It all started when Mrs Jo Spencer asked for posters on the official message board at Northampton to stop questioning her husband Carlos' commitment to the club. Local journo Terry Morris noticed this and wrote an article questioning the “cyber-saddos” who use both the official and unofficial message boards. Two weeks later and it's Mr Madsen from Newcastle's turn to question the very same boards and drag in the Newcastle Falcon board for good measure.

What is it that is causing this flurry of local journalistic activity? Is it concern for the welfare of the players and clubs? Is it concern for the supporters? Is it concern that the new world of wikis, blogs, message boards and online communities is challenging the media? Or is it just a case that it's April and the rugby journos have run out of things to say?

I doubt very much whether in either case it's concern for the welfare of the players and clubs. The press whether local or national are as guilty as many posters on message boards of blowing things out of proportion either building things up or knocking them down. The job of a journo is to sell copy and if slightly emphasising or de-emphasising the facts does the job then so be it.

As for concern for the supporters – no, I doubt that very much unless they stop forking out the 37p for Chronicle and Echo, the paper would not care less. Same rules apply as above – if being rude about supporters sells copy then so be it.

No – I think it's actually a nagging concern that the world of newspapers is being challenged. The likes of Terry Morris have new competition. On our website, we have licence to publish all the RFU press releases. We receive them at exactly the same time as the press and we can do exactly the same with them. We have a willing and growing list of supporters who like to write. One writer is a self declared dyslexic. He writes some of the best and most insightful pieces about English rugby. Rob Richmond's style and spelling might not earn him a job with the Chronic but his stories are some of the most read on Unofficial England rugby. And Rob is such an enthusiast he writes for his club board too.

The speed at which news hits these boards and debates start is one of the challenges that on-line and paper newspapers will have to meet if they are to offer any value. News appears on the message boards 24 hours a day – we have posters around the world who will bring us stuff from Wellington to San Francisco. Little newspapers in Northampton and Newcastle do not stand a chance. It's not just the written word – digital cameras and photo sharing sites such as Flickr mean we can have photos from the Hong Kong Sevens as fast as Getty Images.

The real criticism from Messrs Morris and Madsen is about message boards and the chattering classes insisting on having their say. Whether criticising a player is right or wrong is a matter for debate – some posters prefer to critique a team performance; others will question a player. At Unofficial England rugby, we take the view that criticism is fine, abuse is not. It's not about suppressing freedom of speech, it is about taking responsibility. If posters elect to take a nickname that's their choice. Charles Dickens wrote under the name of Boz so if it's good enough for one of England's finest writers, it's good enough for our message board. The quality of the debate is as partisan as you would expect from a bunch of sports supporters – it isn't meant to be as considered as a thesis for a doctorate. It's the equivalent of banter down the pub.

The killer for the newspapers is that we run these boards for free and we don't try and make money – Kath and I do this as a hobby. Some sites including one of those questioned raise thousands of pounds for charity. But the key thing is there is no revenue stream required to keep us on the road. The risk is all with our hosting service, SportNetwork. Given the rise in IP numbers across SportNetwork, I can't imagine the chaps in the North East are worried. But even if they were, we could at a pinch run the site using a myriad collection of hosting, photo sharing and message board services – all for next to nothing a month. Newspapers on the other hand still need us to fork out our 37p's and subscribe to their services and have the overheads that professional journalists bring with them.

With the growth of blogs and wikis, things are set to become even harder for the journos. I have added photos and the odd word or two for the entries on Wikipedia for rugby. I've received emails from Australia asking to use my photos as part of rugby articles. I've sent emails to New Zealand pointing people in the direction of photos of players they want. All perfectly legal and managed using the new flexible types of copyright.

So is it the last choice, it's April and it's slow news time? Nope, there's plenty of news in the rugby world and the amateurs are busily sharing it and enjoying it. The build up to the end of club season and summer tours is keeping us all busy and the journos need to compete.

Be very afraid Messrs Morris and Madsen - those 37p's are looking at risk!

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