Many fans would have noticed the increased attention South Melbourne is receiving from the daily Greek newspaper The Greek Herald, this week yet another article was published by the paper on the club.

South Melbourne storm to fourth win of season in emphatic style

This is positive to see and an interesting phenomenon to analyse.

The Greek Herald is a Sydney based Greek newspaper that prints daily. In recent years it has increased its social media presence and is making attempts to capture a larger slice of the Melbourne Market.

It has sourced articles from Melbourne writers (myself included) and increasingly covers Melbourne issues. Even if it’s physical distribution can’t compete against the major Melbourne Greek newspapers Neos Kosmos and Ta Nea, online it finds a more even playing field and seems to be using sport to cut through.

The paper has even sponsored the recent pre-season friendlies between South Melbourne and Sydney Olympic, with the winner being awarded the ‘Greek Herald Cup’. Without boots on the ground (again, Sydney based) the Greek Herald has side stepped the wonderful web of Melbourne’s Greek football culture and gone all in on South.

This is objectively good for the club and increases exposure online, however without a significant Melbourne presence it’s unlikely we’ll see more in-depth reporting on South.

What of the Melbourne based Greek papers? Well, they for a long time have been in the cross hairs of fans for reasons largely before my time. Speaking of recent reporting though the Neos Kosmos continues to publish weekly articles on the NPL, but mostly provides a helicopter view of the league with summaries of all Greek clubs.

Ta Nea can be a little more sporadic with its reporting, and certainly has a way to go regarding its digital footprint, although it should be said it has improved a lot as of late with their updated website.

Ta Nea however is also part of the Greek Media Group conglomerate which broadcasts the AM radio stadion 3XY Radio Hellas. 3XY has been known to broadcast games, and over the past few years has broadcast the enjoyable (to me anyway) Sunday Football Show covering all things Victorian Football and yes – even occasionally featuring an interview from South Melbourne people!

Personally I’m happy with the South exposure via the Greek Herald but would hope to see more focus on the club from the Melbourne papers with more interviews and analysis pieces. Maybe my head’s in the clouds!