Muamba, the media and the best and worst of social networking

The terrible sight of a professional footballer suffering a heart attack during a live game is sobering enough.  The subsequent media and social networking response gives further pause for thought.

First and foremost, it would appear that Fabrice Muamba's capacity for fighting adversity seems to extend to his own life and that he seem to be winning the battle after his near death experience. Amongst the shock and emotion that such an incident provokes, I have also discoverd a mawkish fascination about the wide ranging response generated by all parts of society.

Little known heart charities suddenly become centres for debate and discussion about HOCM and Cardiomyopathy - medical terms most football fans will never even have heard of, let alone discussed before. New Twitter hash tags appear and become a global trend.  Football appears to put its tribalism aside with players and managers - in particular Bolton's Owen Coyle - becoming empathetic, emotional and articulate about subjects they hoped they would never have to talk about (although @therealmichaelowen did himself few favours with his comments about having a cold on Monday night!)  I

I found myself, perhaps somewhat disturbingly, following #Muamba on Twitter over the following days after his collapse.  Can I justify this interest because I am a journalist; have been a sports journalist (including football) and have a father who was the club doctor for a Premiership football club. Do I need to justify my interest at all?

The reality is that humanity is, like it or not, drawn to crisis.  For many, they feel a genuine need and desire to offer their support and 'do something' even if the best they can offer in a helpless situation is, like the fans on both sides at White Hart Lane, their sympathetic applause and the chanting of Muamba's name as the medical teams fought to save his life on the pitch.  I found myself moved to tears by sports journalist Amy Lawrence's report from the press box at White Hart Lane.

For others, they are like rubber-neckers at road traffic accidents, they don't want to look...well, actually they do, but only for a minute.

And then there are the hatemongers.  Those that use these situations to peddle their wares of bile and bigotry.  And this is where I face my biggest dilemma.  Throughout the Monday after the game, I watched as people responded to the Tweets by a tiny minority of racists who offered everything but sympathy.  The response to them was swift, immediate and equally bile-ridden; at least one of them got their comeuppance.

My problem was: did I join the anti-racist throng, but give the perpetrators the oxygen of publicity as well as a link to their Twitter page?  I didn't want to read their filth, but without looking at it, or researching the individual involved - like any responsible journalist - how could I justifiably comment?

My solution? To write this blog and to conclude that in times of crisis we see very best of humanity and the very worst.  Lame though this may be, it's the best I can do to bring balance to an unbalance world.

Get well soon Fabrice Muamba and show the world how to really fight against adversity.

Published 19th March, 2012

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