Source: TheGuardian
How the Munich disaster devastated – and changed – football journalism
On 60th anniversary of the air disaster, Roger Domeneghetti recalls the eight reporters who died that tragic night in MunichLooking back now, from a world saturated by instantaneous digital media, it seems inevitable that the immediacy and intimacy of radio and TV would kickstart the long, slow decline in newspaper sales. However, that would have seemed a fanciful prediction in the 1950s, when few people had televisions and the News of the World could shift more than eight million copies each Sunday.Other than going to a game, newspapers were emphatically still the place for fans to get their football fix, something demonstrated by the fact there were 11 press men on Manchester United’s fateful flight home from Belgrade in February 1958. That might not sound many by today’s standards but there was no one from TV or radio on board and the journalists accounted for a quarter of the 44 passengers and crew when the plane crashed in Munich. Related: The Munich disaster 60 years on: 'They were the best team by far' Related: The Munich disaster’s long shadow still falls on us all, 60 years on Continue reading......read full article
