multiple ‘baby mamas’ as a teenager and was a deadbeat dad (Jamaican stereotype)

It is sinister, it’s racist. Some people can’t identify racism until the n word is said though.
 
Why is he even getting criticized for getting a tattoo in the first place. Listen, I'll just ignore the whole "crime" issue, lying about being connected to drug dealers (right?), and being a bad father (that he was accused of and I have no clue about whether or not it's true).

It's his fecking body and he can do whatever he wants to it. It's not his job to be a role model, it's his job to play football. I get incredibly annoyed that people just assume that athletes all need to be role models all the time. It's simply not what they're meant to do and it's not fair to villainize them for not being these perfect people.

The media does seem to have some massive hate for Sterling though. When he was trying to leave Liverpool they treated him like some type of pariah.
 
Personally I don't give a damn what he gets tattooed on his leg, and if his dad was shot dead then it makes perfect sense for him to get a gun tattooed to his leg. It's like with my old man, he died by getting run over by a bus, so now I have a tattoo of a double decker bus on my leg.
 
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Positively_Reformed said:
Personally I don't give a damn what he gets tattooed on his leg, and if his dad was shot dead then it makes perfect sense for him to get a gun tattooed to his leg. It's like with my old man, he died from a severe bout of food poisoning, so now I have a tattoo of a vindaloo on my leg.
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Your dad had better be black or that was very racist.
 
What the feck is their problem with him? He can't do anything without them being negative about it.

"Raheem Sterling eats Pasta in Italian Restaurant: British food clearly not good enough for upstart tosspot."
 
Beyond a joke now this.

If we're to treat tattoo's as art, it cannot be censored, it's meant to be provocative and create a discussion. You would think he actually had his leg removed and replaced with an AK47 the way some people are going on.

I'd like to know if the woman making the original complaint has any children, and if so, are those children aware of the best selling game of all time GTA V? If not, turn the TV on and flick over to any movie shown after 9pm, guns and violence most nights. Go further than that, if you've got the internet and a smart phone, I'd say there most things most kids haven't seen these days and Sterlings tattoo would be incredibly low down on the list of things that are interesting.

I'd also love to know what the press and the woman who made the original complaint would think about players in Serie A having to actually carry guns on their person in the 70's for protection?
 
R.N7 said:
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That sums it up :lol:
 
Not saying that he's wrong for getting a tattoo, but the "you can't judge him" crowd are quite beyond me. If you post a picture on instagram you're asking to be judged, plain and simple.

I don't follow British tabloids so they may well be trying to paint Sterling in a bad way, but if you post a picture of your new tatt, people are allowed to say it's shite and you're an idiot for getting one, period.

Something that irks me about tattoo's in general, or at least, people with tattoos claiming they have the tattoo only for themselves because it has meaning. Fine, it's only for yourself, so stop showing it to me, because I think it looks dumb.

Even dumber is saying Sterling is promoting gun violence with this tattoo though. He's just a kid and thinks guns look cool. Or it's really a reference to his dad albeit a strange one to me. They need something to write about though innit.

EDIT: Sweet jesus I've read up on it a bit and the way the tabloids are smearing Sterling is ridiculous. I stand by my statement about people with tattoos in general, but wtf is their problem with this kid :lol:
 
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And they will probably wonder why Sterling under performs at the World Cup now.
 
I don’t get why the media hate him so much (well I actually I do lol) I went to primary school with him (although I never spoke to him as he was two years above me) and this guy has always been about his football.

By the time he was in year 5/6 he was already regarded as the best footballer in Brent. I know a lot of people who went to Copland with him and he didn’t cause any trouble, just kept his head down and played football. I guess the media can’t stand to see young black men be rich and successful.
 
We need some sort of organisation to step in. The PFA maybe?
Can someone be targeted like this in a legal sense?

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Raheems dad was shot down. He's the one celebrity that you can't wheel out a family member / victim of crime so they can talk down to him.
Its ridiculous.
 
I had an idea Robbie Keane stopped his gun celebrating stuff in the later stages of his career but nothing got said about it that I saw, I just noticed he wasn't doing it. (I could be wrong about all of that) - Not the only player to ever do it by any means, either.

I was going to be snarky about the Mothers Against Guns woman but her kid did get killed I think.

I find my self pondering the 'dubious iconography' question again this morning - after originally voting 'No' - and am now thinking this is definitely completely entwined with him being black & can't be separated out.

If this was Harry Kane & Harry Kane had the same Dad backstory - this would be getting spun by the media in an entirely different way wouldn't it? Without racism as the unstated but plausibly deniable element in there for a start.

Is it going too far to say that media ought to be more responsible but are they just pandering to their audience with no regard for the greater good while claiming that they do have a regard for the greater good.

I actually find myself warming to the guy (I didn't have any particular view other than 'harshly treated by Liverpool fans, taunting goes too far' & also that he couldn't shoot very well, actually - but has improved isn't it?)

Still a silly tattoo. wouldn't be my choice but I'm not him & he isn't me. Which given I'm white & I'm saying that leaves you entitled to suggest that my thought processes involve a racist element - following the same rules applying to me that are being applied to the black footballer. Doesn't feel so great when it's coming this way I can tell you. The application of these 'media rules' what they are operating by with him, if you see what I'm trying to say.

Role model significance - well... they definitely exist as a thing, though again the media construction & use of them is always fairly dubious. And the stereotyping is the stereotyping I suppose. Or in this case with Sterling, trying to be hammering home the stereotype even where it just definitely shouldn't apply.

(not sure that all makes complete sense, but I'll leave it)
 
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As much as I don't understand why you'd get a tattoo of a gun if your father was killed in a gun crime, it's still his right to get it tattooed on his body. If that how he chooses to mark his father's memory, so be it. An image of a gun isn't offensive by itself, and he isn't advocating for their use. The amount of hate he gets in press from both this and other incidents is staggering. Not sure what he's done to deserve it, and a lot of it is just plain stupid and offensive. Any calls to have him excluded from the England squad are ridiculous too.
 
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Is there any organization in England who can actually call out the sun on this? What they are doing is absolutely disgusting
 
stu_1992 said:
As much as I don't understand why you'd get a tattoo of a gun if your father was killed in a gun crime, it's still his right to get it tattooed on his body. If that how he chooses to mark his father's memory, so be it. An image of a gun isn't offensive by itself, and he isn't advocating for their use. The amount of hate he gets in press from both this and other incidents is staggering. Not sure what he's done to deserve it, and a lot of it is just plain stupid and offensive. Any calls to have him excluded from the French squad are ridiculous too.
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Did you mean England lmao
 
Unfortunately Sun followed by Daily Fail are still most popular newspapers in this country, just sad
 
Did Di'Canios tattoo stir up this much heat?
 
I don't have any inclination of why anyone would find that offensive tbh. I'm not sure if its the press liking him as an easy target or just purely racism.

Perhaps they know it gets clicks in the way 5live create ridiculous arguments so people call in.
 
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