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JULY 8
The
truth is, The Sun has made another mistake
Daily Post Comment
We have been criticised for some things, and from some
quarters, in our time, but yesterday's comments in a full-page
article in The Sun newspaper just about takes the biscuit.
As you will have read in yesterday's Daily Post, The Sun
published an apology for what it quite properly described as
the most terrible mistake in its history - its outrageous slur
on the memory of the 96 Hillsborough dead and their families,
under the breathtakingly inappropriate banner headline "The
Truth".
It was 15 years ago, and The Sun has chosen to bare its soul
about this shameful episode because of the controversy
surrounding Everton and England star Wayne Rooney's exclusive
deal with the News International tabloid.
Apparently the Post, along with its sister paper the Liverpool
Echo, are to blame for all this. Let us quote from their
article:
"What the Sun finds most depressing about what is going on in
Liverpool is the way trouble is being stirred up by the local
papers, the Post and the Echo."
The article then helpfully reminds readers that we are owned
by Trinity Mirror, the same company which owns the Sun's key
tabloid rival, The Daily Mirror, before adding: "The misery
being inflicted on Wayne Rooney is a crude effort by them to
make commercial gain. We hope that the people of modern
Liverpool, a city of spirit and sophistication, are not taken
in."
So it is the Post and Echo who are making a crude effort for
commercial gain? An interesting analysis of the situation, we
are sure you will agree.
The Hillsborough disaster took place 10 years before our
parent group merged with Mirror Group Newspapers to form
Trinity Mirror. We reported the tragedy then, and have
continued to report its repercussions ever since, with
compassion, responsibility, and the greatest of care for the
sensitivities of the community we serve.
We remain completely editorially independent of the Mirror and
the many other national, regional and local newspapers in the
Trinity Mirror stable.
As to our coverage of Wayne Rooney, we have followed his
career from the start, long before his extraordinary talent
brought him into the sights of the national media. We have
always been hugely supportive of Wayne, and will remain so. He
is a young man of whom the whole of Merseyside can be
extremely proud.
Whether he was well advised in signing up with The Sun, given
the sensitivities involved, is another question. It was always
going to be a controversial step. All we have done is to
faithfully report the reaction that the deal has sparked.
Is Sun editor Rebekah Wade really suggesting that we should
not cover issues which excite such passionate concern from our
community, for fear of depressing her and her colleagues?
We do not really need lectures on how to cover modern
Liverpool, particularly from a newspaper so committed to the
concerns of our region that it has announced that it will
close down its north west office later this month with a
string of redundancies.
Perhaps Wade should look more closely at her motives for
yesterday's apology. In April, to mark the 15th anniversary of
the tragedy, the Daily Post published a major article
analysing the unique phenomenon in newspaper publishing
history that is the impact of The Sun's coverage on its
relations with Merseyside. We invited Wade and News
International to discuss the issue in a balanced way. They
refused.
If an apology had been on their minds, they could hardly have
chosen a better platform or moment.
Now, on the back of a big deal they have signed with
football's hottest property, they find it expedient to make
their apology.
Wade's assistant editor, Graham Dudman, went on a local radio
phone-in yesterday and apologised once again for all his
newspaper had done.
He described his paper's article as a "fulsome" apology.
As our erudite readers will know, this frequently misused word
actually means "over the top and insincere". Clearly, Dudman
had made a mistake. Although, come to think of it . . .
JULY 8
Statement from
the Hillsborough Justice Campaign on the Sun apology
The Hillsborough Justice Campaign does not recognise the
comments in today's edition of The Sun (7th July 2004) as a
genuine or sincere apology for the lies it told in respect of
the Hillsborough Disaster.
Any apology should be front page and stand in its own right -
on a par with the original damning headline fifteen years ago.
However, what we read is front page sensationalism regarding
Wayne Rooney being threatened, backed up by a leader inside
the paper which attempts to apologise followed by an attack on
Liverpudlians.
