By Ethan Barlow

Following Rangers’ 2-0 defeat at Ibrox against Hearts, the former Sky Sports and now Talksport host condemned the questions sanctioned at Russell Martin by David Edgar and Steven Clifford, in the post-match press conference.

Fellow Rangers fan and Heart and Hand Podcaster David Marshall, and Forever and Ever – The Killie Fans Podcast host Callum Scott delved into why fan media has a place in the modern day footballing content sphere.

Radio and TV presenter Ewen Cameron called for a member of a Celtic or Rangers podcast to discuss the topic with White, and the presenter seemed to oblige.

Heart and Hand Podcaster host, Edgar was on the radio show to discuss the topic. Marshall spoke on his colleague’s conversation with White: “I think there was a general misunderstanding of what fan media is, that’s where his original comments came from.”

White remarked: “And the phraseology was very much a fans’ phraseology. It became one man’s gripe to the Rangers manager.”

Marshall added: “It sounded like a fan asking the questions simply because it was a fan asking the questions. We don’t claim to be ‘real journalists’.

“We have been invited into the inner circle of the traditional media. A lot of us have been asked onto radio shows, to go on the television, to write for papers because we are known from Heart and Hand.”

In similar fashion to David Marshall, Callum Scott works in fan media while possessing a journalism degree. He explained that despite being disappointed about the lack of fan media opportunities at Kilmarnock, it’s the “future”. Scott spoke on why fan media positively affects periphery clubs like Killie through less coverage from mainstream media

The Forever and Ever host gave his initial thoughts on White’s punditry when he made his remarks over a week ago, he said: “Such a backward comment. It was pretty disappointing, but hardly surprising. There’s the kind of old guard of journalism and I think Jim White’s had previous as well. These guys that aren’t willing to get with the times.”

Scott went on to shed light on why the mainstream media doesn’t have much room to penalise or question fan media organisations and their place within the journalistic circle: “When big news happens at Rangers and Celtic, Sky Sports News has got a fan media representative outside of Ibrox or Celtic Park giving their take and perspective on the ongoings.”

Despite Jim White’s comments, fan media seems like it has the backing of the majority of Scottish football, and is here to stay.

Here is a deeper dive into what David Marshall and Callum Scott had to say on the matter, listen here: