The New York Times, The Financial Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post and Reuters.
These are just some of the many worldwide publications that have covered stories on conkers this month.
Why?
Because the most traditional of British autumnal pastimes has been hit - or boosted - by trouble.
If you have somehow managed to miss the story, the World Conkers Championship (who knew?) became embroiled in a cheating storm after the men’s winner was found with a steel chestnut painted brown.
David Jakins, known as King Conker, claimed he only had the steel one for “humour value”.
His opponent in the final, Alastair Johnson-Ferguson, had raised concerns after his conker "disintegrated in one hit, and that just doesn't happen".
There were also suggestions Mr Jakins may have marked conker strings before the event to ensure he selected a stronger conker from the competition’s nut sack.
An investigation was launched and concluded earlier this week that “nothing untoward” had happened.
A statement from the World Conkers Championship said: “The video evidence following the men's final appears to show Mr Jakins putting his hand in his pocket before putting his other hand in a different pocket and drawing out a conker he had prepared earlier to throw to the crowd," it read.
"However, in so doing, the video shows clearly that he was watched by a judge who was looking directly at his hand.
"It is concluded that it would be near impossible for Mr Jakins to have swapped the conkers unnoticed."
As we mentioned at the start of this media training blog, the story has gripped and compelled the media.
Here are a few of the headlines it has created.
Chestnut Championship in England Is Roiled by Accusation of Cheating New York Times
World Conker Championships is hit by scandal after losing Grand Finalist is found with a dummy STEEL horse chestnut - while American first time player clinches title Daily Mail
Conkers controversy: World tournament investigates claims of cheating with steel chestnut Associated Press
The cheating row throwing World Conker Championships into turmoil The Times
Conkers controversy: World tournament investigates claims of cheating with steel chestnut The Washington Post
As one of the event umpires told the Daily Mail, “It is wonderful publicity”.
Additionally, I’ve seen St John Burkett, from the World Conker Championships, appear on Sky News and LBC over the past few days.
Controversy is rocking the world of conkers
— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) October 15, 2024
St John Burkett, who helped organise the world conker championships, explains the alleged CHEATING! 🌰 #KayBurley SS pic.twitter.com/3gHfvhjfJW
A few weeks ago, conkers felt like something from the past – children rarely play it.
Yet we now know there is a world championship with hundreds of competitors, and the competition is taken incredibly seriously.
Thanks to the extensive media interest over the past week, we have also learnt there is a rival ‘anything goes’ conkers contest in Peckham, where cheating is actively encouraged.
Of course, there is quirkiness and ridiculousness to the story. And it provides some welcome relief from the seemingly relentless hard news that dominates our screens and airwaves.
But the other crucial factor here is the ‘trouble’ element.
It is something we discuss during our media training courses when we explore what makes something newsworthy – you may have also seen us discuss it during our recent media skills refresher webinar.
‘Trouble’ forms a crucial part of our TRUTH media training acronym.
It stands for Topical, Relevant, Unusual, Trouble and Human interest.
Journalists love trouble. Good stories have an element of conflict, rows, tension, controversy and scandal. It hooks the audience.
Now, this can be a bit of a tough nut to crack when you are looking to secure coverage for your positive, proactive story. Why would you want to include friction?
But ‘trouble’ can also be about overcoming a problem or raising awareness of an issue that needs to be resolved. For example, a new cancer treatment could tick the ‘trouble’ box.
We also stress during our media training courses that if your story is not strong enough, a journalist will look for a trouble angle.
Elisa Colton, one of our expert tutors, discussed ‘trouble’ during our recent webinar.
She said: “Journalists love trouble and tension. And it is something spokespeople need to be aware of – do they know about the tension and trouble that might be out there?
“It could be different perspectives on what you think is a good news story.
“For example, a new factory might create jobs, but there may be environmental concerns. You need to anticipate the trouble element and have answers for it.”
Call me cynical, but I wonder if the World Conkers Championship might already understand the importance of trouble in stories. In 2022, there was a similar cheat storm where event organisers denied anal beads (no, I’m not joking) had been used during the competition.
“No one’s had any vibrating devices inserted into their conker or body which we’re aware of,” a spokesperson said at the time.
The mind boggles reading that statement.
But this does leave us with a question. Could this latest conkers row have been a deliberate ploy to grab media attention?
Media First are media and communications training specialists with over 35 years of experience. We have a team of trainers, each with decades of experience working as journalists, presenters, communications coaches and media trainers.
Click here to find out more about our media training.
Subscribe here to be among the first to receive our blogs.