Any attempt to convince us of the sincerity of their remorse
is immediately negated by the context in which the apology
occurs.
It is the view of the HJC that the article and commentary are
an attack, once again, on the people of Liverpool. It is our
belief that The Sun has seriously miscalculated the
intelligence of Liverpool people who, we believe, will see
through this cynical attempt to increase sales in the
Merseyside region.
Hillsborough Justice Campaign
Justice for the 96
For more information on the HJC and the Hillsborough
Disaster visit:
http://www.contrast.org/hillsborough
JULY 7
The Sun has lost the plot (again)
Echo Comment
Even by its usual shabby standards, the Sun newspaper has
today excelled itself.
The paper has published a full page comment article, appealing
to the people of Merseyside to stop criticising Wayne Rooney
and apologising for its lies over the Hillsborough disaster.
It has also accused the Liverpool ECHO of deliberately
stirring up feelings against Rooney.
The Sun is referring, of course, to the deal it has struck
with Rooney's agents to tell his life story.
We reported the facts of the deal last week and have since
carried a number of letters from readers expressing their
views on the matter.
The Sun has today devoted its front page and an entire inside
page to the subject.
It is nothing less than an attempt, once again, to exploit the
Hillsborough dead.
Fifteen years ago, it told deliberate lies to sell newspapers.
Today, it has published a hypocritical apology - to sell
newspapers.
The Sun says the ECHO reported its deal with Rooney because we
are part of the same company which owns its greatest rival,
The Mirror.
It says the "misery being inflicted on Wayne" is a crude
effort by us to make commercial gain.
Which just shows how out of touch with Liverpool The Sun
really is.
The ECHO reported the news of the deal because we knew our
readers would want to know about it.
We reported it because we know that many people in this city
still regard The Sun as a vile publication which long ago lost
all respect.
And we reported it because thousands of Merseysiders - Red and
Blue - are deeply proud of and interested in one of our city's
finest footballing sons.
The Sun's deal with Wayne and today's hollow apology comes at
a time when the paper is in the midst of a price war. This is
no coincidence.
The Sun is desperate to regain the readers it lost on
Merseyside with its lies.
Let's just remember those lies:
* Liverpool fans stole from the dead.
* Liverpool fans urinated on the dead.
* Liverpool fans caused the disaster.
Whilst the journalists responsible for those lies have moved
on, many Hillsborough families and Liverpudlians still believe
The Sun cannot be forgiven for the pain it inflicted.
That's because the effects of those lies are still with them -
and still dog this city - today.
Today's Sun article is not a real apology. It is a shameless
and cynical attempt to win readers.
And most people on Merseyside will realise that.
The Sun has missed the point and lost the plot.
The majority of the people of Merseyside have nothing personal
against Wayne Rooney. They feel he has been badly advised.
The majority of fans do not hate Rooney. They feel he has been
misled. They are sad, also, that his unique talents are being
overshadowed by this grubby affair.
Today's Sun exaggerates, over-reacts and depicts a lurid
picture of
hate which is about as far from the truth as its London
offices are from Goodison Park.
The Sun, in a breathtaking display of arrogance, says it can
understand the grief of those who lost loved ones in
Hillsborough.
Its actions and words today, however, prove this is far from
the case.
If it truly understood their grief, it would never tell them,
as it has today, that it is "time to move on."
How can we forgive and forget?
PHIL Hammond, chairman of the Hillsborough Family Support
Group, said today:
"This was not an apology from The Sun. They are just using
Wayne Rooney to have a go at other newspapers.
"We have had a good relationship with the Liverpool ECHO,
Daily
Post and Daily Mirror over the years, but we have also had a
good relationship with other papers which are not owned by
Mirror.
"The one paper we have a problem with is The Sun.
"They want people to forgive and forget. How can we forgive
and forget when we don't know the truth? They know the truth -
and if they want to help us they should tell us who was the
police source for the lies they printed 15 years ago.
