As reported by the Newspaper Society: The Advertiser has been banned from attending press conferences and reporting on matches this week after the club objected to a tweet by one of the paper’s reporters.
The reporter tweeted news - which was already in the public domain - that a striker who had been uncertain to play in Saturday’s fixture against Peterborough United was in fact going to make the side - before team sheets were handed in to match officials by the clubs.
The club’s chairman said he had been told the tweet had given Peterborough advance knowledge of Swindon’s team, leading them to make changes to their own side, and banned the Advertiser from the ground.
The Advertiser, which is set to meet with the club on Monday to discuss the situation, is the latest local paper to be banned by their local football team over editorial coverage.
Trinity Mirror titles in Newcastle have attracted the support of concerned MPs and former England striker Alan Shearer after the titles were banned by Newcastle United following a dispute over coverage of a march by fans disenchanted with the club’s ownership.
In November, the Rotherham Advertiser was banned by Rotherham United over a story concerning a woman who had booked her son to be a mascot but the club didn’t have kit for him.
And in Stoke, The Sentinel was hit by a ban by Port Vale Football Club but it was lifted after talks were held.
