Damon Hill Now Unsure about Bahrain
Discussion
cragswinter said:
For far too long most of the journalists who follow the F1 circus have been neutered in their opinions for fear of having their access restricted should they not tow the "party line". It's been said between the lines many times, but as far as I'm aware it's really only Motorsport magazine who have the balls to really write what they want about F1, perhaps because they no longer send correspondents there?
This is the reality of F1. We get precious little real information from those who depend on their pitpasses. Whilst one of the scandals regarding Mosley was going on many websites refused to allow comments, the fear of losing their rights foremost in their minds. We got information that was filtered through fine mesh.
The threat of litigation is also another way of silencing critics.
Motor Sport for a time was part of the establishment. It has only been fairly recently that they started to be worth reading again. A massive improvement.
We don't know 10% of what is going on. Half the stuff that we are told is pure invention.
It goes for other sports as well. We had one soccer manager refuse to speak with a major television company because they said nasty things about his son. Depite this being against FA rules he maintained his silence for years. This is a strong signal to the BBC and other media that they have to watch what they say or else.
When I was a follower of Brabham I used to get a magazine, the Cobra I think, that detailed the less reported occurrences in the pits. It inspired me to produce something similar for the police station I was at. That did not end happily.
Tonsko said:
Actually, to have someone come along and say with all honesty, "Some things are more important than contracts.", is a breath of fresh air. That is a superb comment that flies in the face of today's squeaky-clean PR obsessed media. Good work.
Do you reckon he'd say "some things are more important than contracts" if someone cancelled his earnings for this year?Edited by Tonsko on Monday 9th April 19:08
Shaw Tarse said:
What on earth is Jon Yates ex of The Yard, doing working for the Banrain Interior Minestry and making apparent threats against protesters. Just goes to sjow what a poor judge of character he is.I was speaking to my Dad about it last night (he lives there) it's NEVER happen this year, the Government aren't offering any sort of real compromise to the protestors, and they'll never allow the worlds media to arrive en mass until the situation is completely resolved.
He also said only a tiny percentage of some of the s
t that goes on over there ever reaches the West.
He also said only a tiny percentage of some of the s
t that goes on over there ever reaches the West.ascayman said:
Bernie has to say that. He doesn't want to go to Bahrain; he just doesn't want to say so because it means he has to pay Bahrain lots of money. I'm quite surprised Damon has said what he's said. Glad, but surprised. He's not done Sky any favours, that much is certain.
The Snake is cleverly trying to sway the argument anyway, in terms of safety there is little the teams or visiting fans have to fear from protestors. Their protest has been largely peaceful.
What you've got to be careful of is being shot some crazed Saudi or Bahraini Solder who values life about as highly a second-hand shirt.
If the race went ahead, the protestors would want to highlight their plight to the visiting press and race fans, the government simply couldn't face this happening so they're send in tanks and solders and it would turn into another massacre - which is pretty bad PR for the Kingdom.
The real issue is should the F1 circus show up and be seen to support the Bahraini Government,
The question is a moral one, not one of security - probably why Bernie has such problems talking about it.
What you've got to be careful of is being shot some crazed Saudi or Bahraini Solder who values life about as highly a second-hand shirt.
If the race went ahead, the protestors would want to highlight their plight to the visiting press and race fans, the government simply couldn't face this happening so they're send in tanks and solders and it would turn into another massacre - which is pretty bad PR for the Kingdom.
The real issue is should the F1 circus show up and be seen to support the Bahraini Government,
The question is a moral one, not one of security - probably why Bernie has such problems talking about it.
And don't forget GP2 in all of this. They are due to support the F1 weekend, and also have a standalone race the following weekend (compensation from Bernie to Bahrain because of cancelled F1 race last year).
The GP2 equipment arrives in Bahrain anyday. The loss of two weekends off their calendar would have a massive impact on the season/budgets etc.
The GP2 equipment arrives in Bahrain anyday. The loss of two weekends off their calendar would have a massive impact on the season/budgets etc.
TonyHetherington said:
Do you reckon he'd say "some things are more important than contracts" if someone cancelled his earnings for this year?
Well, I was thinking along the lines of him getting his contract ended for saying something like that, so it more kudos for not caring that that might happen.
Tonsko said:
Well, I was thinking along the lines of him getting his contract ended for saying something like that, so it more kudos for not caring that that might happen.
I really don't see Sky doing anything about the comments Hill has made as quite simply FOM need the Sky revenue more than Sky need coverage rights from FOM. IIRC the Sky contract is the most expensive rights package sold by FOM and likely to remain that way for the life of the contract, other European broadcasters are either struggling to afford the rights or not bidding. Spanish and German broadcasters both secured 2012 rights at a discounted price from previous seasons, Italian TV (RAI1) looks likely to also achieve a reduced price for 2013 onwards. F1 FTA rights reached a high water mark in terms of price in 08 with the previous BBC deal and a ultimate high water mark with the Sky deal of last year, SKY+BBC combined are paying more for UK rights than the next three country rights packages combined (Italy, France and Germany).
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