"What The Sun was told by this source must have been damning,
because the paper's original head-line was going to be 'You
Scum'.
"As for Wayne Rooney, our argument is with his advisers. It
wasn't him who rang up The Sun and said 'Hello, I've got a
story for you.' If he has been badly advised, then he should
sack his agents.
"And regarding the £250,000 he is reported to have been paid -
perhaps he might think the best thing he could now do is
donate it to good local causes, such as Alder Hey Children's
Hospital, the ECHO's Sunrise Fund and the Marina Dalglish
breast cancer charity fund.
"I would also like to invite Wayne to sit down and watch a
video of Jimmy McGovern's Hillsborough drama-documentary,
which tells the real truth about what happened."
Phil, who lost his 14-year-old son, Philip junior, in the
Hillsborough disaster, adds: "The ECHO has reported that
Rooney's performances at Euro 2004 had united the red half and
the blue half of Liverpool. Probably the last time this
happened was in the aftermath of Hillsborough."
He added: "What a terrible shame that The Sun is now trying to
drive a wedge between Wayne Rooney, the Everton and Liverpool
fans and the local papers.
"They must not be allowed to get away with it."
JULY 7
The Sun
apologises over Hillsborough
By Alan Weston - Daily Post Staff
Families of victims of the Hillsborough disaster last night
refused to accept an apology by a national tabloid over the
way it reported the tragedy in which 96 Liverpool supporters
died.
This morning The Sun - which in 1989 accused fans caught in
the terrace crush of urinating on the dead and stealing from
bodies - says it is "truly sorry" and that its false
allegations were "the most terrible mistake in its history."
Its apology comes in the wake of the angry reaction on
Merseyside caused by Everton and England soccer star Wayne
Rooney's deal to tell his life story to the newspaper, for a
reported £250,000.
Last night Phil Hammond, chairman of the Hillsborough Family
Support Group, said The Sun's apology was "too little, and 15
years too late."
Mr Hammond, who lost his 14-year-old son Philip in the
tragedy, said: "This will not be accepted by me or any of the
Hillsborough families.
"They are hiding behind Rooney and it will not make any
difference. They think that because they've got a big name on
board people in Liverpool will now start to buy the paper, but
we're not that stupid.
"They should give the source of the information they used as
the basis of that story."
A full page editorial in today's Sun newspaper says: "It is 15
years since The Sun committed the most terrible mistake in its
history.
"By making grave and untrue allegations about the behaviour of
Liverpool fans during the Hillsborough disaster, we enraged
the city.
"But most importantly we tarnished the memory of 96 soccer
fans who had tragically lost their lives.
"And our carelessness and thoughtlessness following that
blackest of days made the grief of their families and friends
even harder to bear.
"We long ago apologised publicly to the victims' families,
friends and to the city of Liverpool for our awful error.
"We gladly repeat that apology today: fully, openly, honestly
and without reservation."
It continues: "The Sun of 2004 no more deserves to be hated on
Merseyside than Wayne Rooney does.
"We cannot believe these protests properly represent the
opinions of the majority of men and women in Liverpool.
"No one will ever forget the terrible Hillsborough tragedy,
nor those who died and their loved ones.
"But trashing a young man of whom everyone should be proud is
not the way to honour their memory."
The editorial line of the paper remains defiant, accusing
"local media" of whipping up controversy over the Rooney
signing.
It also reports that the footballer, and his fiancee Coleen
McLoughlin, have been "hurt and upset" by the criticism in his
home city.
The revelation of the deal last week shocked fans of both
Liverpool and his own club Everton, with many dismayed that
the youngster was not better advised.
Internet message boards were inundated with messages from
supporters condemning Rooney's deal.
The Sun made its original allegations - which were proven to
have no factual basis - in April, 1989, under a headline
declaring "The Truth."
Copies of the newspaper were burned on the streets and a
boycott followed, which saw sales of the paper plummet across
the region. They have never fully recovered.
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