Hearts Journo destroys the evidence

For many in the Scottish media the last week has been a living nightmare on two fronts- Thanks Hearts.

First of all there was the devastation of a 3-1 defeat to Celtic. Losing out after 250 days on top of the SPFL Premiership table.

What happened next ought to be taught to media students for years to come. But obviously not in Scotland.

From the media area of Celtic Park came live claims of assaults on Hearts players, notably Lawrence Shankland.

That was enough for the rest of the grieving pack.

Led by the Edinburgh club who stated

Reports of serious physical and verbal abuse towards our players and staff

Off they went, the perfect deflection tactic. No need to mention actual assaults when the victims referenced ‘reports of’.

Of course there were none. If there was Sky Sports News would have replayed it day and night.

Never mind, in times of grief you can always focus on something that never happened.

Guys like Joel Sked did that.

A reporter for the Hearts Standard. The east coast equivalent of the Rangers Review. Newsquest’s attempt to take on fan media.

WOOPS- HEARTS STANDARD DELETE THEIR CELTIC ASSAULT TWEETS

With Jonny McFarlane as Editor there would be no attempt at trying to establish the pesky FACTS!

Just wire in with all of your paranoia. Crank it up a bit. There is an audience outside of Jambos for anything kicking Celtic.

Until reality kicks in. When you push it too far and the SFA are forced to publish the truth…

Sked’s profile on the Hearts Standard reads:

Joel Sked became editor of Hearts Standard when the site launched in September 2023. A passionate Hearts fan, he previously worked for both the Edinburgh Evening News and The Scotsman, covering football. Joel graduated from Napier Univeristy with an honours degree in journalism in 2011. It was around that time he joined the Terrace Scottish Football Podcast and has since become a panellist on BBC Scotland show A View from the Terrace. When it comes to Hearts, no one puts more passion and time into coverage of the club with breaking news, in-depth features and exclusive interviews.

Tellingly the Hearts Standard bio can’t spell University. Hey lads, it’s not ‘Univeristy’.

The last week has trashed the credibility of many.

The likely next step in their career would normally be to BBC Scotland to join no-marks like Tom English, Kenny Macintryre and Alasdair Lamont. And the dozens working behind the scenes.

Unfortunately with 10% staff cutbacks and a recruitment freeze at the BBC Sked and others will have to survive in the real world, the commercial sector. Driven by audiences and advertisers.

Not Jambo journalists deleting tweets about events that didn’t happen. I see you @sked21 ?? pic.twitter.com/qKFD4wZr9V

— Alison (@HibsAlison) May 21, 2026