Raheem Sterling fallout shows greater need for diversity in media, says Leon Mann
Monday 10 December 2018 16:33, UK
A more ethnically diverse media is required if black sportsmen and sportswomen are to be treated fairly, according to Leon Mann, Black Collective of Media in Sport director.
Manchester City's Raheem Sterling suffered alleged racial abuse during his side's 2-0 defeat away to Chelsea on Saturday.
He later took to social media to highlight a perceived disparity in how black and white players are treated by some sections of the media.
That has led to debate over how players from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds are treated, with Mann insisting it is time for change.
"If we have a more diverse media then we will make better editorial decisions," he told Sky Sports News.
"If you have one particular type of person - in this case white men - making decisions about different communities without direct knowledge, then I don't think we are being thorough enough in our editorial processes.
"Lack of diversity means there is a lack of thoroughness in how we cover young black footballers and black people.
"We need to address that to have greater diversity across newsrooms so we have those discussions, those debates and uncomfortable moments before stories are published, so we know how black communities are feeling about particular issues.
"As an industry we really need to be more serious about pushing for greater diversity."
As well as the alleged abuse aimed towards Sterling at Stamford Bridge, Mann also cited the recent incident at the Emirates where a banana was thrown onto the pitch as Arsenal players celebrated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's opening goal in their 4-2 win over north London rivals Tottenham.
"It's disturbing to see racism which is familiar to the 1970s and 80s, this vile, direct abuse that we saw very clearly from the pictures, just a week after we saw a banana thrown in the north London derby," he added.
"These really are worrying times and something we need to be on top of."
As for why Raheem Sterling has chosen to speak out, Mann simply feels he may have had enough of suffering such treatment.
"I think Raheem has had enough of this kind of abuse, both online and clearly in stadiums," said Mann.
"It's got to the point where he has to say something and underline that there is a problem where black people are not being treated fairly, black footballers are not being respected in the way that other footballers are.
"Credit to Raheem, a lot of players will just get on with things, and have not come forward because of the media attention around an incident like this.
"He has done the right thing and hopefully that will encourage others to speak openly so we can get to the bottom of these incidents and make a change across the game and society."
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