Monday Cannon Fodder: reliability

Ah Deadline Day, how I don’t miss you. The internet is silly and fraught on a normal day. Transfer Deadline Day turns that up to 11 in the football world. Inaccurate, poorly sourced, and plain made-up stories abound and are amplified by people eager for any sort of news about their beloved clubs.

And that’s all before you get to the bad actors. The people who intentionally set up their accounts to look like reporters / news-breakers and tweet fake reports because they get their jollies from deceiving people. Or are just spiteful, unkind individuals.

Even well-intentioned and generally professional reporters add to the chaos. They’ll put what they think is throwaway gloss on a story and that will become the news item. Other outlets will pick it up, and all of a sudden, a player “hates” a club and doesn’t want to go there simply because someone reported that they were still looking for other offers.

So you’ll forgive us if we don’t jump at every single Arsenal rumor that hits the interwebs today. I promise you, we’ve seen it. We’ll do our best to cover what we think is important and to not get duped by the trolls.

Despite my rant / lament / whatever you want to call today’s CF, Deadline Day can be fun and exciting. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, even with all the silliness and craziness. I hope you do too!